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Can Agile and deadlines coexist in perfect harmony?

Managers, this one is for you.

Todd Lankford
Awesome Agile
16 min readJul 11, 2022

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Can Agile and deadlines coexist in perfect harmony?
Co-existing in Harmony? —Photo by Anusha Barwa on Unsplash

More and more these days, I’ve been hearing this sentiment from managers in the organizations I coach:

“We have hard deadlines, so Agile can’t help us.”

My typical reaction ranges from astonishment to bewilderment. Considering the number of times I have heard this type of statement, my level of surprise should diminish. But instead, my shock persists.

After all, Agile methods are a strategy to reduce risk. Agility requires early knowledge acquisition and our rapid response to it. So, I have a hard time reconciling why managers would feel Agile can’t work in the context of a hard date constraint.

I’ve been part of many teams who deliver with agility amidst a date constraint. To achieve this, they focus on high-quality value flow to meet goals sooner in a sustainable manner. The behaviors of these teams have deep roots in Agile values and principles.

Now, if you follow my writing, you know I’ve written at length on the problems with fake deadlines. If we manufacture a deadline to motivate teams, everyone loses. But I firmly believe if you have a legitimate date constraint, Agile methods are your best bet for success.

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Awesome Agile
Awesome Agile

Published in Awesome Agile

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Todd Lankford
Todd Lankford

Written by Todd Lankford

Hi–I’m Todd. I help managers and product teams maximize outcomes while respecting people. https://www.coachlankford.com

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