“I alone can fix it” doesn’t work for products
I have witnessed sprint planning sessions nearly turn into fistfights.
I have witnessed executives, several times, say that they can put “three nerds in a garage over a weekend” and that will fix everything that is wrong with their products.
I have witnessed many companies who refuse to update their clunky products then say that they are “user-focused”. In these cases, there is usually one user: the HiPO, also known as the person with the Highest Paid Opinion. Often the HiPO gives orders to create features with an “I know how to fix it” or “I am the user” as part of the order. And so those clunky products go into a Product Death Spiral until the business shuts down or gets acquired.
In most cases, these companies also say that they use Agile. The lone-wolf, maverick “I alone can fix it” stubbornness that autocrats possess is the antithesis of Agile. Agile is about self-managed teams and collaboration, so what is happening here? Autocratic leadership styles where one person dictates priorities conflict directly with Agile practices. Autocrats do not seek input from anyone, whereas agile teams thrive when everyone has a voice. Where autocratic leadership discourages creativity, agile encourages creativity.
There are many agile teams operating under a lot of cognitive dissonance and a false…
