How silos wreak havoc and block your outcome dreams

Dependencies cripple Scrum Teams.

Have you ever seen teams who are truly agile — having honed the ability to move with quick, easy grace?

I have, and it is a sight to see. Such teams can own their product from concept to cash. They collaborate with their customer, and anything less than customer delight annoys them.

These teams use learning to chart their next step. They treat every step as uncertain until evidence proves it was right. These teams use rapid experiments to deliver what their customers need, sooner.

And they don’t consider a feature “Done” until they reach the desired customer outcome. They stand behind what they create and evolve it if it is not “Right.”

“The Scrum Team is responsible for all product-related activities from stakeholder collaboration, verification, maintenance, operation, experimentation, research and development, and anything else that might be required.”

— The 2020 Scrum Guide¹

How many hand-offs do these agile teams need to get product features into their customer’s hands? As few as possible. These teams move with agility as they have nearly complete control over their value flow.

Yet, I regret to say, in my experience, many organizations don’t experience this type of agility. Their teams slow to a crawl due to the sheer weight of the silo-induced dependencies tied to their ankles. They are…