I have been listening and talking to a lot of Agilists lately as part of my research for supporting Agile coaches’ self-mastery. I noticed a pattern emerging – a sort of spirituality being expressed or revealed in IT and in Agile software development teams. Thinking of my own experiences guiding teams towards agility, I saw some parallels to this pattern.
This led me to wonder, is Agile a calling?
Firstly, there’s the technology ‘holy war’. if you have spent any time at all in IT, you have no doubt witnessed or been partner to a ‘holy war’- a passionate disagreement backed by strongly-held beliefs about the merits of ‘competing’ technologies or practices…think Windows vs Mac vs Linux.
If Agile is a calling, who are we being called to serve?
Then there is the ‘Servant Leader’ role that all good scrum master’s, agile coaches and agile leaders are expected to embody. A servant, a selfless leader, putting the needs and self-actualization of their flock first, in service of the greater good – getting the customer the right product at the right time.
If Agile is a calling, what are we being called to do?
And then there is the Agile Manifesto. When it was published in 2001, it was revolutionary and viewed as disruptive, even anarchic by traditional managers.
At its core, the Agile Manifesto is a ‘moral code’ for better ways of organizing our work.
Do the Agile values constitute a ‘Moral’ code?
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
The Agile Manifesto Values
This new moral code called for a new kind of moral leadership, mindset and power distribution. The implied code might be stated as – the right way to create and deliver amazing products is to empower the people doing the creating, to work in tune with the people receiving/needing what is created, while minimizing the role of people not directly involved in creating or receiving the work (traditional management).
If Agile is a calling, how are we meant to be?
The structure of the Manifesto’s values embodies its intended function – what it is to BE agile. Each value is a binary construct – A and B are both valued and needed, but A is valued more. YES both are important, AND we believe one of them is a better way. Like a parable or a koan, the format itself is a lesson in how to go beyond competing binaries that end in holy wars.
Whether or not Agile is experienced as a calling is certainly a personal choice. However, I believe the core Agile values stand as a moral code and are a calling to a new way of being and doing. If you want to be truly successful with agile, then I argue that one must listen to and accept the calling as a personal purpose. If one views Agile as a means to an end, for example, increased productivity, performance and more $$, not only will you fail, but your fledgling agility will lead to greater fragmentation and fragility.
And what about Management and the C-suite? How are they meant to be in Agile?
In the Global State of Agile Report, every year for the last 14 years, one or more of the top obstacles to successful agile adoption has been related to management’s failure to understand, adopt and embrace agile as a new culture and new way of being and working.
But this year’s report was different.
COVID happened.
Suddenly, almost overnight, the entire world was forced to change how we work and how we think about work. Now, everyone knows how possible it is to change, and to change radically with (some might say) agility. Now, this year’s 15th State of Agile report shows a significant improvement in management’s support, sponsorship and leadership of agile adoption.
Now is the time to revisit the four Agile Manifesto values and rectify a shortcoming.
The original ‘moral code’ (Agile’s four values), essentially ruled out management and practically said ‘just get out of our way and let us do the work!’. And so, of course management did not or could not see themselves in Agile.
So what are management and the C-Suite called to be and do with Agile?
Consider the moral code and what it means to you and the organization. Forget all the fancy frameworks for now.
What does it mean to you and your management team to create the conditions that will favour ‘individuals and interactions’, ‘working software’ (or culture / product / process), ‘customer collaboration’ and ‘responding to change’?