Tip 7: Traditional Thinking + Agile Transformation = Cluster

"If you apply traditional thinking to an agile transformation, you will get a cluster every time" - Julie Allen

Too often, organizations attempt to implement agile, much like they would roll out a new enterprise software system like SAP. They continue to manage the agile initiative without shifting how they think or lead.  

You can’t transform and stay in your comfort zone

Transformation is messy. It requires leaving the familiar behind for the promise of something better. Unfortunately, in the agile space (and in others), leaders often attempt to transform their organizations, without transforming themselves. This almost always leads to chaos. Many leaders think of agile as simply a new methodology or tool set, not as a fundamentally new way of doing business. Their agile “transformation” really isn’t a transformation at all.

A few years ago, I worked with an organization in the midst of a large-scale agile transformation. Very few leaders at any level had any experience with agile. The senior leadership worked closely with agile transformation leadership, whereas the middle managers received a little training and were simply told to support the agile transformation. Agile teams were formed and most were assigned agile coaches for several months. Many of the teams were very open to adopting the agile practices and mindset, yet they still struggled. They often found the middle managers’ way of leading was an impediment to their effectiveness. Instead of helping the effort, they were creating roadblocks that often reversed the progress that the teams were making. Morale suffered. Instead of reaping the benefits of an agile initiative, progress was painfully slow and frustration was high. It was easy to blame the middle managers for this dysfunction.

Sound familiar? Please share your experiences in the comments.

The middle managers weren’t bad people. They simply continued to lead as they always had. Many resisted the changes that were being requested, often because these shifts didn’t make sense to them. No one had taken the time to help them see the value of these shifts or to listen to their concerns. In my opinion, it was destined to be a mess, the leaders were not being set up to succeed.

Let me attempt to explain with a metaphor. Imagine that Chris, a very successful football coach, is asked to lead a college improv group seeking to win a regional improv tournament. Chris has a great personality and he has led his teams to multiple division titles. He is fully capable of excelling in a new environment. Yet, to be successful, he’ll have to recognize that football and improv have many fundamental differences. Chris will need to learn and understand the culture, norms, and challenges of an improv environment, adjusting his leadership style accordingly. Essentially Chris must transform the way he shows up as a leader to be successful with the improv team. This includes letting go of some of his leadership behaviors and practices, shifting others, and adopting new ones. Chris will also need to revamp how he measures progress and success, choosing metrics that are aligned with this new environment. If Chris attempts to lead and measure the improv team as if it were a football team, it will inevitably lead to stress, frustration, roadblocks, and a drop in morale. Unless Chris adjusts his approach, his actions will likely create new problems instead of helping the team. 

It’s probably obvious to most of us that improv is fundamentally different from football. To an untrained eye, it can be difficult to recognize how inherently different an agile environment is from a traditional one. In most agile transformations, the same people continue to work together to deliver the same types of products that they delivered in the traditional space. However, the process and way of doing work is completely different; yet we expect agile leaders to change the core of how they lead. Without coaching and guidance, it is almost inevitable that leaders will continue to think and behave traditionally. It’s actually unfair to expect leaders to shift on their own. Too often we undergo agile transformation initiatives without truly supporting our leaders. 

So what is the solution? Provide coaching support to agile leaders at all levels.

Agile practitioners often state: “the being of agile, is more important than the doing of agile.” Adopting an agile “mindset” is the key to success. However, an agile mindset isn’t something that you can just instill in a leader. Instead, a true mindset shift is a transformational journey that requires time and psychological safety. In addition to understanding the “why” and the “how” of the new processes, leaders need the space to examine their values, beliefs, and concerns. They also need the safety to question, experiment, and fail. Unfortunately, we often give leaders no more than a couple of days of training and expect them to be effective in an agile environment.

When leaders and individuals seem to resist or negatively impact a transformation effort, instead of viewing them as problems, consider that they may just need support. They likely feel a lot of pressure to succeed. Perhaps they are struggling to understand why what has worked for them in the past is no longer having the results they expect. Instead of blaming them for traditional thinking, let’s support them in a journey of developing an agile mindset. It’s a big ask for someone to shift their mindset without guiding them through the process. 

 Agile leadership is radically different from traditional. Successful agile leadership involves transparency, collaboration, decentralized decision making, customer-centricity, experimentation, value delivery, adaptability, trusting teams, continuous improvement, knowledge sharing, listening, fostering a learning culture, allowing failure, reflection, short delivery cycles, and so much more. Many leadership practices and behaviors that work well in a traditional environment actually stymie the development of a thriving agile culture. Unless we support our leaders through the deep transformation required to shift their leadership approach, many agile transformations will continue to be unnecessarily slow, painful, and frustrating. 

My 7th Tip - Traditional Thinking + Agile Transformation = Cluster.