Listen to individuals and interactions.

When coaching Agile, you find yourself in a place Lewis Caroll calls “the shadow.”  The ideal of agile, while in tension with the realities of contemporary business,  presents a challenging yet rewarding journey that pushes you to confront your shortcomings.  As a coach, you face doubt daily, but it's these very challenges that lead to personal growth and learning.  It's a life filled with uncertainty, as coaches are held accountable when things go poorly.  Having spent over twenty years in technology, and eleven of them in the agile world, I've been a part of the agile reformation.  Today, I want to delve into the agile manifesto and discuss something.

When we discuss the history of the Agile Manifesto, it has this glamourous sheen.  A bunch of smart people got together to brainstorm, ski, and have a few drinks.  When it was over, we had a guiding document that promised to change the business world.  It was optimistic and promised a better way.  Since that snowy and booze-soaked retreat, the agile community has splintered into several factions around taking agile principles and scaling them up to Fortune 500 organizations.  

In addition to scaling frameworks, the agile world has many different software tools, including Azure Dev Ops, Jira, and Rally.  A manager forbade me from coaching a team because I did not have the proper experience with the correct software.  These fractures in the agile community feel similar to the fractures in the development community, where people bicker like the characters Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.  

It is natural for people to have biases and strong opinions about their careers.  Passion is necessary if you want to be good at anything.  Unfortunately, these passions create prejudices that act as a toxin in the agile community.  People with Jira experience should not look down on those with Azure Dev Ops experience.  When I am involved in these situations, I return to the Agile Manifesto and gather inspiration.  

Lately, the value of “Individuals and Interactions over processes and tools” has been significant.  Agile did not begin with any software in mind, and vendors attempted to automate the process.  A good coach or scrum master can manage a project with Post-it notes, a few whiteboards, and an active email account.  Everything else is extra smoke and mirrors. 

Coaches should ask why work is done and how it generates value for the firm.  We will fail if we get involved in an unproductive discussion about processes and software.  Regardless of their background and training, each coach should have some basic skills.  A coach should know how source control works because developers can have an intelligent discussion when they talk about branching and merging.  Coaches should understand how to write user stories and show others how to write stories.  A coach needs to listen to others and know what they say and what they mean when they say it.  Finally, a coach must be a servant leader who pulls the team toward success.  All the other skills are sprinkled on top of a tasty ice cream sundae.  

As a member of the Agile Reformation, we must listen to “Individuals” and pay attention to “interactions.”  Otherwise, all of our passion for processes and tools will undermine the excellent work we have done for the last twenty years. 

Until next time.