Why might Agile not be working for you?!
By: Saurabh Kewlani
Tags: Agile, Agile Methodology, Agile Mindset, Scrum, Agile Coaching

Having worked as an Agile Coach for close to nine years, and for almost as many projects, I can now boil it down to the following reasons as to why might Agile not be working for your organization.

1) You are going Agile because everyone else around is

Most organizations that I have seen adopt Agile is simply because another company is doing it, and hence want to appear modern. Moreover, it is not because the other company (usually a competitor) has benefitted out of it, but because this company now cannot stay behind. Since Agile is also the buzzword everywhere, it kind of becomes imperative for the Executive Management to introduce Agile to their firm, while also get to boast about it. This may not necessarily ensure successful adoption of Agile in an organization.

2) You approach is not purely Agile, but combined with Waterfall

Most organizations that I have talked to confide to be using the traditional waterfall approach under the umbrella of Agile. It has commonly been termed as the ‘water-scrum’ or the ‘scrum-not’ methodology. This can be most disastrous as one can end up having worst of both the worlds. However, the hard truth is that only 5% of all Agile projects end up being purely Agile.

3) It is about Practices and not Methodology

Agile is more about mindset than methodology. It defines twelve principles and four values. As long as your process or practices adhere to these, it will be considered Agile. While one team may adopt ‘Scrum’, the other may adopt ‘Kanban’. But if the decision-making is based on more about being Agile, then that does not bode well for the implementation. By merely recruiting a Scrum Master or a Coach will not suddenly transform the team to Agile.

4) No Buy-in from the Leadership and Management

The biggest resistance when moving to Agile usually comes from the leadership. The leadership and management need to adopt and respect the values as much as any team member in the organization. This resistance is often accompanied by unfamiliarity, which in turn, tends to oppose values and principles. This is the very same reason that we see the Product Owner (from the business/leadership team) mostly missing from the stand-up meetings.

5) Your Scrum Master is a Project Manager

The Scrum Master is supposed be a servant leader for the team. However, more often than not, it is a Project Manager from the traditional waterfall model that is assigned to the role of a Scrum Master while moving to Agile. This person usually dictates what the team and micro-manages all the activities. Whereas a Scrum Master is supposed to remove the impediments that the team might encounter, while at the same time coach and mentor the stakeholders, this Project Manager ends up damaging the team moral and ultimately prevents the team from achieving its goals. The Scrum Master should be approachable and should actively work towards resolving issues, while shielding the team from distractions.

To be successful in adopting Agile, the organization (and the teams) should be ready to adopt changes, constantly. They would oftentimes need support in the form of coaching. While individual teams may start getting a grasp of things one by one, organizational agility takes time. Like any component of company culture, it requires constant fostering and nurturing.