If You See the Spotlight, Don’t Ignore It

Agile is less about software development and more about building highly effective and efficient teams. The team is a family committed to each other and to the work requested of them. It’s a unified team, one that from the outside appears to be a single powerful entity instead of several different individuals.

 

Agile relies on team accountability and team empowerment to deliver consistently amazing results. High performers are attracted to this type of environment because there is no place to hide. If you can’t perform at the level expected by your team, you’ll be answering to the entire team vs. a single manager.

 

There is no place to hide. Nowhere. The average performer will feel their skin burning under the bright spot light. It won’t just be the team that notices – even the individual will quickly realize they aren’t meeting the team’s expectations. 

 

In a healthy environment, the average performer will be quickly addressed. Perhaps via a new role that leverages their skills more effectively. Perhaps they will self select out. Perhaps they will be coached out of the organization. While this may seem harsh, it’s the best decision for the team, the individual and the company. It’s expected and it has to happen fast. Because there is no place to hide. Especially when you run in short iterations and the criteria for success is clearly defined within the user stories committed to by the team. The average performer is accountable to the team and it’s so much tougher than being accountable to one manager. As a result, high performers know they will be working with other high performers who will provide mentoring, enjoyment and a great sense of team accomplishment. A players attract A players. It’s that simple.

 

But what if the culture you live in doesn’t believe in high performance? What if it’s customary to give average performers second, third and even fourth chances? In the agile world, you are dead. The key thing gained by agility is compromised – team accountability and team empowerment. If the team is lucky, the average performer will leave on their on accord. Even if the team is that lucky, they will lose faith in management’s ability to eliminate impediments. The ability to truly leverage the utmost power of agility may be lost forever.

  

The problem becomes significantly worse at scale. What if six teams are highly effective but one isn’t? What if the scope committed in a release requires all seven teams to be highly effective? All of a sudden, the overall agile release train suffers because they are only as strong as the weakest link. What if executive sponsors are still tentative about agile? Will you let a single team of 6-8 people destroy the ability for 40+, 100+ to become truly agile?

 

While there are many reasons why agility may not work, I personally believe no other killer is more powerful than ignoring the spotlight agile shines so well. If you truly want to experience the power of agile, you must heed the advice of the spotlight and you must do it quickly. Coupled with a solid retrospective strategy, heeding the advice of the spotlight will send you down the path of success faster than any other advice I can offer.

 

Agility leverages the power of team accountability and team empowerment. Why even try if you aren’t willing to use it fully???