Please allow me to indulge myself by sharing my personal point of view.
In the bustling bazaar of project management, where "Agility" is the spice everyone's after, there's been a curious rise in vendors peddling what I affectionately call “Agile in a Box.”
Picture this: a world where the “Agile” maestros, witnessing the cacophony of scaled frameworks, decide to throw their own hat into the ring. This act alone speaks volumes, turning the Agile community into a lively debate club, where terms like Business Agility, Transformation Expert, and SAFe Agilist are tossed around like hot potatoes. It seems these titles often miss the essence of Agile, instead focused to capitalize on its $4 billion market allure. This has attracted a caravan of traditionalists and corporate nomads, eager to rebrand their old wares with snazzy new labels, promising to sprinkle some Agile magic on organizations, as if renaming their practices could summon the Agile genie.
The true essence of Agility, however, is found not in these glittering packages but in the nitty-gritty of cultivating the right mindset, skills, and practices. It's about empowering leaders to unlock their teams' full potential, fostering team and technical agility, and ensuring that tools and frameworks are the wind beneath the teams' wings, not the shackles on their feet. Imagine trying to convince the captain of a colossal oil tanker that a quick training session and a shiny new Agile toolkit will make their huge ship nimble. It's similar to selling ice to Eskimos—a humorous, if not slightly desperate, attempt to cash in on the Agile gold rush.
The true essence of Agility, however, is found not in these glittering packages but in the nitty-gritty of cultivating the right mindset, skills, and practices. It's about empowering leaders to unlock their teams' full potential, fostering team and technical agility, and ensuring that tools and frameworks are the wind beneath the teams' wings, not the shackles on their feet. Imagine trying to convince the captain of a colossal oil tanker that a quick training session and a shiny new Agile toolkit will make their huge ship nimble. It's similar to selling ice to Eskimos—a humorous, if not slightly desperate, attempt to cash in on the Agile gold rush.
True agility for larger organizations involves strategic maneuvering and a supportive management role, not just a superficial makeover. The true Agile community, with its keen nose for authenticity, often chuckles at these attempts through creations like www.lafable.com—a fictional yet strikingly accurate portrayal of the absurdities and jargon that sometimes plague the Agile landscape. This satirical website serves as a mirror to the Agile community, reflecting the comical side of scaled frameworks and the bureaucracy of organizations navigating in pursuit of agility.
The most basic test for true Agile transformation is simple: if it doesn't live and breathe the core Agile values and principles, it's about as Agile as a three-legged tortoise at a marathon.
