Agile. It's A. Dead. B. Insidious. C. Human.

August 28, 2019 | by Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin

A number of stories about agile in my inbox this week made me think of this quote often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi  (although it's more likely from a speech by a labor organizer, Nicholas Klein, it does paraphrase thoughts expressed in some of Gandhi's published works). Long ignored as an enthusiasm of a subset of software developers, agile has now become widespread enough (at least in terms of buzz, if not of implementation) that it now seems to be experiencing the ridicule and resistance phases concurrently.

At least, that was my thought as I paged through a variety of agile stories this week on the Forbes, WSJ and McKinsey & Co. websites. From Agile is dead to Agile is the new sweatshop to a glowing report of agile implementation at Campbell Soup's NPD group, these stories tell the tale of a method that is spreading like wildfire, and which, like any method, sometimes fails to live up to the hype. That agile sometimes succeeds and sometimes fails isn't really news. But over at McKinsey, they hit the nail on the head with their piece on building agile capabilities. And I'm not only saying that because their story jives 100% with the results of our research on The Adaptive Organization. Agile implementation succeeds or falters entirely on the human factor. Fave quote:

"Much has been written about ... the vision, organization structure, tools, methodologies, and rhythms that comprise the agile “body.” However, many organizations still struggle with developing the people who will power this body and deliver better results. They lack talent that is ... equipped with the right set of capabilities (mind-sets, behaviors, and skills)."

Bingo. That's why we titled the presentation I'll be delivering with Deborah Bigelow Crawford at the upcoming PMI Global Conference "Mindset Over Method." Join us in Philadelphia on October 5 to learn more about how high-performing organizations leverage training and engagement to make make adaptive and agile approaches work.

Circling back around to 1912, it's perhaps fitting that a labor organizer uttered this timeless piece of wisdom about systemic change. Because transforming organizations with agile is all about your workforce: what they know, how they feel, and your ability to lead and inspire.

About the Author

Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin

Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin is editor-in-chief for PM Solutions Research, and the author, co-author and editor of over twenty books on project management, including the 2007 PMI Literature Award winner, The AMA Handbook of Project Management, Second Edition.

View Posts by Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin

Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin

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