• Agile & Scrum Basics

Well-known phenomenon: the Agile Allergy

OK, it is often argued that if you want to work Agile you have to canonize the terminology of Agile and Scrum. The underlying thought then is: because of the new terminology you all embrace a different vocabulary, which should make the organizational change easier. So at the same time, that (English) terminology also causes a lot of resistance. I regularly see comments on the Scrum Academy social channels to the effect of: ‘what’s wrong with Dutch’ and ‘get to work instead of all that hip talk’. As an enthusiastic Agile trainer and coach, I can get irritated by that, but somewhere I understand the allergy. The only question is; what do you do with that allergy and the resistance in your teams?
I like to think about that out loud with you in this article.

The Cause of Agile Allergy

So where does this allergy come from? First of all; everything and everyone has to be Agile. A common mantra. Apart from the fact that this is nonsense as far as I am concerned, it also generates quite a bit of resistance. You probably notice this in yourself as well. If you have been in the work process for a while, you have often seen different trends. First it was decentralization, then centralization, to self-managing teams, Prince II, Lean and SixSigma. With each current, the entire organization had to change again. Often a new trend is simply synonymous with reorganization. And reorganizations generate resistance.

Secondly; everything has to be English. Exactly, the Dutch language is unglamorous. Even on the shop floor you don’t even realize it anymore, you probably use words like: sales, check, mailing and deadline on a daily basis. But many terms from the Agile vocabulary are less established and are therefore still seen as intrusions. So it is not at all surprising that some people, especially in organizations where English is not the working language, have resistance to this.

So there is resistance to yet another new management movement and resistance to the associated vocabulary. But is there also resistance to the power of Agile working and Scrum as a framework for organizing smartly as an organization and team? There (almost) never is.

The Danger of Agile Allergy

As an introduction to transformations, Agile Kickstarts and trainings, I often ask teams the simple question: suppose you are allowed to organize yourself from scratch, what elements make you successful? I then often pull up the following compilation: common goal; good planning; grip; daily updates (also English :)); progress; strong teamwork; feedback (also English ;)); clear expectations; working with the customer; smart stakeholder management (also English ;)); clear and broad mandate; working towards concrete results; speed and time to collaborate. Nodding along in agreement? Probably so.

Take it from me that the above elements, which teams want to see reflected in the best way to work together, can hardly be met with resistance. No one is opposed to these points. Only how do you organize this intelligently in practice? It often fails, because the culture and structure of the organization prevent work from being done in a way that does justice to the above terms. A different approach is then needed.

I think the beauty of Agile working and the Scrum Framework specifically is that all of the above elements are united. And from that approach, that includes other terms. If you shoot into resistance because of that terminology, the danger is that you deprive yourself of the valuable world behind those terms. That is a waste. Because as soon as you get over the terminology, or as far as I’m concerned change the terms to suit you better, a world opens up in which you can organize yourself smarter and better than you ever thought possible.

The Pill for Agile Allergy

In summary, yes I understand that there is resistance to the terms of Agile working. But by zooming out on the principles and goals you want to achieve, I find that teams often quickly internalize the terms anyway, sometimes in their own variant. Because they value the effect of a different way of working more highly than the terms that come with it.

By the way, it does help to keep the terms as they are in principle. Purely because then it’s faster and easier to find best practices (exactly) on the Internet and easier to exchange information with colleagues who also use an Agile working method. At least then the vocabulary is already aligned.

Do you also notice resistance to Agile working (in your team, in management or in yourself), but are somewhere also curious? Feel free to call me or send me an email. I’m certainly not going to try to convert you, but I do find it very interesting to discover where that resistance comes from.