• Agile Leadership

Status of Agile? A reflection and call by Gert-Jan Danenberg.

This year I have regularly asked myself the question, “Has Agile brought what it promised?” The honest answer? Not quite. It seems that speed was sometimes considered more important than value, and mechanical Scrumming gained ground on really good teamwork. The one-size-fits-all approach shifted the focus away from custom solutions, which are precisely what is needed for teams and organizations to truly thrive. And yes, that’s when things start to squeak and creak. That’s when you get stuck. But is that a reason to jettison Agile? Absolutely not.

Not only is the storm raging outside, but in Agile work we will see quite a few storms pass by in 2024. In short, we might just be in a storm phase. This is the time when everything stops running smoothly for a while. The new patterns are challenged, teams get frustrated faster, and there is a natural urge to revert to the old, familiar. It feels tempting: “We used to do pretty well, didn’t we? But let’s face it, you started this journey, this change, for a reason. The old didn’t work anymore. That’s why you chose Agile.

Every transformation, whether at the team level or across the organization, has such a difficult moment. It is similar to the “storming” phase in Tuckman’s model of team development. This is where the real work begins: you break through old habits, make yourself vulnerable and learn to work together in a new way. That process is painful, but essential. And this is precisely when Scrum Masters, Product Owners and Managers must take their roles to help teams reach the next level.

Status of Agile: Not backward, but full steam ahead

Okay, before we can bang ahead, still, let’s go back to why you ever started with Agile. What did you want to achieve? You wanted:

1. Faster to market with products and services
2. Focus on customer value by delivering only what really matters
3. Cutting waste by working together more efficiently
4. Getting the best out of yourself and your team because you knew there was more to it
   

And then? Your start with Agile working gave energy. Everyone felt the drive to move together: faster, smarter and with more impact. But after that initial boost comes the staler period, which always comes. The peaks get lower and enthusiasm threatens to ebb away a bit. Let this be exactly the time when personal leadership is desperately needed. Not to return to the old, but to ride out the storm. Full speed ahead.

What is your next level?

But what do you need to move forward in this stormy phase? The key lies in the roles within Agile. The Scrum Master is more than a facilitator; it is a Change Agent who leads teams through this phase. The Product Owner is not just a backlog manager, but a strategist who continues to prioritize customer value. And the Manager is more than a supervisor; it is an inspirer who gives teams confidence and creates space for growth. My call to you is simple: find the depth. Get the wheels turning again. Give teams the tools and confidence to move forward. Ask questions like:

• What is holding us back?
• How can we work better together?
• What is our ultimate goal?

Look ahead: the power of movement

The year 2024 has shown us that Agile is definitely not an end station, but a journey. A journey in which you sometimes stand still, but you can always move forward again. It is not just about moving faster, but about moving smarter and together. Agile remains a powerful tool, but it takes commitment to weather the storm to take collaboration to the next level. So stop squeaking and creaking. Start with your next level. And show how your team can move smarter, faster and stronger in 2025. Together, we’ll make that difference. What will be your next step?