The origins of this post are from a talk I initially put together for a keynote at Lean Agile US in 2019. That talk was called Imposing Agile with Coherence, Constraints and Curiosity. Those three elements (Coherence, Constraints and Curiosity) came to mind again during a recent conversation and I realised I didn’t have an easy reference. This isn’t intended to be a detailed article with all the talk content. Instead, it is intended to be something simple which I can point people to.
Context
The background to the talk was the various debates and discussions about the Agile Industrial Complex that were going on at the time. I’m a big proponent of engaging people in transformations, rather than imposing or inflicting them on people. However, I also feel that it’s not the imposition that is bad per se. Rather, it is what we impose, and in what way. I was trying to suggest that using an engagement model in a transformation could still be seen as imposing that engagement model. Therefore, I wanted to explore positive aspects of imposing change or positive ways to impose change.
It was deliberately tongue-in-cheek and slightly provocative, but 5 years later, these three essential elements for imposing Agile seem to have stood the test of time. You could also consider them as conditions for success, heuristics, or even strategies.
1. Coherence
Coherence is the quality of forming a unified whole. Thus “imposing coherence” involves having a clear intent, and alignment towards meeting that intent. Well-formed Value Streams can be one way of “imposing coherence”.
2. Constraints
Constraints are limitations or restrictions. Thus “imposing constraints” involves setting clear boundaries, or guardrails, within which people should have the freedom to be creative and decide how they will meet the intent. A clear strategy, along with associated OKRs, can be one way of “imposing constraints”.
3. Curiosity
Curiosity is a strong desire to learn something. Thus “imposing curiosity” (which I know isn’t actually possible!) involves asking unbiased (e.g. Clean) questions, exploring assumptions, and testing hypotheses. Running experiments in a psychologically safe environment can be one way of “imposing curiosity”.
It’s this last element of Curiosity that I find is most often missing. In particular, there is no curiosity about how to create coherence and apply constraints. As a result, organisations often implement Value Streams and OKRs without questioning, resulting in the loss of the intended benefits.
If this piques your “curiosity” about Imposing Agile healthily and productively, then you can watch the most recent version of the talk from Agile Manchester in 2020.