Agile or Agility is Never the Goal
I always cringe when I see people treating Agile as a holy grail. Something to strive for, no matter the cost.
Agile is something that naturally flows from the kind of work you’re doing as a more effective approach that produces better results.
If you have few or no surprises, you don’t need Agile. If you have many surprises you’re unable to deal with, then you either need more expertise or a more Agile way of working.
But here’s the thing: Agile is nothing new.
If you’re truly an expert in your field, e.g. something like Product Management, Testing, UX, or something else related to complex work, then you should understand Agile and feel it deep in your bones.
It’s not something separate to strive for, it’s a necessary and fundamental part of being good at your job.
It’s something quietly humming in the background that serves to better achieve our goals. Whatever those may be.
Agile may not be optional for the best results in our situation, but it’s never the goal. The goal is still whatever we’re trying to achieve together.
We should care most about achieving great results. When we do that, depending on the kind of work we’re doing, Agile naturally becomes part of the equation (or not).
But not because it’s the most important thing, but because it serves the most important thing.
Agile Didn’t Fail Us — We Failed Agile
Companies saw it as the new solution for everything.
Big companies wanted to “go Agile” because they heard it was fast and cheap.
Consultants appeared. Certifications appeared. Frameworks appeared. Scrum. SAFe. LeSS. Kanban.
Everyone had their own way of doing Agile, and they were selling it like a product.
The simple idea became a system. Then it became a business. Now, many companies say they are “Agile,” but what they really follow is a long list of rules and meetings.
We are not paid to practice [insert your favorite agile framework here] but to solve our customers’ problems within the given constraints while contributing to the organization's sustainability.