Agilesplaining: Why the C-level Doesn't Get Agile

Stop Agilesplaining the Agile Manifesto

A common complaint: if only the C-level understood Agile, our lives would be easier and much better!

Well, one of the biggest reasons the C-level doesn’t get Agile is that we keep invoking a 2001 skiing trip made by a group of men to explain Agile to them.

Is that really the best you can do?

You don’t need to understand the Agile manifesto to understand Agile. You don’t even have to drop the Agile label in conversation to make them get it.

It sounds pretty absurd and magical right? Making people understand Agile without even mentioning the word. But that’s exactly what we should be trying to achieve.

Unfortunately, we rarely transcend force-feeding the Agile Manifesto because many Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches are stuck in Agilesplaining mode.

Agilesplaining is what happens when you’re introducing a whole lot of unnecessary backstory and a dated artifact from 2001 to explain Agile that does nothing but murky the waters and increase confusion.

I want to stress, we owe a great deal to the Agile manifesto. The manifesto helped spread Agile ideas to people around the world in a viral way, and it did a great job at that. The Agile Manifesto was an awesome vehicle for the mass consumption and adoption of Agile and getting the message across to the masses.

However, being great for mass consumption doesn’t mean it’s the best way to introduce Agile to individuals or smaller groups of people. Invoking the Agile manifesto to explain Agile is a noisy, impersonal crutch and a very unnecessary one at that.

If you must invoke the Agile Manifesto to explain Agile, then all it shows is that you don’t really get Agile yourself, and if you don’t get it yourself, then it’s no surprise that you’re not reaching the C-level either.

The next time you’re considering Agilesplaining with the Agile Manifesto, first ask yourself the following questions:

• What does this other person care about?

• How can Agile help them get the things they care about or help solve their current problems?

• What are concepts they are already deeply and intimately familiar with?

• How can I relate Agile to things they already know and care about?

• How can I tell it as a story that will stick in their minds, and they will remember, and also be able to tell others?

• How can I talk about it while introducing as little jargon as possible (like Agile and the Agile manifesto)?

And, if after answering all those questions, the best you can do is to parrot the Agile manifesto, then I’ve got news for you:

You’re the problem.

You’re the primary reason the C-level doesn’t understand Agile.

If you can’t do better than the one-size-fits-all approach of introducing the Agile manifesto, then your understanding doesn’t run all that deep.

And that’s the real problem, not that they don’t understand Agile. Agile experts don’t need to use the Agile manifesto as a crutch to help explain Agile to others.

Keep all that passion for the Agile Manifesto, please do, but keep it to yourself.

Stop Agilesplaining and start listening. You can do better than yapping about a group of men who went on a skiing trip together and repeating what they came up with.

Start with listening and caring about what C-level cares about, and then you can reach them in a way that resonates with their world.

No Agilesplaining necessary.