Speed is just a byproduct...

I bet you a week's worth of coffee - in my case, a fairly substantial bet - if you were to ask ten random leaders, "Why Agile?," the vast majority of them would say, "Speed." Ask a follow-up question, "What do you mean when you say speed?," and you will undoubtedly get the response, "Things get out into market faster!"

Now pause for a moment and think about how people naturally respond when told to do things faster. Corners get cut, shortcuts get taken (often at the cost of quality), steps get skipped, and we start to rationalize that what we made was good enough. In the very best case, focusing on going "faster" is going to increase your risk - and no one really wants that! And by the way, Agile was never about being faster. It's about being better.

Now, I'm not at all arguing that speed (being faster) is not an outcome of embracing Agile mindset, principles, and frameworks. By their nature alone, incremental and continuous deployments will get product (software, campaigns, whatever) in front of customers way sooner than if you employ "big bang" deployments. In fact, if you were to do a word search (I did) on the original Agile Manifesto, or a slightly more modern interpretation of Agile Product Values and Principles, you don't even find the words "fast" or "speed" anywhere in there. Huh....

What I DO see in those documents (quite a bit, in fact) revolves around what I am starting to think of as E³, Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Engagement.

 Effective

Teams that are effective are laser focused on achieving their assigned objectives and KPIs. They know that if the customer doesn’t use their products and services, they haven't done their job. They are constantly optimizing their products - adding features that customers want, tweaking channels to reach more target prospects, and refining messages so that the work that we out in the marketplace is as EFFECTIVE as possible. They know that quality is important and that risk is managed here - because a high-quality product (that contains what they want) will draw new customers and deepen the relationship with current customers. Data points that help to see if a team is effective include customer-measuring KPIs (accounts opened, assets under management, diminishment percentages, new sales leads generated, and NPS scores, just to name a few).

Efficient

Teams that are efficient are constantly striving to eliminate wasted time and resources. They pause to reflect on HOW they are working together, and they find ways to improve their interactions with each other and with their partners. They look to optimize their efforts to focus on the highest value things to work on and to be as EFFICIENT as possible in delivering them. They strive to reduce their overall cycle time not by cutting corners, but by removing non-value-added activities and eliminating wait times and delays. Data points that help to see if a team is efficient include team-specific metrics (cycle time, frequency of deployments/releases, number of defects generated, velocity, and predictability to name a few.)

Engaged

Teams that are engaged are focused on and aligned with the goals and objectives of their company, department, and team. They see a direct line between the work that they are doing today and the successes that are seen over time. They are able to speak their mind, provide input and feedback into how the team is delivering on their objectives, and feel empowered to make decisions that impact the overall quality and value being delivered. They self-organize around the most important work on their backlog.  ENGAGED team members not only hold each other accountable, but support each other - because they truly believe that "we all win together."  Data points that help to see if a team is engaged include team member specific metrics (employee engagement survey scores, turn-over rates, pulse check surveys, and Agility Health Radar scores, to name a few.)

I would humbly argue that if Agile teams focus on being Effective, Efficient and Engaged (E³) they will ultimately deliver their business outcomes FASTER and with much less RISK.  And isn't that what everyone ultimately wants?

We all win together!