Beware! Zombies Approaching!
This agile coach was investing some time in himself this weekend and came across an article that warned of a topic he is aware of, and indeed himself has experienced- Zombie Agility!
- Agile teams that are joyless and robotic - executing the events without really ever really
connecting with the work (or talking about their customer) - All of the boxes are checked and you're "doing" Agile - but not really seeing the business results
- Backlogs are still highly dependent on command and control approvals (you're still asking your Advisory Council for approval to move forward)
- Outside dependencies that cause constant reshuffling of team's priorities
- Teams are getting lackluster results and have disengaged people
As Eric Cottrell puts it -
Zombie Agility takes over when the goal of an organization is simply to “go Agile.” Whenever Agile becomes the goal, expect a zombie epidemic. Surprise! It doesn’t just happen at the start of an Agile transformation.
If you've been through a workshop, or an onboarding, or a leader lab, or any other of our countless sessions, you've heard the phrase "agile is a mindset" over and over again. It's a way of working - and not an end state. Agile doesn't tell you how to make campaigns, or write software or build products - it tells us how we should behave while we're doing those things. It's a way of thinking about our customer, our partners, our teammates and our work. Agility is the how we approach our work, the customer and our business outcomes is the why we do our work. It can be easy to get so focused on doing agile - that we forget to actually be agile. (Take a minute and think about that last phrase - let it sink in - it's important!)
The Why Is Important
If you haven't ever been asked "why are we changing?"- Well then shame on us as coaches - because it should be the very first question that we ask. If the answer isn't some variant of "we want / need to do better for our customer," then you're running the risk of starting a zombie epidemic.
On the topic of Zombie Scrum, Barry Overeem, Johannes Schartau and Christiaan Verwijs write -
The number one cause of Zombie Scrum, however, is that most organizations and teams don’t have a clue as to why they are doing Scrum. We often hear reasons like...
"We are doing Scrum because our Agile Coach said this was a great idea."
"The CEO was promised an increase in productivity of 400%."
"All our competitors are using it as well."
"If we don’t increase our agility, we'll become the next Blockbuster or Kodak."
None of those answers are focused on customer outcomes - and all are - in my (not so) humble estimation - based in fear. Fear of falling behind. Fear of obsolescence. Fear of not doing what the CEO says. Fear of disappointing the Agile Coach (ok - is this even a real thing???) Fear of not doing what the cool kids are doing.
My very real coaching question for you is to ask yourself (two questions actually) -
- Why are we changing?
- Why are you changing?
Go off to your safe place and have an honest conversation with yourself. Glance to the Agile Values and Principles that are taped to the wall next to your monitor and think about why you are on this agile journey. Are you doing agile because someone told you to? Are you doing agile because you're afraid if you don't, you'll become irrelevant? Knowing the why of why we (and you) are changing is your best inoculation against a Zombie Agile outbreak.
Afraid You're At Risk?
Have no fear - it's not too late! The good news is, the vaccine against and the cure for a Zombie Agility outbreak are the same -
Start with a conversation
Talk to your team. Talk to your boss. Talk to your leader. Talk to your Scrum Master. Talk to your coach. Talk about why we as an organization are changing. Talk about why you as an individual are changing. Talk about the value we can unlock by being agile as a business, as a team, as team members. Talk about the Agile Values and Principles, and how we can apply them to our work. Ask about our Business Outcomes (this is the "Effective" of the E3 model") and how being agile improves our likelihood of achieving them.
Challenge yourself and your team
As Eric Cottrell puts it (again) - "Zombie Agility is lazy. It avoids hard work..." so be vigilant. Are your team metrics focused on your business outcomes as well as your "velocity, predictability and throughput?" If not - challenge your team to put those metrics front and center. Are you reviewing your team's roadmap with your Product (or Marketing) Owner on a regular basis? Are you refining 2-3 sprints worth of backlog items - so everyone is aware of what's on the team's plate going forward? Are your retrospectives resulting in new (and prioritized) backlog items - either to improve your product, or improve your team's performance? Don't give the Zombie Agility virus a chance to infiltrate your team!
Build Your Firewall
Leaders and managers can play a key role in repelling the Zombie Agility virus! Are you celebrating your team’s wins? Are you focused on the business results they are delivering (or are you relentlessly concerned about their cycle time?) Are you encouraging them to test and learn (and then celebrating the learnings?) Are you pressure testing decisions - think "I intend to … Very well..." - if you saw the David Marquette video - you know what I'm talking about (or are you giving orders and issuing approvals at every step of the way?) Are you empowering them to solve their own problems (or are you still the "go to" when it comes to issues and challenges?) Nothing protects a team from the Zombie Agility virus like strong agile leadership.
A healthy dose of these three antidotes can stop an outbreak in its tracks, reverse the course of the virus and keep your teams and your business healthy and growing - but vigilance is required. Keep up these treatments - make them a part of your daily routine - make them a part of our culture - and we can eradicate this virus so future generations of agile teams can be Effective, Efficient and Engaged!
We all win together.
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