Reimagine Agile? How about Return to Agile!

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." Robert Frost, The Poem: The Road Not Taken

In the ever-changing landscape of Agile, a movement once heralded as the beacon of insight and innovation seems to have wandered off its intended path. Agile, in its founding essence through the Manifesto, promised a revolution—a shift from the rigidity of processes and tools to the fluidity of individuals and interactions. It was a call to arms for those weary of the status quo, offering a blueprint for a more responsive, people-centric approach to project management and software development.?

I not only signed up for this movement, I became a leader and bullhorn within it. I am an inseparable part of it. I believed then, and continue still convicted today, to believe the values and principles expressed by that foundational team and moment still hold truth to power. I am proud of this.

Yet, somewhere along the journey, the Agile movement, for many of us, has inadvertently morphed into the very paradigm it sought to overthrow. Today, we find ourselves miles down the road and lost in a landscape where practices and frameworks overshadow the core values and principles that defined an Agile movement.

“I believe the best moment of Agile was 15-minutes before we signed the Agile Manifesto” Chet Hendrickson during a recent conversation about the problems with “Agile” today as remembered by me (I apologize Chet if I misquoted you)

There are others who I trust and respect who are witnessing this same landscape and where we find ourselves in it. Others I respect and trust like Joshua Kerievsky ???? with the Joy of Agile, Alistair Cockburn with the Heart of Agile, Esther Derby on organizational dynamics, Lyssa Adkins on coaching and facilitation, and who can forget Ron Jeffries? ... I could carry on. Some of them have begun to #ReimagineAgile, which is starting to shine a light on our path and landscape we find ourselves in. This emerging dialogue, spearheaded by well-intentioned thought leaders like Jim Highsmith , Heidi Musser , Jon Kern , ?? Sanjiv Augustine ?? and others, seeks to recalibrate and possibly redefine what Agile means in today's complex digital environment. While the intentions behind the Reimagining Agile initiative are commendable, and the discourse around it undoubtedly necessary, it prompts us to question—do we truly need to reimagine Agile, or is it time to reclaim and return to its foundational tenets?

Reimagine Agile? How about Return to Agile!

This is more than just a play on words; it's a clarion call to those who have witnessed Agile's drift towards becoming its own antithesis. This article is not an indictment of the movement's evolution nor a dismissal of the efforts to adapt Agile to contemporary challenges. Instead, it's an invitation to revisit the crossroads and consider which path we’ve travelled. I welcome you to join me exploring this landscape.

At a critical juncture in the Agile movement's journey, not long after its inception in 2001, we encountered a fork in the road. This divergence wasn't immediately apparent; it materialized subtly, veiled by the excitement and promise of a methodology that pledged to revolutionize the way we approach software development and project management. On one path lay the core values and principles that defined Agile—individuals and interactions over processes and tools, customer collaboration over contract negotiation, responding to change over following a plan. The other path shimmered with the allure of business opportunities: classes, coaching, certifications—a gold rush for those ready to capitalize on the burgeoning Agile wave.

I confess, I am part owner of this fork in the road. My journey has meandered through both paths, enriching me with insights and humility. In the early days of Agile and my own leadership journey, fresh-faced and eager, I embraced the framework of Scrum, not as the panacea I initially believed it to be, but as a conduit to something greater. However, my fixation on processes and tools, to the detriment of the underlying Agile values and principles, was a misstep—an over-indexing that, in time, became painfully clear to me as that leader and then later as a trainer and coach for others.

This early lesson was a turning point for me, one that has guided my philosophy over the subsequent two decades. As a leader, teacher, and coach, my mission evolved into a quest to illuminate these divergent paths for others, helping them navigate the choices before them with a clear understanding of their implications. The realization that the Agile framework was not the destination but rather a journey towards a solution reshaped my approach to leadership and guidance for leaders.

The Agile Leadership Journey lives on this fork. In one sense, we are being swept up in the "Agile is Dead" movement. Yet, in another sense, we feel called to be a voice to the "Agile has Strayed" message and that it’s time to come home. We have customers who respect and value our services and yet ask us to remove the word "Agile" as it has become soured. We hear others who say "We're Agile" as if it is a destination they have reached and their done with their journey of improvement. They've inspected, they've adapted, and now their Agile! This makes us sad. It’s not time to reimagine agile, it’s time to return to it!

Not Either-Or, Both-And

I picked up early, and have always taught a key mindset for effective agile leadership - it’s not one or the other, it's both together in balance. The same holds true for these two roads. I am under no illusion that our global capitalist society could sustain a model predicated solely on values and principles devoid of processes, tools, frameworks, and certifications. These elements are not inherently detrimental; they provide structure, scalability, and a means to disseminate knowledge. However, my conviction is that we, the collective Agile community, have ventured too far down the road of capitalism. The scales have tipped overwhelmingly in favor of commodification at the expense of the very essence of Agile.

It's time for introspection and recalibration. We must trace our steps back to that fork in the road and consider the path less traveled—the one that prioritizes people over processes, collaboration over contracts, and adaptability over rigid adherence to frameworks. This is not a call to abandon the tools and methodologies that have served us well but a plea to rebalance our approach, to realign with the Agile values and principles that once promised to transform our world.

In sharing my journey and story, I do not position myself as a paragon of Agile virtue. Far from it. I am but a fellow traveler who has navigated the highs and lows of this movement, learning and growing along the way. My hope is to serve as a beacon, however modest, guiding others towards a more balanced, value-driven interpretation of Agile. The road back to the fork is long, and the way forward is fraught with challenges, but the promise of what Agile can be—a truly transformative force in the world of work—is too great to forsake.

I am appreciative of the support on this journey with colleagues like Steve Denning , Hugo Louren?o , and our entire Agile Leadership Journey Guide Community! We'll see you at World Management Agility Forum !

Let us return, together, to the essence of Agile.