Why Agile Fails Without People-Centric Change Management

Agile is built on principles of collaboration, adaptability, and empowerment, yet many organisations fall into the trap of imposing rigid frameworks and processes onto teams without their involvement. This top-down approach, which I also discuss in my article regarding the Agile Industrial Complex, often undermines the very values that make agile successful.

Why would teams embrace a change they haven’t helped shape, especially when the benefits aren’t clear, or worse, when there are no tangible benefits to them?

Drawing on my own experience and the principles of the ADKAR model, this article explores why involving people in shaping change initiatives is critical to successful agile adoption. ADKAR, developed by Prosci, provides a valuable framework for understanding and managing change. However, without a people-first approach, even the best frameworks are destined to fall short.

Prosci (a global change management company) has a philosophy for this model:

“Organisational changes often fail because employees don’t understand the importance of getting on board the change or how to successfully make the change. They simply understand that a change is happening. And leaders are often not equipped to engage individuals effectively during the change and to manage any potential resistance.”

ADKAR breaks down as:

A - Awareness of the need for change

D - Desire to participate and support the change

K - Knowledge on how to change

A - Ability to implement desired skills and behaviours

R — Reinforcement to sustain the change

ADKAR can be a useful tool, but it is essential that organisations involve their teams in shaping change initiatives, to ensure successful implementation.

I think ADKAR can be a useful tool for Leaders in:

• Diagnosing employee resistance to change
• Helping employees transition through the change
• Creating a successful action plan for personal and professional advancement during a change initiative
• Developing a change management plan for your people
• Evolving the change management plan for your people

For teams and individuals ADKAR can to useful in understanding:

• What the change means to them
• What are the benefits to them
• What are the challenges they see to implementing the change
• Have they got all the information they need to implement / apply the change?
• What do they need to ensure the change is sustainable

If teams can assess the above and have the means to communicate their feedback to change leaders, this can help shape an organisation's approach to change implementation. The model below emphasises these steps in more detail.

Awareness (Pre-contemplation) -?

• Awareness represents a person’s understanding of the nature of change, why the change is being made and the risk of not changing
• Awareness includes information about the internal and external drivers that created the need for change, as well as ‘what’s in it for me?’
• This first goal is defined as ‘awareness of the need for change,’ not simply ‘awareness that a change is happening’, this is an important distinction

Desire (Contemplation) -?

• Desire represents the willingness to support and engage in a change
• Desire is ultimately about a personal choice that is influenced by the nature of the change, and personal circumstances

Knowledge (Preparation) -

• Knowledge represents the information, training and education necessary to know how to change
• The knowledge that each impacted individual needs to implement a change which includes -

Ability (Action) -

• Ability is turning knowledge into action
• Ability means tangibly applying and demonstrating intellectual understanding in a real-world environment
• Change leaders impact organisational success by intentionally providing time, resources and coaching to help impacted employees develop new skills and behaviours

Reinforcement (Maintenance) -

• Reinforcement is the final and most critical milestone
• While making a change is hard, sustaining a change over the long term is even more difficult
• It is human nature to revert to what we know
• Emerging brain function research suggests we are physiologically wired to return to our most comfortable and familiar state

Assessing the culture shift

In the context of agile adoption at the team level or agile transformation at the department or company level, a culture shift is essential but often difficult to define. Before implementing any change, it’s crucial to conduct discovery and assessment activities with teams and individuals to clearly understand the current or "from" state. This foundation allows organisations to effectively map out the desired future or "to" state, creating a roadmap for meaningful and sustainable transformation.

Article ‘Doing vs. Being: Practical lessons on building an agile culture’ by Nikola Jurisic et al of McKinsey

Final Thoughts

Agile adoption and transformation require more than just processes and frameworks; they demand a cultural shift that engages and empowers people at every level of the organisation. The ADKAR model offers a valuable lens for diagnosing resistance, supporting transitions, and sustaining change. But as leaders, we must go a step further: involve teams in shaping the change itself.

By fostering open communication, mapping the journey from the current state to the future state, and addressing the “what’s in it for me?” question, organisations can create an environment where agile thrives, not as a process to be followed, but as a mindset to be embraced.

Ultimately, successful change isn’t imposed; it’s co-created. And in the context of agile, co-creation is the key to unlocking the full potential of teams, driving sustainable transformation, and ensuring that innovation becomes a way of life.

A Little Disclaimer:

My words are my own.? Whilst Chat GPT and other AI tools are amazing resources to check my grammar, suggest better formatting and provide catchy headlines when the brain fog sets it, it cannot provide verifiable data without substantiation. It cannot replace experience or the passions and inspirations which fuel our professional lives. Any data and trends I have included have been substantiated via the sources I provide.? The insights given in this article are based on my +21 years professional experience, my +6 years in senior leadership roles in The UAE and my own wide-ranging research.? If this article has resonated with you please feel free to comment and share, feedback is always welcome and appreciated.