Becoming Agile is like getting fit. We pay the price upfront, and the benefits only accrue later. Sure, we all know exercise is healthy, but the real benefit shows months down the road, not today.
So, many of us find a way to get fit, why can’t we do this at work?
All real improvements in any environment take time. Yet, our workplaces often echo the demand for a quick win as if surviving on a steady diet of potato chips and ice cream.
So, how do we overcome this effect?
It always starts with empathy and understanding. We need to understand what our stakeholders, senior management, and other partners need. Their needs will guide us to couch the benefits in their language.
From there, consider:
- Reduce the Time to Benefit - What small things can we do to deliver something they need sooner?
- Show the Benefit Sooner - Workplaces are obsessed with measurement, so consider using metrics that will show small changes sooner. Cycle Time (not Velocity) is a good start. Explain how this will reflect change and why it matters.
- Reduce the Cost of Change - What is the smallest change we can implement in the short term to gain a benefit? Focus on changes that will appear in the Cycle Time. Even here, set realistic expectations. Many changes take 3-4 Sprints to start having a positive effect.
- Reduce the Risk - Our brains tend to see risk as expensive. Show that the change can be easily reversed if it doesn’t work. Everett Rogers, in “Diffusions of Innovation,” showed that up to 87% of variance in adoption comes from trialability.
- Show That Others Have Overcome Similar Problems - When we see someone similar to us overcoming the problem, we realize we can solve it too.
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(No LLM was harmed in creating the picture - instead a real human worked on an index card).
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