The paradox of influence: The harder you push, the less influence you have. You know what changes are needed, but your team resists.
It’s FRUSTRATING.
You want your team to practice Scrum. You know it will help them be more effective and spark joy. Yet they resist. Why? Reactance or Loss of Autonomy. Humans are wired to crave the freedom to make their own choices. As a manager, when you dictate Scrum (or Kanban), you’re stripping away their autonomy. Even worse, you’re contradicting a fundamental Agile principle:
“Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.”
Your team can sense the contradiction from a mile away. (Shouldn’t that be 1.6km away?)
Adding to the challenge, we all possess an anti-persuasion radar. Even when we’re inclined to agree, we resist when our autonomy feels threatened.
Want to Avoid Reactance?
For managers introducing Scrum to new teams, try framing it like this: “Our organization is undergoing significant changes, and part of that involves delivering high-quality, working software every two weeks. We have options like Scrum, Kanban, XP, or we could even come up with a new approach. How can we decide together?” (Adapt this language if you’re not in software development).
#YourTurn - Have you ever triggered reactance in your team? How did you manage to turn it around?
#Influence #Ship30For30