Agile Coaching is Dead
Or at least on Life Support
As someone who—
Still calls himself an Agile Coach
Wrote a book called Extraordinarily Badass Agile Coaching
Runs a Masterclass workshop on Agile Coaching
And still actively coaches at the Organizational and Leadership levels
And while the ‘title’ may be under challenge, the SKILLS of highly performant, effective Agile Coaches continue to deliver value AND are desperately needed in today’s organizations.
That is—Agile Coaching is NOT Dead!
What is (Hopefully) Dead includes—
Professional Coaches focused on Agile contexts.
Under-skilled Agile Coaches who lack value-based domain skills.
Individuals who have many certifications but little real-world experience.
Agile Coaches who are (were) chasing the money without considering their client’s best interest.
And sadly, I suspect these folks make up approximately 80% of the current market of Scrum Masters, Change Agents, RTEs, and Agile Coaches of various types.
The good news is that the market is filtering these folks out.
What should you do if you fall into this category?
What’s that old joke…
Bend over and kiss your ass goodbye 😉
But seriously, if you are well-intentioned and simply under-skilled, then you’re in real trouble. I think the best answer is to pivot to another role or career that aligns with your deeper skills.
But, if you’re stuck on trying to be an Agile Coach, then you'd better buckle up, buttercup, because you’re in for a bumpy ride!
And you don’t have much time to reskill.
Leverage AI as much as you can. Not to become an expert in AI, but to quickly increase your human skill set. And beyond that, you need to get some real-world experience.
How? I don’t know.
Perhaps you take a “less-than” job at a reduced pay rate.
Perhaps you find some mentors/coaches who will pair with you.
Perhaps you find a company that will take you on as a junior or in an apprenticeship capacity.
In all these cases, and more, you’ll probably need to humble yourself a bit and control your ego.
Wrapping Up
In closing, I thought I’d share this post by Nigel Thurlow.
Again, Agile Coaching is not dead.
But your ability to deliver as an Agile Coach might be. Now is the time to take a serious look in the mirror, make an honest assessment, and determine whether you have what it takes. Now and into the future.
Stay agile, my friends,
Bob.
Whatever your role or experience, life in the agile space can be challenging today. Having someone to serve as your coach, as a sounding board, a truthteller, and a trusted partner on tap to leverage during those tricky bits can be helpful. That’s precisely where Agile Moose can help you.
We’re not just an Agile Coach, but a business domain expert, a personal advisor, an organizational design and development consultant, and a leadership coach and partner.
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Sharp distinction between the title dying and the skillset mattering. That gap between what people call themselves and what they can actualy deliver shows up everywhere, not just in Agile. I've noticed consultants with every certification imaginable struggling with basic client converstions. The filtering process is brutal but probably necessary, even if it means some good people get caught in teh sweep.