There was a discussion thread on LinkedIn initiated by Barry Overeem that led with—
"Agile Coaches / Scrum Masters should be willing to get fired." 💥
Agile coaches often look at this statement from two binary perspectives. Either we—
Challenge the status quo.
Speak truth to power.
Challenge leadership.
Call out the problems.
Complain a lot and usually get fired…
Or we—
Are pickled by the brine.
Keep our mouths shut.
Do the best we can.
Avoid challenging leaders and stakeholders.
But complain quietly and usually get bitter…
I’m not sure I see it as a binary choice, but many seem to. That said, I wanted to share two insightful comments that Huy Nguyen made to the post.
Here’s the first—
You can’t be constantly complaining though because if you want to last, you need influence, you need to understand the local politics. Discretion is not just the better part of valor but also to go at the client’s speed so that they’re not overwhelmed otherwise you get into change fatigue. Being a constant complainer is a fast way to get dismissed as a helper.
For the majority of my work in the last 10 years, change fatigue already set in before I even got there. Agile is already seen as the next business fad.
So, it’s important to be very sensitive and make sure whatever change is needed that the impact and value is direct and tangible. Not always easy picking out the right thing it even finding it. This is where a broader systems thinking mindset is critical.
And here’s the mic-drop follow-up—
The bottom line is that from a reverse perspective, if you aren’t creating change or if things aren’t improving, you’re going to eventually be out of a job. Your job IS to change things and if the changes aren’t adopted or rejected, you’re not delivering in any value.
This is why it feels risky, because you will be taking change experiments that fall outside of people’s norms and comfort zone. Go too far and your head will get cut off. Too little and you’re wasting money. Finding the Goldilocks zone can require a lot of skill, experience, and humility.
It struck me as the proper response to the post: There is a balancing act to be struck. Going too far in one direction or the other will probably result in the same outcome—minimal results and potential firing.
However, the well-rounded and experienced coaches seem to be able to find the Goldilocks Zone!
Stay agile, and balanced, my friends,
Bob.