My Teams Don’t Want to Be Agile
Overcoming Learned Helplessness
I hear this story incredibly often—
A leadership team engages in an agile transformation.
They bring in some training and coaching for their teams.
They give the “car keys” to the team (empowerment, self-direction, decision-making, autonomy, etc.)
And…
The team doesn’t respond to it. Nothing changes. The team doesn’t take the opportunity and run. They’re still looking to be told what to do.
The Leaders Response
Why aren’t the teams changing how they work?
The teams don’t want to be “Agile.”
Agile doesn’t work.
The experiment failed and I need to step back into my traditional Command and Control mode.
What’s going on here?
One possibility is the notion of—learned helplessness. That is—
Learned helplessness occurs when an individual continuously faces a negative, uncontrollable situation and stops trying to change their circumstances, even when they have the ability to do so. For example, a smoker may repeatedly try and fail to quit. He may grow frustrated and come to believe that nothing he does will help, and therefore he stops trying altogether. The perception that one cannot control the situation essentially elicits a passive response to the harm that is occurring.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/learned-helplessness#
How do Leader’s “Cure” Learned Helplessness in Agile Teams?
By—
Providing Psychological Safety
Helping their teams to build their resiliency.
Being patient, and do not revert to the status quo too soon.
Getting out of the way…Really getting out of the way.
Coaching individuals within the team toward trust and empowerment.
Modeling the behaviors you want the team to exhibit.
Did I say to be patient?
What if the team still doesn’t move?
It’s not a team problem.
It’s a you (as leader, leadership, style, hierarchy, and culture) problem.
As such, an excellent first step is to look in the mirror with your coach to determine the behaviors and cultural dynamics preventing individuals and teams from stepping into their empowerment.
Then, begin to shift your actions to reduce those barriers.
While hard to do, it’s that simple.
Stay agile, my friends,
Bob.
A recent newsletter from Geoff Watts also shared on learned helplessness. You might find it of interest.
Yes, and: Check the incentives that the current set of rules provides. Even a great leadership team will not turn things around only by individual behavior. Plus, measure how leaders react once teams make decisions they do not agree with. :)
Great topic. When people aren’t doing what we think they should be doing, it’s definitely worth thinking about what’s behind the resistance. And you’re dead right that it’s not on them, it’s on you. As a leader it’s up to you to re-empower them. And it’s important to remember that just as they didn’t become learned helpless overnight, they won’t become empowered action-takers overnight. Coaching your team to lead and think is one of the most critical roles of a leader.