The AI Bandwagon
Let me start this article with some caveats—
No, I’m not an AI expert. I’ve been using a few tools for class content generation and to help me with some challenges in my personal life. So, I’m not illiterate, but perhaps a novice.
No, I’m not saying that AI is irrelevant or something that will pass. It’s not. It’s a compelling yet scary part of our future, particularly the human work displacement aspects.
No, I’m not promoting AI as the answer to everything, and I'm not currently trying to monetize it or promote my expertise. Nor am I writing a book on the topic—thank goodness.
Now, onto the point.
I saw the following exchange on LinkedIn.
Jürgen Appelo wrote an interesting piece entitled – The Age of AI Will Reveal the True Agilists.
James Bach commented on Jurgen’s LinkedIn share of the article with this—
No Jurgen, adapting to change is not "literally the point" of Agile. The point of Agile is building useful and pleasing things for people in a world where we expect their needs and desires to change. We build with THAT kind of change in mind.
That's not the same thing as saying that Agile requires us to accept any and every silly and childish idea about engineering that comes down the line from random billionaires who have only their own interests in mind.
You sound like you are on an AI-fueled hallucination about software engineering. And, on some level you know this, because otherwise, why the defensiveness? You say you have an "unapologetic take." In other words, you know what you are saying is controversial, but you choose to dismiss your peers who have concerns about AI.
You say you have spent hours a day with AI. Okay. So have I, at times. I haven't spent as much time as you, because I judge it to be largely a waste of my time. I have real work to do. But I have practiced with it and run experiments with it just as you have. How come I see a lot of problems and you see no problems at all that you are willing to talk about?
Thought leaders should behave more responsibly than that, Jurgen.
Thought leaders…Know Better!
I’ve had a storied past with James Bach. Sometimes we agree, often we agree to disagree, and occasionally we passionately disagree. But all that said, I respect James’ experience and thinking. In this case, I wholeheartedly agree with him.
His comment makes an essential point for Jurgen and ALL AI thought leaders to consider.
How come I see a lot of problems and you see no problems at all that you are willing to talk about?
Thought leaders should behave more responsibly than that, Jurgen.
Not only am I seeing the problem that James is alluding to with Jurgen, but I’m seeing it much more broadly.
I think thought leaders (Jurgen being one, myself, James, and many others) must behave more responsibly and balancedly when adopting new technologies or approaches. Our words carry so much weight because of our privilege that a balanced and thoughtful approach is required instead of an all-in, this is the best thing since sliced bread, one-sided approach.
In this case, I think of it as Bandwagon-itis.
Second Point, The Bandwagon
Josh Anderson and I spent quite a lot of time on our latest Metacast talking about AI. It was a bit of a future cast around our experience and where we think it might be going.
However, the more critical discussion was likening the emergence of AI to the emergence of Agile. That is—
It was the latest BIG thing.
Every leader wanted to “GO Agile” as soon as possible.
Authors and pundits immediately began writing books and sharing at conferences.
It was the ONLY way to build software.
Consultants came out of the woodwork claiming expertise and the ability to help organizations achieve it easily.
Suddenly, everyone was an Agile Coach, mostly largely clueless about what that meant.
Remarkably, we see the same bandwagon patterns emerging in the AI space! Many expert pundits use AI for much of their punditry, which is something we didn’t necessarily see in the Agile bandwagon.
In Agile, it was easier to discern the fakes from the real thought leaders. In this new AI space, it’s so much harder. But they can be and should be discerned with hard work, human research, and thoughtfulness.
Wrapping Up
I found Jurgen’s article valuable and primarily on point. My issue is mainly with the balance.
Here are a few recommendations for your AI journey (remember my disclaimers from above 😉)—
Be careful about which AI thought leaders you are listening to. Not all know what they’re talking about; many have become “experts” within the last year or so. It can be incredibly dangerous to follow advice from these so-called experts. Instead, look for deeper, measured, balanced experience in your guides.
Bandwagons are incredibly exciting in the beginning. Look at the beginning and path for Agility. That said, not all things are perfect, and soon the youthful enthusiasm will be tempered with experience, failures, and deeper learning. So, remain balanced. Agile wasn’t the end-all to Waterfall, and AI isn’t the end-all of human work.
Balance is a keyword here. If your sources of information don’t discuss their recommendations' pitfalls, tradeoffs, and risks, they are unbalanced and possibly snake oil salespeople. Beware of those who are out of balance.
As much as I would like to, AI can’t be ignored. That said, I would recommend that you practice with as many tools as make sense to you. Try to leverage AI as
An AI partner
An AI colleague
An AI sounding board
An AI mentor
An AI assistant
Not only in your work or professional life, but also in your personal life. Particularly, pay attention to asking it to help you on your continuous learning and growth journey—in other words, developing your HI (human intelligence).
Stay agile and human, my friends,
Bob.
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When did two respected agile leaders start speaking by each other so much. What happened to Marshall Rosenberg's NVC? From Jurgern I hear: I am using all this provocative language and hyperbole so that I can triangulate a new audience and size a market for my hypothesis of AI aided agile. For me that theory sounds doable as long as it includes KPIs for rewarding, fun work. (Passions!). From Bob, I hear, AI and agile seem not in sync at all. It affects my busines and I have to take the moral high ground. What I really hear is: How do I port the principles of agile in a AI world that is confusing. My take: let's work better together (the 3 of us) and have a healthy conversation over Google meet to see how we can move things forward. Much better than reading past words sometimes co-penned by AI.
As a second generation Agile Coach, I owe a ton of my learning journey to both of you. You both are thought leaders who have helped countless Agilists deepen their surface knowledge to truly develop an Agile mindset.
To be candid, I think both of you have done a disservice and haven’t acted like true thought leaders.
Bob - I think you’re correct to draw similarities between the explosion of Agile and AI. However, what I think you missed in your article is the part about we are Coaches first and the domain is secondary. Agilists first, and our domain is secondary. Applied Agile and AI our secondary domains to both what is represented in the Agile Mindset of values and principles, and our role as coaches. (I know this largely learning from your works and teaching.)
Jurgen - It’s poor form to show disappointment or offense when someone criticizes your public thought leadership. If you’re posting on Bob’s substack, you already know he is a thoughtful and genuine person who advocates for what he knows is best, from his point of views.
We need the both of you to lend your thought leadership of interactions and individuals through collaboration and discussion to reach a shared understanding of what is impacting our world of Agile, shrinking as it is, and the emergence of AI, whether fade or Terminus.
Do better. Please, there’s a lot at stake, and now is no time for the A team to be in penalty box.