You’re overcomplicating agile

At the heart of most “Agile” organisations and transformations lies a fixation on framework and methodology adoption, which often overlooks the fundamental principle of “agility”: risk reduction.

This misplaced focus can lead to a plethora of problems, including increased bureaucracy, stifled innovation, and a lack of true agility.

The fundamental risk-reduction questions

When we strip away the cookie-cutter implementation patterns of “Agile,” we’re left with three fundamental risk-reduction questions:

• How do we deliver value incrementally?
• How do we learn from those increments?
• How do we remain adaptable to execute on those learnings?

These questions serve as the foundation for any successful Agile transformation, yet they’re often neglected in favour of rigid processes and methodologies inspired by some off the shelf “implementation” of agile.

The Misguided Pursuit of Agility

In most enterprise Agile implementations, organisations are increasing their risk surface area, not reducing it. The proliferation of documentation requirements (definitions of done), rigid processes (release processes, devops as a job title, dwindling team autonomy) and multi-layered approval gates for change reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of what drives high-performing teams. This approach not only hinders agility but also…