Change isn’t easy. Even a minor change can feel like a major inconvenience. Starbucks is out of gluten-free almond milk? Day, week, life—RUINED. So, don’t be shocked when you’re finally implementing Agile into your organization and a bunch of legacy employees start popping up wondering what you’re doing on their lawn.
Before you get frustrated or panicked, know that this happens and that there are ways to combat it. Hell, even Socrates knew what’s up—The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.
1. Expose the problem.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” goes the old adage. It’s a fair point. But in business, it’s often that people don’t understand the problem that needs to be solved or don’t see a problem in the first place.
If they’re not aware of a problem and they don’t desire a change then they won’t adapt. So, find the problem and expose it to create a sense of urgency.
The key here is to be completely transparent about what you see as the main issue and relying on data to make your case. If it’s uncontroversial that your organization faces a specific problem, the task of fixing it (using Agile) gains immediate value.
2. Start at the end.
Knowing that there is a problem that needs to be fixed is an important step. But some problems are intractable and difficult to solve. There may not be an appetite for a radical change in tactics to solve a problem for which there is no obvious solution. Connect some of the solutions of scrum to show how that problem could be solved. What could Scrum solve and how?
Starting at the end means showing how the product should turn out with the use of Scrum practices. The goal is to motivate stakeholders to give those practices a try.
3. Let the glass break.
There is another rhetorical option available, though. Suppose you see a problem that you know needs solving. Some type of noncatastrophic failure is imminent. But the champions of legacy processes will stand in the way of an Agile approach.
Let the glass break. Let the consequences of the obvious failure percolate throughout the organization. At that stage, you’ll be well-positioned to make a case that Scrum could have solved the problem, and prevent future problems of the same type.
Stepping away and letting mistakes happen is, of course, not an easy thing to do. And it’s the kind of thing that you probably shouldn’t do in all circumstances. But once the glass is broken, people will be forced to acknowledge that it was avoidable. That makes it easier to motivate transformational change.
4. Stop using trigger words.
Stop using words like “Agile” and “Scrum.” Using this language can potentially alienate listeners, sometimes rubbing them the wrong way or even scaring them off completely because they are sometimes viewed with suspicion. This is especially true by those hostile to large-scale organizational change.
Instead, talk about business. Talk about how to mitigate risk. Talk about the specifics of change requests. You should be able to articulate all Scrum-based transformation processes without using any of the trigger words that may cause people to retreat. Once you have their buy-in, then you can say, “I have the solution and it’s called Scrum.”
5. Don’t half-ass it.
We’re just going to say it—taking one class (or even three) and thinking you can guide your organization through an Agile transformation is a tiny bit presumptuous.
Get help from experts. Period. For big projects to be successful and to get buy-in from your colleagues you’re going to need to rely on someone with in-depth knowledge of Scrum. You’re going to want the advice and expertise of people who’ve effected successful Agile transformation–more than once.
When it comes to Scrum experts, you have options. You need a partner, and there are lots to choose from. It doesn’t have to be us, but… You are already here… And truth be told, there are plenty of good reasons you should choose to rely on the expertise of Responsive Advisors.
Agile is a mindset. Often, implementing Scrum practices requires changing people’s minds. The team at Responsive Advisors believes that Agile transformation starts with awareness and subsequently builds desire for change. We have expertise in steering even the most recalcitrant organizations toward Agile.
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