One of the seven deadly sins of Agile is sloth, and I’ve seen it manifest in various ways across teams, organisations, and leadership. It’s a pervasive issue that often goes unnoticed, yet it can severely hinder our progress towards true agility.
When we say we’re doing Agile but fail to deliver working products at the end of each Sprint, we’re not just missing the mark; we’re being lazy. Here are some common signs of sloth in Agile practices that I’ve encountered:
1. Failure to Deliver Working Software
Are teams delivering working software to real users every iteration, including the first? This is the essence of Agile. If you’re not getting ideas in front of customers and gathering feedback, you’re not doing Agile. It’s as simple as that.
2. Lack of a Product Charter
Is there a product charter that lays down the mission and strategic goals? Do all team members understand how they contribute? Without this clarity, how can we expect our teams to make informed decisions? We’re hiring smart, capable individuals, yet we’re not empowering them with the information they need. If communication is lacking, that’s sloth.
3. Ignoring User Feedback
Are you turning feedback from users into concrete work items on Sprint timelines shorter than one month? Engaging with customers and getting parts of your product in front of them shouldn’t be a Herculean task. If you’re not doing this, you’re being lazy.
4. Bureaucratic Deployment Processes
The full ecosystem of your project should be Agile. If you have Agile programming teams followed by linear bureaucratic deployments, you’re failing. It’s crucial to get the working product in front of users quickly to close feedback loops and validate assumptions. If it takes too long to deploy, you’re not being Agile.
5. Inability to Change Requirements
Are teams empowered to change their requirements based on feedback? The people doing the work should have the authority to adapt the backlog as needed. If your organisation insists on sticking to a rigid list of requirements, that’s fundamentally not Agile. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development.
6. Resistance to Process Change
Finally, are teams empowered to change their processes based on what they learn? Agile is about emergent practices and continuous adaptation. If senior leadership is unwilling to allow teams to evolve their processes, they’re missing the point of Agile.
These six indicators embody sloth in Agile. If you’re not able to do these things, it’s a sign that you’re not genuinely interested in moving towards agility. It’s time to get off your arse and fix it.
In my experience, honesty and transparency are crucial. If your product isn’t suited to Agile, or if your organisation’s structure is holding you back, it’s better to acknowledge that than to pretend otherwise.
I highly recommend checking out the article “Detecting Agile BS” from the US Department of Defense. It’s a fantastic resource that outlines these issues and provides a workflow for addressing them.
If you found this discussion valuable, please like, follow, and subscribe. I always welcome comments, and if you’d like to chat about Agile, Scrum, or DevOps, feel free to book a coffee with me through Naked Agility. Let’s work together to overcome sloth and truly embrace the Agile mindset!