Part 2: Is Agile dead? And if so, what is next?
Right now: The energy of wholeness and connection
Part 2: Wholeness and connection.
Part 3: Meritocracy, competition, and complacency – the death of good products.
Part 5: Product, leadership, Change
Introduction
Please take a deep breath. This is not a meditation but I invite you to do it anyway. Adjust your position so you’re in connection with your inner self. Just breath and reconnect to your core. If you find the directional nature of my article challenging, notice this, and let that go too. Just be.
If you have read the last article, you might notice what type of energy it is written in. It is the energy of the individual. It is from the I space.
I wrote this like that as the article is the past and present.
I started with my credentials, and then went through my experience pointing out who had done what throughout the history of agility and then ended up with a statement about complexity and how it is not going away.
This is the energy of I.
Now let’s shift, to the energy of WE.
This article is from the WE space. This shift to WE is happening and will continue to emerge as we grow to meet complexity as a friend.
So much trouble in the world comes from us not being in connection with the feminine, not honouring the feminine, and not finding the balance inside each of us. If you don’t like the terms masculine and feminine, you can think of directing and nurturing, active and receptive. Either way, a balance is needed to move forward.
Think of the incredible things we humans have achieved. Our civilisations, our science, our spiritual exploration, and our deep, deep connections with each other, our children, and our passions, pets, hobbies, and the never-ending reach to be better than we are already. Humans rock!
We continue to grow. If we are like a plant, or a tree, what do we need now, to grow to our potentials? What garden would we need?
What organisations can do that for us? How are WE going to change them so that they do?
Love is a word rarely used in the workplace. Have you ever wondered why that is?
We might say ‘I love my work’, but we don’t look to love each other. I am not talking about sexual love or romantic love. I am talking about real heart connection with people you spend most of your lives being with.
How many of us really look at someone else. Really look. Take the time to see. See they have hopes and fears and dreams, and are most likely terrified of exactly the same things you are. The masculine protects us, but it hides our love too. It hides what being human is all about. Balance of connection is required. This is so much needed in our lives. Balance of the masculine and feminine inside each one of us. So we can feel again. Be scared again. Be happy and joyous again. And be connected again.
An organisation is usually set up for purpose. For doing something. When the masculine energy is all dominant, then it is a singular minded purpose. When we balance these energies of active and receptive, we can create organisations that grow us. Where we can belong. We find harmony both within and with our environment.
I have seen many people on LinkedIn posting saying ‘Stop calling us a family’ at work. In my opinion this is exactly the wrong message. Instead, maybe we could say, ‘How do we become a family?’. Why are we separating our work as a money-making endeavour only?
As organisational change agents, we cannot afford to work only for money. We must stand for a higher ideal. This cannot be lost with the ending of a few words such as ‘agile’, and ‘transformation’.
The only credential you need to have an opinion is that you are alive. You are welcome. You matter. You are heard. That is the very beginning of where we need to go to move towards solving complex problems and it is happening.
This is the essence of collaboration, and the second mindset belief, and at the heart of the next article which I will bring in more of where agility is heading.
Breath. Enjoy. You are alive. And you do matter.
Read next: Part 3: Meritocracy, competition, and complacency – the death of good products.
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Thanks, that's the perspective I needed. When one of the CEOs I work with said that the mission is the most important, I knew I could agree to some extent. But it surprised me how he could miss the feminine aspect.
I like the article. To add to that, you have mentioned about SAFe. The one thing that all the people involved in SAFe implementation I was experimenting with some time ago found valuable was the PI Planning. They appreciate meeting, exchanging what they do in their teams, and sharing knowledge. It leads to limited redundancies, which may lead to money loss in big organizations.