'Common Sense Agile'​: (Empowered) People First

By: Nicola L. Brown

A colleague of mine, Angelee Crooks, taught me that Agile is, perhaps in its truest form, common sense and that has always resonated with me. After all, it makes sense to hire competent people and empower them to do the job. But, from my observations, some seem to fear that such an act of empowering others, inherently requires that they will need to relinquish their own power. The result, in an effort to limit this effect, is to create hierarchical structures, which go against Agile’s 'common sense' principles and, ultimately, what it truly means to be agile. 

Though I understand that such a shift is not easy, my initial response to anyone who feels like they are in a similar situation is to say  that - "It’s not about you".  And even that statement feels, intrinsically, anti-agile, as, of course, agile is about people – the people who are carrying out the job and the people who use the outputs from these jobs.

It sounds harsh, yes and it’s definitely a hard truth to face. It requires a deliberate effort to change one’s mindset and overall approach to work, stepping down from the helm and giving your people the opportunity to decide ‘how’ to get the job done. Taken a step further, making it safe for them to fail. It requires changing how you see people, as well as how you interact with them, trusting them to get the job done.

And this is just one of the things I love about Agile. It challenges the whole dynamic of the workplace by emphasizing the value of people, ‘Individuals and interactions over processes and tools’. (Yes - no longer is it even correct, political or otherwise, to refer to your people as resources.)

Agile does an excellent job of reminding us that our teams are made up of people; living, breathing humans with thoughts, ideas, emotions and ‘common sense’. 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on your own experience or observations regarding empowering people in an Agile space. Share with me below.