Improvement Versus Delivery

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Choose ‘AND’ instead of ‘OR’

Leadership: Balance of two options at the same time
Balance both sides

During Agile transformations, I often hear managers say, “We have to be careful about experimenting with new Agile techniques for improvement as they come at a cost to feature delivery.” This thinking is short-sighted and does not demonstrate leadership. Improvement is a critical value for leadership in an Agile transformation as mentioned in the post, “Do We Need a Manifesto for Managers.”

There is always a tension between delivery and continuous improvement. A management mindset will view improvement and iteration as a threat to delivering the scope within a known budget or timeline. Leadership, however, embraces change, supporting the team as they adapt incrementally to refine their delivery approach. Continuous improvement is an investment for a long-lived, stable team that will pay off in the long run to enable the effective delivery of high-quality features. Continuous improvement and delivery must co-exist. Successful delivery depends on it.

Jim Collins wrote about the “Genius of the AND” and the “Tyranny of the OR” in his book, Built to Last.1 In 1997, Sapient had all of its employees read this book. This concept of the “Genius of the AND” stuck with me, and I have used it frequently over the years. It is extremely relevant for managers supporting an Agile transformation. Jim’s extensive research shows that to achieve greatness, leaders must reject the “Tyranny of the OR” and embrace the “Genius of the AND,” wholly executing two seemingly opposing options at the same time without dilution of either option. As leaders of Agile teams, this is applicable in many scenarios as you face the task of engendering team trust and ownership, such as:

  • How can leaders ensure a successful outcome AND still allow the team to grow and transform?
  • How can the team go in the right direction that leadership desires AND self-organize around the solution?
  • How can we operate in a model where the product owner decides AND we develop a mindset of collective product ownership within the team?
  • How can the team learn AND at the same time be self-organizing?

F. Scott Fitzgerald stated the goal succinctly:

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”

How can you achieve the “Genius of the AND” in your pursuit of self-organizing, effective, and ever-evolving teams? Let me know your story on finding the “Genius of the AND.”


References

  1. Built to Last, Jim C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras 1994, 1997, Genius of the AND concept

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