How steady are you in a storm?
The moment of truth is a crucial time for a leader. When the stakes are high and pressure is mounting, how you react is critical to your Agile transformation. As a leader, your people are watching these moments of truth. The choice you make can either halt and reverse your trajectory or accelerate your forward momentum.
“In calm water, every ship has a good captain.”
—Grover Cleveland
Many things might trigger these difficult times—external pressures from business partners or customers, the comforting call of familiar traditional management techniques, or out-of-the-ordinary emergency situations.
When decisions are made in these moments that are contrary to the Agile values and principles we are striving for in the transformation, we take a big step back. Trust in the change is eroded, and the transformation is seen as optional in times of crisis. Often, it takes us back to zero and requires significant, valuable time to recover.
Some key moments of truth I have frequently witnessed along with their impact on the transformation are shown in Figure A.
Moment of Truth 1: Being absent or late to a critical decision
When a leader is not present when a critical decision is made and then re-enters the situation after decision time, a natural reaction is to feel left out, unheard, and not included in the decision-making.
If this leader has a history in traditional management, the fear of losing control can creep in and adversely affect the situation. Management tendencies start to emerge, blocking action until the manager’s input is considered. This erodes the trust of the team and compels the team to stop taking ownership. Agile transformation is reversed.
Guidance
The best way to avoid these feelings of being left out is to show up and be on time for key decisions. If being absent or late can’t be avoided, you must trust the team has made the correct decision and support them in executing the decided course of action. Even more important, if the decision takes the team down the wrong path, support them in getting back on the right path. Whatever you do, don’t take control of the situation.
Moment of Truth 2: Prioritizing dates when they are not a priority
Most traditional management approaches treat dates as king. Setting the date occurs without any realistic estimates from the team. Management might set an aggressive date in order to motivate the team to work harder. The team receives pressure to do whatever it takes to meet the date, creating an unsustainable pace.
In reality, dates are rarely set in stone as hard constraints except for regulatory requirements or when preparing for a fixed date event. Also, dates do not motivate the team to work harder; they often motivate the team to cut corners on quality and demonstrate other undesired behaviors. Given that software development is an iterative, creative, and unpredictable endeavor, setting a date is a risky proposition.
Usually, date pressure comes from an external source. Stakeholders or customers are anxious for the product to launch. They eagerly ask you, the leader, when it will be delivered. When under this pressure to give an answer, setting a date for the team is the worst thing you can do. It erodes the team’s trust and moves you back into command and control behavior.
Guidance
It is at this moment in the hot seat, that you must not set a date. Be like Apple here. Don’t reveal your launch date regardless of how many times asked. Guard it with your life. When your team has delivered and is done, then you discuss the launch date. Invite your interested stakeholders or customers to your Sprint Review to see the product come together as you deliver it. There is too much uncertainty in software to set a date. This is especially true if the date has no input from the development team.
Moment of Truth 3: Not trusting the team to do this on their own
The team is inexperienced in what they are doing. The fear of potential failure hits you. What will happen in your performance review if your team fails? Will the customers get angry and go to your competition?
Traditional management behavior would have you take control of the situation and manage the team to success. This will destroy trust and any momentum you have built on self-organizing team behavior.
Guidance
As discussed in the prior blog post Overcoming the Fear of the Incapable Team, you must overcome your urge to take back control. Trust them, let them take control, give them the “What” and the “Why”, use collaborative problem solving to teach them critical skills to execute, and provide them support and safety along the way.
Moment of Truth 4: Requiring certainty before trying something new
There is comfort in the familiar. The status quo is reliable. You know it works. When the Agile transformation presents a new way of thinking and behaving, it is uncomfortable and scary. It is tempting to stall the change.
One common stall technique is to ask for proof that something new will work before trying it. This can lead to analysis paralysis and will slow the transformation to a crawl.
Guidance
Have a “try” mentality. Resist the urge to stall the change. Take a leap of faith, and trust an expert coach to guide you in the new technique. The mindset should be one of experimentation and iteration of a new approach to fit your context rather than perfection and removal of all uncertainty before commencement.
Moment of Truth 5: Leaving no room in delivery for learning or improvement
Similar to dates, pressure to focus on nothing but delivery generally comes from external forces. The intense focus on delivering the scope leaves no room for learning or improvement. In this mode, learning and improvement are seen as a cost and not an investment. See the prior blog post, Improvement vs. Delivery.
If there is no room for learning or improvement, your teams will not accelerate, they will become stagnant, and they will tend to become order-takers.
Guidance
Above all, keep reminding yourself that learning and improvement are delivery risk reducers They don’t add risks to delivery.
How to Recognize You Are in a Moment of Truth and How to React
You will feel you are in a triggered state. Your pulse might increase. You may feel agitated. You fear criticism if you fail. You are likely aware that you are about to backtrack on Agile values or principles or other teachings from your coach.
When you feel you are in this vulnerable state, try these techniques to make the right decision:
- Trust in a guide. If you have a coach, ask the coach for help or guidance.
- Pause. Wait before responding. Give yourself time to process and weigh the pros and cons. You will likely make the right decision that supports the transformation if given time.
- Ask your team what to do. Your team wants to keep steady on the Agile journey. Ask them, and they will help you by supporting the right decision.
- Stand your ground. You will be afraid. This is the time to demonstrate the core value of “courage” (see Do Managers Need a Manifesto?). Calmly explain the logic of your stance and why it is important. This will build your confidence in upholding the values and principles and will explain your position to anyone challenging you to revert.
As a note to coaches, it is extremely important that you strongly hold the position of Agile values and principles during moments of truth experienced by the teams and leaders that you coach. Don’t compromise. When you observe a moment of truth, use logic, remind them about the “why,” and help them make the right call.
Moments of truth can make or break a transformation. Stay strong in these moments, and propel your transformation forward.
Todd Lankford unlocks Lean Leverage in organizations to cultivate powerful, engaged product teams who maximize outcomes and impact.
His articles share his experiences and learnings along the way. Join the mailing list to get them in your inbox.