Trust in your coach’s instincts and experience.
“My Agile coach comes into a session and, without the full context, begins coaching us on a particular issue observed. The coach cannot possibly understand our context and our history that quickly. The coach is obviously out of touch and the coaching is off the mark.”
I often hear this criticism about Agile coaches from management and teams. It is normal to feel like a coach is an outsider and can’t possibly know the group or the group norms. While it is understandable to feel this way, the “coach is an outsider” argument is a common stall technique that delays or prevents change.
Changing the Status Quo
Do your coaches need to be in touch with your status quo? No, they don’t. They are not transforming to your status quo. The coach is not aiming for solutions that are practical to your current operating norms. They are transforming you with new behaviors that will produce new results. These new results will ultimately change your belief system away from your existing status quo. A colleague of mine, Solomon Thompson, refers to this as the Behavior, Results, and Belief transformation loop as shown in Figure A.
If you stall the transformation efforts of the coach by labeling their coaching as “out of touch,” new behaviors cannot be coached and your status quo will stay intact. Your transformation will slow and quite possibly halt.
You can avoid falling into the trap of stalling the change by altering your perspective about the coach being an outsider who is out of touch. Instead, accept that coaches don’t need to be on the inside. Accept that they are experts and have extensive experience. Most notably, they have seen your situation manifest many times before in other contexts. As a result, Agile coaches can instantly recognize the symptoms that indicate an unhealthy turn away from the Agile Mindset.
The Doctor Analogy
A simple analogy compares your Agile coach to a doctor. A doctor asks a few questions when you have a sick visit. They observe your symptoms. They measure key indicators, such as your temperature or your blood pressure. Within a short amount of time, they can identify the root cause of your symptoms and prescribe a course of action to remedy the illness.
Commonly, the doctor does not always listen to what you are saying about why you got sick or other ideas you have about what illness you have self-diagnosed. This is because the doctor has been extensively trained, has many years of experience, and can easily diagnose the root cause when symptoms are present in a certain configuration. It is instinctual.
Treat Your Coach Like a Doctor
Agile coaches, like doctors, have extensive training and experience. However, this training and experience are in the Agile Mindset rather than medicine. Agile coaches can spot Agile Mindset anti-patterns instantly. You should trust this instinct like you trust your doctor.
If you treat your coach like a doctor by respecting and trusting their expertise and experience, your transformation will accelerate. Instead of being blocked, the coach will quickly be able to observe symptoms and diagnose the root cause. Then, the coach can have a productive discussion with you and your team about treatment options to solve what ails your Agile transformation.
Otherwise, if you refuse to take the consultation of the coach, the Agile anti-patterns will go untreated and spread, crippling your Agile transformation.
Have the courage and trust to allow your coach to do what he does best—coach. Your transformation will be unstoppable.
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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.