Good Versus Great and the Agile Mindset

The Agile Mindset transcends debates on good versus great

The other day I heard something that instantly started an internal debate in my head. A colleague told me that his teammate gave him the best Agile advice. He was told that to be Agile, you can’t let great be the enemy of good.

My immediate reaction was that this might be anti-Agile. Are we being Agile if we do not strive for greatness? Is being good enough?

Having this attitude seems to avoid shooting for the stars. Allowing good to be enough stifles innovation and continuous improvement. My mind was racing. I started to conclude that this attitude was bland and uninspiring.

This conclusion, I realize, is a result of my natural tendencies. I am a perfectionist at heart. This has been a constant internal battle as I have progressed on my Agile journey. My bias can cause me to jump to conclusions and move too fast into perfection. Greatness is my personal bias.

Let’s take a closer look at both sides of this debate.

Is Good the Enemy of Great?

I am not the only one who struggles with the notion of good being the enemy great. I often work with user experience, product strategy, and traditional delivery teams. When discussing maximizing simplicity, I often get raised eyebrows and skepticism. The fear of creating a subpar user experience or insufficient technical solution is at play. A good solution will not delight a user. It might be difficult for a technology team to maintain and enhance a good solution. A good solution might not scale when needed.

Stopping at good does not motivate us.

We worry if we always aim for good, we will stop short of our true potential. This thinking leads to a belief that we will stall out. Stagnation will set in. The status quo will rule.

As an agent of change, this is not my desired outcome. To change, we need to strive for greatness. Even when we are thriving, we need to be curious. Otherwise, we lose the growth mindset.

Here, good is the enemy of great. I empathize with this notion.

Is Great the Enemy of Good?

I often find when I try too hard to make something perfect, I lose sight of the need. The logical mechanism in my brain takes over. I plan for every possible angle and scenario. This results in a solution for future situations that have only a slight chance of occurring. I have fallen into the trap of over production. My precious effort and time is solving tomorrow’s problems rather than today’s. As a result, there is no solution for what is immediately necessary. I have missed the mark.

Aiming for great prematurely can inhibit the learning journey and prevent being great.

When teams are approaching change, great can get in the way of good. Sometimes we try to change too much too fast. We become overzealous. It is like being new to running and attempting to run a marathon. There is too much pain that results and we give up. Attempting to be great too soon can work against us.

Great can also inhibit a growth mindset by seeming unattainable. If the challenge we are facing is far removed from our current state, the gap can seem insurmountable. This can sometimes prevent us from even taking one step in the direction of change. We become paralyzed. A fixed mindset is the result.

Reality: Good is the Enabler of Great

Over time, Agile has changed my perspective on perfection. To maximize simplicity and achieve greatness, I have to start with something imperfect. This is critical to maximize learning. By minimizing my investment in early experiments, I attain rapid learning. And I reduce the risk of spending too much time and effort on the wrong solution.

Incremental, iterative improvement is critical to the Agile mindset.

Embracing the reality that the right thing emerges through small iterations is key. This lesson applies to what I create as well as how I create it. Incremental, iterative improvement is critical to the Agile mindset.

To apply this, you have to aim for great but start with good. It is not that great is the enemy of good or good is the enemy of great. Good and great work together to produce the right thing. Stopping at good would be a mistake. Avoid letting great inhibit movement towards your goal. Press forward. Learn from your customers and emerge your masterpiece. And hone your craft through iterative, small steps.

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• Customizing Agile Coaching to a Team’s Context—An Introduction
• Remove Date Driven Behavior to Achieve Agility—Remove Date Driven Behavior to Achieve Agility—Learn More By Doing
• Improvement Versus Delivery

References

The Agile Manifesto, 2001, Beck, et. Al