Agility is a buzzword that is used liberally in the context of digital transformation, but is difficult for many stakeholders to grasp. For some who specifically use agile approaches as part of their transformation, ideally the veil will lift over time. If there is no structured derivation of the goal and purpose of agile collaboration, the majority do not understand what the added value is, despite intensive engagement with the topic.
When they then take part in a training course on agile for the first time after months or years of agile digital transformation, reservations and knowledge gaps are usually expressed in the form of the following questions and statements:
– „What is the difference between agile and Scrum? Isn’t that the same thing?“
– „Surely this is the next sow that will be driven through the village.“
– „That agility doesn’t work for us.“
– „We’ve been working with Scrum for years now, but it hasn’t changed anything.“
The last statement in particular suggests that practices and frameworks are copied from books and other companies (Doing Agile), but the cultural change necessary in many cases for a successful transformation has probably not taken place (Being Agile). If a closer examination reveals that, for example, the product owner is the disciplinary superior of the team or that the team members belong to five different Scrum teams in parallel, the assumption is confirmed that the establishment of common agile values and principles has been neglected. One way to convey the core and multidimensionality of agility in a simplified way to those affected and initiating the transformation and to avoid a cargo cult is the agile tree. This presents agility in four different levels: Values, Principles, Frameworks and Practices.
Depending on your metaphor preference, the multidimensionality of agility can also be represented with an onion or an iceberg, whereby the values form the core in the case of the onion, or the values and principles lie below the water surface in the case of the iceberg and make up the majority of the ice mass.
