There has been a running thread on one of my LinkedIn Groups that has made me chuckle every time it pops-up in my updates.
"We are struggling to make our teams self-organizing. Any suggestions?"
So how long did it take for you to spot the irony?
From reading the author's post, he appears genuine in his description of the conundrum. (Yes, I first thought this had to be sarcasm.) He really wants to know how to make their teams self-organizing, as current top-down efforts have not proved successful.
Oh dear.
Now, the really sad thing is, his question has elicited an ongoing list of advice, ideas, and must-do's from an array of "agile" practitioners wanting to help him make his team self-organize
To me, this points out the tricky nature of agile and broader thinking it requires.
Just because a person knows the practices of agile (what you do), doesn't mean he/she knows how to practice agile (how you think). A quote one of our Agility Specialists often says is: "It sucks to DO agile." The reasoning behind his statement is if you just try to follow the actions of agile/scrum without living the beliefs of agile/scrum, it is a long, frustrating road to nowhere.
Now back to the LinkedIn discussion, you will be relieved to know there was one beacon of hope who replied: "I would read your own question and consider the contradiction within."
Finally. Thank you!
Now, go self-organize...
Author: Stacy Sheldon, Director, Strategic Data Systems