I Think You Should Be More Explicit Here In Step Two

Have you ever seen the Sidney Harris cartoon with the two scientists at the blackboard? There is a bunch of math on one side, and a bunch of math on the other, with the words “then a miracle occurs” sandwiched in between.

The punchline is “I think you should be more explicit here in step two”.

I think agile folk need to be more explicit here in step two…

Go to Scrum training
Then a miracle occurs
Everyone goes agile

Read the Manifesto
Then a miracle occurs
Everyone goes agile

Stop being command and control
Then a miracle occurs
Everyone goes agile

What if… as a coach, a trainer, or a practitioner… you had to backup everything you said, every recommendation out of your mouth… with a plan for how you’d actually help make that recommendation a reality?

How would that change the conversation around adopting agile?

I think it would force us to meet people where they are. I think it would force us to be more pragmatic in our approach. To my point yesterday, I think it would create more empathy for managers sorting through all our dogma.

I think it would force us to think about how to place small bets. To create transformation strategies that are more iterative and incremental. I think it would force us to work through transition patterns and intermediate states.

Telling people to self-organize is a cop out.

I think we need to be more explicit here in step two.

You can check out Sidney Harris’ website if you want to see the original cartoon. http://www.sciencecartoonsplus.com/pages/gallery.php