Does agile at scale need to be cookie cutter?

Recently, my wife and I (and our two little dogs) made a road trip across Kansas, Colorado, parts of Wyoming, South Dakota, a portion of Iowa and back through Missouri. We had an immensely enjoyable time stopping at National Parks and State Parks as well as kitschy roadside attractions. And while I was driving all those miles, it struck me that the diverse topography of these states had a lesson to teach us about agility.

The United States shows remarkable environmental diversity, even within a relatively small radius. Take, as an example the 3 photos below: All of these photos were taken within a 30 min drive of each other, and all in South Dakota

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota 

Custer State Park, South Dakota

All three of these photos were taken within a 30 min drive of each other, and all in South Dakota. The top is in Badlands National Park all stark and dry, and looks like a scene from an alien planet. The second is in the Black Hills National Forest -Lush and rocky, mountainous with tall trees and clear streams. The third photo is within Custer State Park - a high plains meadow that supports huge herds of native buffalo and other wild game.  All three of these regions play an integral part in the ecosystems of our country. I think you'll agree it would be boring if all of the United States looked exactly the same. 

Sadly - many organizations want cookie cutter "sameness" of agility across the entire company.  

If you look at many efforts to "scale agility" across an organization, it seems to be a bit more about making sure everyone is using the same terminology, normalizing story points ( ugh), and falling in line. Scaling tends to be more in the form of compliance than about agility.  

Scaling agility isn't about conformity. So let's just stop it - ok?

Creating an environment for agile to thrive throughout an organization starts with three key activities: encourage unity, celebrate differences, and establish guard rails

Encourage Unity 

Agile teams do need to be united both in how they work together and in how they align to organizational strategy. But that doesn't mean they have to be the same. Strategic goals should drive deliverables, yet allow flexibility for discovery along the way. Each agile team will likely discover something new to delight the customer in the process of delivering towards those strategic goals

Celebrate Differences

The way one team works will be different from another–and this can be a powerful tool for learning in your organization. Good agile leaders highlight and celebrate these differences so that the whole organization can grow. Creating a learning organization depends upon these differences becoming shared openly, without fear of reprisal.

Establish Guardrails

Encouraging agile teams to "uncover better ways of working" isn't without risk.  As an organization you should have clear guardrails of what is in bounds and out of bounds for a team.  Without guard rails, teams could feel "anything goes"which can lead to disastrous results.  Co-creating these guardrails can be a powerful exercise where teams learn the bounds within which they can play, and can free up their collective creativity to deliver amazing value. 

Scaling Doesn’t Require Conformance

Turning agile teams loose to meet customers’ needs is powerful. At the same time, though, to quote Uncle Ben in the Spiderman comic series, "With great power comes great responsibility." 

Leaders can feel confident in giving teams freedom to make decisions by creating clear organizational goals that ensure teams are rowing in the same direction, allowing different approaches room to grow and learn, and setting clear boundaries where teams can uncover better ways of working. 

None of this is easy.

None of this is without risk.

But ultimately, empowering differences within a unified ecosystem not only brings humanity to the workplace, it also produces better products.