Making Agile work and creating lasting change only happens when new ways of leading and working are anchored by your people. We act as trusted advisors (not long-term consultants) to turn your Agile ways of working around, and support developing your people to not just do Agile, but become Agile.

As Agile ways of working become more and more mainstream, there is a misperception that we should not plan more than a few months ahead. This is a mistake – it goes against our brain’s need for certainty.

As organizations adopt Agile ways of working, it is often not clear what leaders are supposed to do. We try to manage in the same ways, yet we’re not getting the results we want. Instead, you end up stealing people’s ownership which leaves leaders more and more overwhelmed and employees less and less engaged.

After the first program delivery, the honeymoon period is over, and the original goals start to become blurry. Silos emerge with serious consequences: multiple backlogs that aren’t aligned, deliveries are delayed, risk increases, and people no longer feel responsibility for the program’s overall success.

When we, as leaders, stop feeling like we must know everything to “get people to do the right things,” we can focus on decentralizing decision making instead. Giving control while increasing competence and clarity leads to more engaged people who make smart decisions, feel ownership and take responsibility.

Our brains interpret anything new or different as a threat. Perceiving change as a danger is a survival mechanism hard-wired in our brains. And while organizations may have the best change plans and processes where leaders communicate all the benefits – people still resist change.