I was talking with my colleague, Lucus, the other day. I drew a connection between the Ranger units I supported in Afghanistan and the Agile community. There is a connection between Rangers and Agilists and I’ve watched it.
“What in the Sam’s hill are you writing about?!”
“You cannot be serious in pulling a thread between the Rangers and Agile product development!”
I get it, and it’s fair to be skeptical. Here’s the thing, what do most Agile consultants do that is similar to the Rangers?
We parachute into a transformation as the experts in Agile framework(s), policy, process, and procedure (3-P’s). We come in and kick some executive doors open, disrupt some teams, and then go on our merry way after a year or so and call it ‘mission complete’.
Well, not all of us. Some of us go beyond the 3-P’s and learn to sense the environment we’ve been asked to assist move toward increased agility.
About the Rangers
The Rangers have expertise in understanding tactical context and they adjust their approach to mission as more information becomes available. They “shoot, move, and communicate” and deviate from the plan as it is needed to achieve the objective.
Rangers have a master’s understanding of the 3-P’s or “the box” and extend their awareness beyond “the box”. They adapt and adjust on the fly because the enemy will adapt and adjust to their operations once under threat.
Back to Agilists with expertise
Finally, here is a connection between Rangers and Agilists.
We might call them practitioners, journeyman, or jack’s of all trades, who cares about labels as it’s not the point. Since Agilists with expertise are less concerned about air dropping in and rolling to their next engagement, these common-sense Agilists are looking at their entire toolbox to assess which tools work best in a specific context.
Moving a business into a new way of working is a journey. Find people who have the right attitude and tools to help an organization navigate to point to point along the way.
Hire them because they get that understanding context is critical before kicking in doors. Look for the ones that don’t claim to be experts, but talk about continuous learning.