Are We Agile Or Just In Chaos?
Distinguishing Between Flexibility and Disorder
"agile" has become one of the most overused buzzwords in software development. It's supposed to be a guiding philosophy that prioritizes customer value, adaptability, and collaboration. Yet, how often do we see teams or entire organizations claiming to be agile when they are really just masking chaos? If your so-called agility leaves you constantly firefighting, scrambling to keep up, and never quite delivering what you promise, then it’s time to ask: Are we agile, or are we simply in chaos?
Agile Does Not Mean No Plan
The core of agile is flexibility. But that does not mean there is no plan. A common misinterpretation of agile principles is that planning can be entirely replaced by reactive adjustments. "We’re flexible, so we don’t need a roadmap" often becomes a euphemism for "We don’t have any plan at all, and we’re changing direction constantly without consideration."
Imagine starting to build a new product without any defined Product Goal. Each day’s work becomes an exercise in reactivity. No focus, no clear outcome, just a pile of completed tasks with no sense of how they fit into a larger picture. In fact, agility supports structure; it means having a North Star, a clear set of objectives that guide our flexible decisions. Without this structure, flexibility becomes aimlessness, and what we call agility is just a lack of preparation.
Change Is Not Always Agile
The ability to change course is a fundamental strength of agile. But not every change is good. I’ve seen teams make adjustments mid-way because stakeholders wanted a quick win or new feature right now, rather than waiting a couple of weeks for proper prioritization. These knee-jerk changes disrupt the flow of work, leave the team frustrated, and often undermine progress on the original goals. Change should be purposeful and directly tied to maximizing value.
Take a retrospective I facilitated after we delivered a feature with inputs from the Product, Legal, and Technology teams. A sudden change came mid-sprint, a stakeholder had decided to add new requirements late in the process. The result? Not just a delayed delivery, but an exhausted team that had to re-work a bunch of stuff and revisit several decisions we’d already agreed upon. Agile isn't about just accepting every change that comes our way; it's about assessing whether the change will genuinely deliver more value than the original course of action.
Agile is not Limited to Short-Term Goals
Another common misconception about agile is that it only allows for short-term thinking. But being agile doesn’t mean we can ignore long-term planning. A well-considered roadmap is essential for ensuring the team knows where it’s headed in the coming months, and how each sprint contributes to that direction.
A while ago, I worked with an R&D department that was struggling to deliver consistent results. Every quarter (or even between quarters), a new priority would emerge from the leadership team, and we’d end up discarding our previous plans. This led to unfinished initiatives, a loss of morale, and a feeling among the team that nothing we worked on mattered. Being agile doesn’t mean planning in sprints and then throwing out the larger roadmap whenever a new idea comes to mind. It means being thoughtful about change and staying true to the core objectives unless there’s a genuine reason to pivot.
Guard Against the Influence of Power on Direction
In any organization, there will always be those with the power to influence direction more than others. However, agility means that change should be driven by value, not hierarchy. If your roadmap shifts dramatically because a senior leader has a new pet project, and there's no data to back up why it's valuable, that’s not agility—that’s chaos fueled by power.
I remember working with a team that was initially aligned on a new feature development aimed at solving a key user problem. Halfway through, a high-ranking executive decided we should pivot to focus on a new feature they personally favored, even though the initial initiative was progressing well. The team had to scramble, halt what they were doing, and switch directions with little warning. The result? Not only did we lose momentum, but we ended up with an incomplete, rushed feature that failed to deliver value.
To avoid this, we need to apply checks and balances to any change request, regardless of where it comes from. Use data and established objectives to evaluate whether the change is valid and valuable. Respect the existing commitments unless there is a compelling, customer-centered reason to adjust. Agile doesn’t mean "do whatever the highest-paid person wants whenever they want it"—it means making decisions that maximize value for the end-user, even if that means saying "no" to a powerful stakeholder when necessary.
Embrace Adaptability with Boundaries
Being agile means adapting quickly to meet changing needs, but it doesn't mean abandoning all boundaries. We need to put up guardrails that allow us to be flexible without falling into disarray.
Set Intentional Goals: Every project/initiative/Sprint, the team works on should have a clearly defined goal. This goal is our guiding light and the reason for that project’s existence. It connects the various isolated tasks we’re working on into a coherent whole. Flexibility should be about how we achieve the goal, not whether we abandon it whenever a distraction comes along.
Practice Responsible Refinement: When refinement sessions focus solely on individual backlog items without considering the bigger picture, we’re setting ourselves up for chaos. Refinement should be about more than just breaking down PBIs; it’s a time to assess how each piece contributes to the larger objective. If everything is a priority, nothing truly is, and the team is left without clarity on what to focus on.
Change with Intention: When a change request comes in, ask yourself: Does this add more value to the user than what we originally planned? Will this change help us achieve our objectives more effectively, or is it simply a shiny distraction? Agility doesn’t mean you have to accept every change; it means you have the ability to adapt when the change is worth it.
Balancing Agility and Long-Term Goals
Agility is about finding the balance between responsiveness and commitment. It’s about being able to adapt when necessary while staying the course when that’s the better path. Here are a few practices to help maintain this balance:
Keep a Rolling Roadmap: Plan for the long term but regularly reassess. A rolling roadmap allows you to outline where you want to go over the next months/years, but with the understanding that you’ll adapt based on validated learning. It’s not about rigid plans but about having a flexible framework that provides direction while accommodating necessary changes.
Challenge Changes: When new directions are suggested, challenge the validity of those changes. Ask why, who benefits, and how this aligns with your objectives. If the answers aren’t convincing, then it's worth pushing back. Changes should be aligned with your strategic goals and be backed by user feedback, market analysis, and real data.
Respect Commitments: One of the worst outcomes for a team is to feel that no commitment is sacred. If a team can never see their efforts come to fruition because direction keeps changing, their morale and productivity will suffer. Protect your team's time and effort by respecting the goals you set—unless there’s good enough evidence that a shift is needed.
Agile Is the Balance Between Structure and Adaptability
Agility is about more than just responding to change. It's about knowing when to respond and when to stay the course. It’s about aligning short-term flexibility with long-term vision, ensuring that change is driven by value rather than hierarchy or habit. Agile should feel like a well-coordinated dance. It’s not a chaotic scramble every time the music changes.
The next time you’re tempted to pivot for no clear reason, or a senior leader tries to push an unvalidated idea, ask yourself and your team: Are we agile, or are we mistaking disarray for adaptability? An agile organization doesn’t abandon all plans; it refines them thoughtfully, ensuring that every adjustment serves a greater purpose and delivers meaningful value. That’s the difference between being agile and just being in chaos.
📅 Coming Next Week
Very good one ☝️