Agile methodology, a widely adopted approach in software development, was originally designed to enhance collaboration, flexibility, and responsiveness. However, in many corporate settings, the term "Agile" has taken on a toxic connotation. We will explore some of the detrimental effects of a toxic Agile environment within companies, shedding light on the challenges and issues that arise when the principles of Agile are misinterpreted and misapplied.
Misinterpretation of Agile Principles
One of the primary reasons for the toxicity surrounding Agile methodology is the misinterpretation of its fundamental principles. Companies, in their eagerness to adopt Agile practices, often focus solely on surface-level changes without truly understanding the underlying values. This results in a distorted version of Agile that emphasizes processes over people and adherence to rituals rather than responding to change. We can observe in these companies a strict rule for code coverage metrics and a lack of true testing throughout the codebases. This symptom is easily spotted with the usage of too many mocking libraries in order to fool the code coverage tooling. We can observe in these companies a lack of developer motivation and increased amounts of burnout among teams due to only adhering to a strict sprint metric for software delivery.
Lack of Empathy and Collaboration
Agile methodology emphasizes collaboration and cross-functional teams. However, toxic Agile environments often manifest when there is a lack of empathy and genuine collaboration among team members. In such settings, competition may replace cooperation, leading to a toxic work culture where individuals are pitted against each other rather than working together toward a common goal. This is highly evident inside companies that prioritize a specific team members view over the collaboration and discussion of ideas between the entire team.
Unrealistic Expectations and Overcommitment
Toxic Agile environments may arise when companies set unrealistic expectations and demand constant overcommitment from their teams. Agile is meant to promote sustainable development, but when teams are pushed beyond their capacity, it can result in burnout, and a decline in overall productivity. These results lead to a demotivated development team, that tends to create more conflict the longer the abuse takes place. A typical example of this in some companies would be not utilizing estimation correctly, and instead having estimates tied to a hard hour rule of an amount. Let's say 1 story point == 4 hours. Engineers need to be able to adjust based on changing requirements or unforeseen conflicts with other systems or teams. A toxic Agile practice is to ignore the changes to timing from the team and instead overrule and create reports based on productivity decrease of the team. We all know business, love pretty charts :).
Authoritarian Leadership Style
Agile principles advocate for servant leadership and self-organizing teams. However, toxic environments often feature authoritarian leadership styles that stifle creativity and innovation. When leaders micromanage and dictate every aspect of the development process, it undermines the autonomy that Agile aims to foster. Example would be a specific team lead coming up with the estimates for others to accomplish on the team and only assigning the task after the estimation. This in turn makes the other engineer feel less than and puts unnecessary pressure to deliver on a timeline that he/she had no choice in dictating. Authoritarian leadership can also appear directly from the scrum master by being a Yes Person. Instead, though, the team feels in a perpetual state of failure, due to commitments made by an individual that isn't responsible for implementation.
Neglecting Continuous Improvement
A core tenet of Agile is the commitment to continuous improvement through regular reflection and adaptation. In a toxic Agile setting, organizations may neglect this crucial aspect, failing to learn from mistakes and adjust their practices accordingly. This lack of introspection hinders growth and perpetuates the toxic cycle. Leading to top engineers eventually leaving the company to find improvement elsewhere. A note on newly hired engineers. When a software engineer accepts a position, they are expecting to be able to deliver impact on their individual work. A toxic environment practicing a failed Agile practice will push away engineers that study in their own time and understand different technologies that the business isn't currently invested in. Usually, an engineer that studies and learns emerging technologies coming into an organization with a failed effort to adopt Agile will stick around for a while, thinking they can make a change. Ultimately, many end up feeling hopeless in the change and will either adapt to the existing structure and only perform the job requirements that are required or leave the company to find a better life situation.
While Agile methodology, when properly implemented, can lead to increased efficiency and innovation, its misapplication can have severe consequences for a company's culture and productivity. Recognizing the signs of a toxic Agile environment is essential for organizations to course-correct and create a work environment that truly embodies the principles of Agile - fostering collaboration, adaptability, and focus on delivering customer value.
We could all use a look at the original agile manifesto from now and again to reflect on the principles. It is up to the developers to force change, when it comes to utilizing Agile in a way that is beneficial for the customer and the business.
