{"id":171,"date":"2023-12-10T18:06:55","date_gmt":"2023-12-10T18:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/?p=171"},"modified":"2026-01-02T09:09:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T09:09:46","slug":"the-surprising-downsides-of-agile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile-transformation\/the-surprising-downsides-of-agile\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprising Downside Of Agile &#8211; Every Agilist Must Know"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p>It won\u2019t be an exaggeration to say that out of the millions of Agile practitioners, the majority is stuck at \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile\/agile-coaching-essentials\/\">doing agile<\/a>\u2019 while being unaware or worse ignoring the bigger picture. Why?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>A simple reason \u2013 When you start zooming in a lot, it is not easy to zoom out. People are stuck in tit-bit practices that are also helpful but not rolling up to the bigger picture. They are following the \u2018rules\u2019 while losing the essence of the philosophy or the wisdom behind those rules.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10641 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/benzne.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Indiamap.png\" alt=\"Indiamap\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>What is this bigger picture when you pursue agility? Here is our understanding \u2013<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li>Are you moving continuously towards the right direction?<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Could you frequently deliver just-enough but the most important things?<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>As an intrinsic part of your culture, are you embracing failure in your development process so that you do not need to fail when you go-live?<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>What do you mean by collaboration? Do you have a one-team mindset over safeguarding local interest and turf?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Individuals, teams, organizations start their pursuit of Agility with great excitement and enthusiasm, somewhat similar to a person starting his dream job. While we start with good intentions and motivation, we discover that transformation, like a dream job, is not a single player game. We hit roadblocks and re-evaluate our position. Few things might happen \u2013<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li>People are opinionated and not everyone could be pleased<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>There will always be resistance to change<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Few things takes time but there is a demand to make it happen faster, patience is a rare virtue<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Misplaced priorities \u2013 You wanted A but you end up spending a big chunk of your time on B and many other reasons.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>At the same time, too much zoom out also leads to a problem of ending up with \u2018surface-agile\u2019 which is more like a lipstick job. We have all heard of \u2018culture\u2019 &amp; \u2018Mindset\u2019 so many times at so many forums without proper explanation or lucid definitions of what it means. Any organization embarking on a new <a href=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile-transformation\/agile-transformation-journey\/\">transformation journey<\/a> needs to experience the \u2018incremental\u2019 improvements in time-bound intervals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The correct way to adopt agile is to find an ultimate balance between the Micro and Macro where the agility can sustain. It\u2019s important for the organization to have a pragmatic mix of both to move slowly, yet steadily towards the right direction to leverage \u2018Agile\u2019.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Here\u2019s is how we think an organization should plan their\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/agile-consulting-services\/\">transformation journey<\/a>\u00a0:<\/p>\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4449 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/How-an-Organization-Should-Plan-their-Transformation-Journey.png\" alt=\"How an Organization Should Plan their Transformation Journey\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/How-an-Organization-Should-Plan-their-Transformation-Journey.png 1200w, https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/How-an-Organization-Should-Plan-their-Transformation-Journey-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/How-an-Organization-Should-Plan-their-Transformation-Journey-1024x683.png 1024w, https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/How-an-Organization-Should-Plan-their-Transformation-Journey-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/How-an-Organization-Should-Plan-their-Transformation-Journey-600x400.png 600w, https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/How-an-Organization-Should-Plan-their-Transformation-Journey-150x100.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li>Understand and define the business <a href=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile\/reasons-for-adopting-agile-in-an-organization\/\">reasons for Agile Adoption<\/a> very clearly<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Always get \u2018outside-in\u2019 view, no organization becomes agile by attending a few trainings &amp; changing designations<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>You can not be somewhat \u2018Agile\u2019, be honest<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Create buy-in at all levels, people don\u2019t change mindset by being told to change mindset<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Focus on creating small \u2018pockets of excellence\u2019 &amp; share \u2018success stories\u2019 widely<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Empower people to tell their stories &amp; learn from each other<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Encourage teams to continuously inspect and adapt<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Have a long term strategic view and a short term tactical mindset<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Don\u2019t think and act in binaries. Multiple things can work at the same time, also same things need not necessarily work in different scenarios<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Your unique solution will lie in marrying deep domain knowledge, agile mindset and a lot of common sense + empathy<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p><em>Partner with a trusted <a href=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/agile-consulting-services\/\">agile consulting firm<\/a> to streamline your operations. Our focus on sustainable growth and agility ensures your organization thrives in an ever-evolving business landscape.<\/em><\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<h3>Recommended Read<\/h3>\r\n<table dir=\"ltr\" border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" data-sheets-root=\"1\"><colgroup><col width=\"266\" \/><col width=\"228\" \/><col width=\"233\" \/><\/colgroup>\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Agile Transformation Challenges&quot;}\" data-sheets-formula=\"=HYPERLINK(R[-7]C[0], R[-7]C[-1])\" data-sheets-hyperlink=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile-transformation\/agile-transformation-challenges\/\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile-transformation\/agile-transformation-challenges\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Agile Transformation Challenges<\/a><\/td>\r\n<td data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;How to Plan Agile Training for your team&quot;}\" data-sheets-formula=\"=HYPERLINK(R[-7]C[1], R[-7]C[0])\" data-sheets-hyperlink=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile-transformation\/how-to-develop-agile-training-plan\/\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile-transformation\/how-to-develop-agile-training-plan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to Plan Agile Training for your team<\/a><\/td>\r\n<td data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;What Is Business Agility&quot;}\" data-sheets-formula=\"=HYPERLINK(R[-7]C[2], R[-7]C[1])\" data-sheets-hyperlink=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/scaling-agile\/what-is-business-agility\/\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/scaling-agile\/what-is-business-agility\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What Is Business Agility<\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Agile Transformation Journey&quot;}\" data-sheets-formula=\"=HYPERLINK(R[-6]C[0], R[-6]C[-1])\" data-sheets-hyperlink=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile-transformation\/agile-transformation-journey\/\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile-transformation\/agile-transformation-journey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Agile Transformation Journey<\/a><\/td>\r\n<td data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Establishing First Agile Release Train&quot;}\" data-sheets-formula=\"=HYPERLINK(R[-7]C[1], R[-7]C[0])\" data-sheets-hyperlink=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/scaling-agile\/establishing-agile-release-train\/\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/scaling-agile\/agile-release-train\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Establishing First Agile Release Train<\/a><\/td>\r\n<td data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;What Is PI Planning In Agile&quot;}\" data-sheets-formula=\"=HYPERLINK(R[-7]C[2], R[-7]C[1])\" data-sheets-hyperlink=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/scaling-agile\/what-is-pi-planning-in-agile\/\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/scaling-agile\/what-is-pi-planning-in-agile\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What Is PI Planning In Agile<\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Agile Transformation Metrics&quot;}\" data-sheets-formula=\"=HYPERLINK(R[-6]C[0], R[-6]C[-1])\" data-sheets-hyperlink=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile-transformation\/agile-transformation-metrics\/\"><span data-sheets-root=\"1\" data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Agile Transformation Checklist&quot;}\" data-sheets-userformat=\"{&quot;2&quot;:327680,&quot;19&quot;:0,&quot;21&quot;:0}\" data-sheets-formula=\"=HYPERLINK(R[-7]C[0], R[-7]C[-1])\" data-sheets-hyperlink=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile-transformation\/agile-transformation-checklist\/\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile-transformation\/agile-transformation-checklist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Agile Transformation Checklist<\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n<td data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;How to scale agile using SAFe&quot;}\" data-sheets-formula=\"=HYPERLINK(R[-7]C[1], R[-7]C[0])\" data-sheets-hyperlink=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/scaling-agile\/how-to-scale-agile-using-safe\/\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/scaling-agile\/how-to-scale-agile-using-safe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to scale agile using SAFe<\/a><\/td>\r\n<td data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;What is SAFe Transformation&quot;}\" data-sheets-formula=\"=HYPERLINK(R[-7]C[2], R[-7]C[1])\" data-sheets-hyperlink=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/scaling-agile\/what-is-safe-transformation\/\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/scaling-agile\/what-is-safe-transformation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What is SAFe Transformation<\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Agile Transformation Metrics&quot;}\" data-sheets-formula=\"=HYPERLINK(R[-7]C[0], R[-7]C[-1])\" data-sheets-hyperlink=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile-transformation\/agile-transformation-metrics\/\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile-transformation\/agile-transformation-metrics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Agile Transformation Metrics<\/a><\/td>\r\n<td data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Scrum Master Do\u2019S And Don\u2019Ts&quot;}\" data-sheets-formula=\"=HYPERLINK(R[-7]C[1], R[-7]C[0])\" data-sheets-hyperlink=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/scaling-agile\/scrum-master-dos-and-donts\/\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/scaling-agile\/scrum-master-dos-and-donts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Scrum Master Do\u2019S And Don\u2019Ts<\/a><\/td>\r\n<td data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Agile Metrics For Leadership&quot;}\" data-sheets-formula=\"=HYPERLINK(R[-7]C[2], R[-7]C[1])\" data-sheets-hyperlink=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile\/agile-metrics-for-leadership\/\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile\/agile-metrics-for-leadership\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Agile Metrics For Leadership<\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Agile Transformation Strategies&quot;}\" data-sheets-formula=\"=HYPERLINK(R[-7]C[0], R[-7]C[-1])\" data-sheets-hyperlink=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile-transformation\/agile-transformation-strategies\/\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile-transformation\/agile-transformation-strategies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Agile Transformation Strategies<\/a><\/td>\r\n<td data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Effective Sprint Planning with Steps&quot;}\" data-sheets-formula=\"=HYPERLINK(R[-7]C[1], R[-7]C[0])\" data-sheets-hyperlink=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/scaling-agile\/sprint-planning-steps\/\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile\/sprint-planning-steps\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Effective Sprint Planning with Steps<\/a><\/td>\r\n<td data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Agile Project Management Tools&quot;}\" data-sheets-formula=\"=HYPERLINK(R[-7]C[2], R[-7]C[1])\" data-sheets-hyperlink=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile\/agile-project-management-tools\/\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/agile\/agile-project-management-tools\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Agile Project Management Tools<\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>We would love to hear your experience and get feedback, drop us a mail at\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:consult@nextagile.ai\">consult@nextagile.ai<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It won\u2019t be an exaggeration to say that out of the millions of Agile practitioners, the majority is stuck at \u2018doing agile\u2019 while being unaware or worse ignoring the bigger picture. Why? A simple reason \u2013 When you start zooming in a lot, it is not easy to zoom out. People are stuck in tit-bit&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[5,7,6],"class_list":["post-171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agile-transformation","tag-agile","tag-project-management","tag-scrum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5390,"href":"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions\/5390"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextagile.ai\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}