Delegation does not require trust in the individual

 

“Trust in Allah and tie up your camel” – ancient Arab phrase

Delegation and self-organizing teams are at the heart of Agile. Trying to impose the same methods across an organization that people must follow is the anti-thesis of it.

Virtually all Agile methods talk about the first two while still imposing the third. At the heart of this is a lack of understanding of systems-thinking and trust.

One aspect of systems-thinking is that the system informs behavior. The combination of trusting our people and attending to the system is at the heart of Lean’s Middle-Up-Down Management. Middle-Up-Down Management has middle managers look up the value stream to get direction and then look down the value stream to see what’s needed to support the people doing the work. This includes creating visibility of intentions and results for all to see.

Achieving consistent behavior with self-organization is only possible when clear objectives are present. This enables teams to self-organize in the best way for them to meet these objectives and not be shackled to a particular way of doing things.

Please contact me if you want to learn how Disciplined Agile / FLEX can help you incorporate these ideas in your work