Making Agile Transformations Real With Middle Management, part 3
Photo by lolo115
A successful agile transformation doesn’t end with high-performing teams. It needs the full support of managers to maintain momentum after agile coaches move on. I once collaborated with an agile coach who described this dynamic: “We can coach teams to perform like a sports car. But if the managers aren’t involved, it’s like handing the keys of an expensive car to someone who’s never driven before.” When the agile coach leaves, managers become the leaders for continuous improvement.
Sustaining Agile at Scale: Managers and Networks of Mutual Support
Managers navigate the ongoing realities beyond the team’s day-to-day work. They handle performance reviews, budget processes, and future hiring decisions. Agile coaches can help start change in these areas and influence improvements while they’re involved. But, once the agile coach leaves, it’s the manager who has to live with the constraints—or push for further transformation. This is where the concept of networks of mutual support becomes crucial.
Building networks of mutual support means fostering productive relationships across the organization. It’s not about everyone agreeing all the time. In fact, disagreements are inevitable as you balance competing goals. It might mean influencing HR to adjust evaluation criteria to better fit agile roles. Or it could involve finding ways to support agile practices despite limitations with the budget process. Either way, managers are the ones responsible for making sure that agility continues to grow within the the organization.
In many ways, managers are the bridge for agility to scale beyond isolated pockets and into the core of how the company operates.
Grounding Agile in Real-World Problems: The Middle Management Advantage
It’s tempting to dive into agile with a toolkit of buzzwords and frameworks. But successful transformations that stick are those that solve actual problems. Middle management plays a pivotal role in bridging agile principles with on-the-ground realities.
I often think of a cringe-worthy moment from the musical Book of Mormon whenever I hear someone rave about agile values and mindset changes.
In the scene, missionaries are practicing how they’ll preach the church’s faith in remote communities. Through song, we watch these eager young missionaries role-play what they’ll say when a local person answers their door. The missionaries sound courteous as they recite their dialogue.
Then Elder Cunningham gives it a try and says, “HELLO! Would you like to change religions?! I have a free book written by Jesus!”
Pffffft. A booming voice chides him to stick to the approved dialogue.
I recalled this scene hearing an agile coach try to sell an agile transformation to a group of executives. Their talk felt like, “HELLO! Would you like to change your company’s philosophy?! I have a manifesto written by seventeen guys!”
AWKWARD. Senior leaders who sponsor agile transformations don’t want to reinvent their company! And most middle managers are not signing up for that either when there’s work to get done. Well-meaning agile coaches can get caught up in their own enthusiasm of what’s possible and forget to connect it to the organization’s real needs.
Middle management in agile transformations isn’t about enforcing top-down mandates. It’s about being the network link that translates abstract concepts into concrete, problem-solving actions. Agile transformations thrive when you focus on solving real problems with new ways of working.
