Why Teams Ignore Agile and Scrum Signals
Explores why teams ignore clear signals from Agile and Scrum, highlighting how culture and fear hinder continuous improvement and effective …
Explains how true quality improvement needs both tools and a culture of safety, using Toyota’s andon cord as a lesson for Agile and Scrum adoption in organisations.
In manufacturing, Toyota introduced the “andon” cord—a simple chain any worker could pull to stop the entire line if they saw a defect.
When American car companies copied the idea, they installed the cord… but workers were too afraid to pull it.
The tool was there. The empowerment was not.
The same failure happens in Agile and Scrum adoptions every day.
Installing Scrum Events without building a culture of transparency and continuous improvement is cargo cult thinking. You’re copying the tool without the ethos.
Scrum is not your safety net. Your culture is.
If you punish people for raising issues, don’t be surprised when they stop speaking up.
How safe is it in your organisation to pull the metaphorical andon cord?
Each classification [Concepts, Categories, & Tags] was assigned using AI-powered semantic analysis and scored across relevance, depth, and alignment. Final decisions? Still human. Always traceable. Hover to see how it applies.
If you've made it this far, it's worth connecting with our principal consultant and coach, Martin Hinshelwood, for a 30-minute 'ask me anything' call.
We partner with businesses across diverse industries, including finance, insurance, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, technology, engineering, transportation, hospitality, entertainment, legal, government, and military sectors.
Boxit Document Solutions
Alignment Healthcare
Sage
Qualco
Kongsberg Maritime
Emerson Process Management
Capita Secure Information Solutions Ltd
Xceptor - Process and Data Automation
Microsoft
New Signature
Epic Games
Flowmaster (a Mentor Graphics Company)
Milliman
Slicedbread
Ericson
Hubtel Ghana
Philips
Akaditi
Nottingham County Council
Ghana Police Service
Washington Department of Enterprise Services
Royal Air Force
Department of Work and Pensions (UK)
New Hampshire Supreme Court
Brandes Investment Partners L.P.
MacDonald Humfrey (Automation) Ltd.
YearUp.org
Epic Games
ProgramUtvikling
Philips