The Fallacy of Equating Agility with Speed: What Agile Really Means

In the world of Agile, there’s a common misconception that agility equals speed. However, this idea is as much of an oxymoron as the concept of an “agile project manager.” The truth is, Agile isn’t about rushing through tasks or speeding up processes; it’s about spending your time wisely on valuable endeavors. Let’s dive deeper into what agility truly means and why it’s not about doing things faster, but doing the right things.

Agility is About Spending Time Wisely

One of the most important aspects of agility is the efficient use of time. The goal isn’t to do everything faster, but to ensure that the time you spend is on the right tasks—the ones that bring the most value. Here’s how:

• Focus on Value: Agility is about focusing on the most valuable endeavors. We want to spend less time on the wrong things and more time on the right things.

• Trial and Error: To find the right thing, you often need to try multiple things—sometimes even 10—before you find the three that work. This is a crucial part of Agile that separates it from the notion of speed.

• Iterative Process: You might need to test and refine multiple ideas, which can take time. For instance, if each experiment takes two weeks, and you test 10 ideas, that’s 20 weeks of work just to find the one approach that truly delivers value.

So, the notion that agility equals speed is a complete fallacy. Agile allows for experimentation, learning, and adaptation, which might seem slower but ensures you’re building the right thing.

The Danger of Building the Wrong Product

One of the biggest risks in any project is building the wrong product—something that doesn’t fit the market or meet customer needs. Here’s why this happens and how Agile helps mitigate this risk:

• Assumptions Can Lead to Failure: Many organizations fail because they assume they know what the customer wants. They think they’re building the right product, but in reality, they’re not.

• Market Fit: Even if you build a product quickly, it doesn’t guarantee market fit. You need to constantly validate your assumptions and be prepared to pivot if necessary.

Example: Zoom.ai and the Shift to CalendarHero

Let’s take a real-world example. I was an avid user of a product called Zoom.ai, which started as a bot-based calendaring tool. It allowed users to interact with a bot to schedule meetings, but most customers, including myself, found it easier to simply send a link for people to book a slot. Over time, Zoom.ai pivoted and rebranded as CalendarHero, focusing more on traditional calendaring functions rather than their initial AI-driven approach.

This shift highlights the importance of market fit. Despite having an innovative product, Zoom.ai had to adapt to the actual needs of its users, which ultimately led them to completely change their business focus.

How Bureaucracy and Rigid Processes Hinder Agility

Bureaucracy and rigid processes can be significant obstacles to agility and innovation. Here’s why:

• Slower Response to Market Changes: Organizations with a lot of bureaucracy often struggle to respond quickly to market changes. They become like rusty machines, slow and inefficient.

• Local Optimizations: Focusing on optimizing small parts of the organization can lead to a loss of agility. Instead of improving the whole system, companies get stuck in local optimizations that don’t contribute to overall agility.

The Myth of Speed in Agile

Agility isn’t about speed. If you think adopting Agile will make your organization move faster, you’re mistaken. Here’s the reality:

• Workload Remains the Same: Whether you use Agile or Waterfall, the number of tasks remains the same. If you have 300 things to do, it will take 300 tasks worth of time to complete them, regardless of the methodology.

• Efficiency Through Elimination: Agile may seem faster because it often reveals that you don’t need to do all 300 tasks. Perhaps only 100 tasks are necessary, and you can focus on those.

Case Study: The Sentinel Project

A famous example of Agile in action is the Sentinel project, the FBI’s records-keeping system. Here’s a breakdown:

1. Initial Failure: In 1995, the FBI delivered a new system that was obsolete the moment it shipped. They spent $400 million and four years on a product that didn’t work.

2. Another Attempt: They then spent another five years and $300 million, only to have another failed product.

3. Agile Transformation: In 2012, the FBI decided to switch to Agile. They reduced the team from 400 to 40 people, set up Scrum teams, and delivered a working product to production within a year.

Was Agile faster? Not really. What changed was the focus—they stopped trying to build the entire system at once and instead focused on delivering the first piece, the part that would provide immediate value.

Reframing the Concept of Speed in Agile

The best way to understand Agile is not by how fast you can get things done, but by how you prioritize and deliver value within the same time frame. Here’s how:

• Budgeting for Value: Imagine you have $100,000 for a project, allowing for 10 Sprints. Instead of deciding upfront what to build, Agile allows you to figure out as you go which features or tasks bring the most value.

• Delivering the Right 50 Things: By the end of the project, you might not have built the 50 things you initially thought were important, but you will have built the 50 things that matter most to your customers.

Final Thoughts: Agile is About Delivering Value, Not Speed

Agile is often misunderstood as a methodology for doing things faster. In reality, Agile is about ensuring that the time you spend is on the most valuable tasks—the ones that will truly benefit your customers and your business. By focusing on market fit, eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy, and embracing an iterative process, Agile helps organizations deliver better products, not just faster products. So, the next time you hear someone equating agility with speed, remember: it’s not about rushing to the finish line; it’s about making sure that what you deliver is worth the journey. 🚀