For some time, I’ve been ruminating on how to answer folks who ask, “How do I convince people that [Agile/Scrum/XP/Lean/Kanban] is better?” I’ve even heard, “How can I get them to drink the Kool-Aid?” (I have an unfortunate tendency to lapse into a rant in response to this one. Maybe it’s because I was a thinking adult when the Jim Jones massacre happened, and it’s real, sad history to me. I won’t rant more here.)
My response to both queries goes something like, “Why would you want to?” I gave up on butting my head into brick walls some time back and feel perplexed when others want to do so.
Last Spring, I read a couple of blog posts by some alt.net guys that also capture my feelings. Jeremy Miller posted “Coalition of the Willing” and Ian Cooper posted “Why people do not see how smart your idea is at first” over a span of a few days. They wrote about alt.net; however, their arguments apply in the Agile world too.
To paraphrase Yoda, “Do or do not, don’t try to convince anyone else.”
Comments
I really found that both my sense of well being and my consulting results improved once I stopped trying to convince anyone of anything. Now, I always answer “Should I do X?” questions with “Yes.”
This post is really insightful. I often try to convert people into Agile Believers but like your spin on things. Agile is better experienced than talked about. Enjoyed your post so much it is now featured on AgileShout. Thanks!