I love communities ❤️. I’ve been part of the Scrum.org trainer community for almost a decade, participated in the broader Agile community even longer, and organized 100+ meetups for The Liberators Network. In addition, I supported kickstarting various in-company Agile communities.
Ideally, a community becomes a source of inspiration, experimentation, and knowledge sharing. It benefits from psychological safety, which allows people to take interpersonal risks, openly share problems, and suggest solutions.
Communities have one big pitfall… the bubble!
This means that the community becomes a bubble with only like-minded people. Within the bubble, everyone loves Agile, Scrum, or whatever the community is focused on.
👉 “Agile would succeed if only they would change their behavior.”
👉 “For Scrum to work in this organization, they need a different mindset.”
👉 “Increasing organizational agility requires the business to rethink their attitude.”
In short, it’s not us; it’s them, the people outside our bubble.
You’re on a slippery slope if this thinking emerges within your community. It can even create a toxic environment, creating a barrier between the community’s contributors and everyone else. ❌
My recommendations…
1️⃣ Stay in touch with the ‘real world’
My number one recommendation for Agile and Scrum communities is to stay in touch with the ‘real world.’ Connect with real users, stakeholders, and customers who don’t necessarily care about Agile theory but could benefit from Agile practices. Involve and engage them to learn what struggles they face and where things are stuck, and work together to identify opportunities for improvement.
2️⃣ Leave your theoretical bubble
It’s fine if you enjoy debating the Scrum Guide, Agile Manifesto, a specific certificate, or an assessment question. If it increases your knowledge and understanding, awesome! 👍 I do recommend occasionally leaving your theoretical bubble and connecting with real users. This is an excellent opportunity to validate whether your theoretical knowledge is valuable in practice.
3️⃣ Invite ‘others’ to join your community
Proactively invite team members, stakeholders, and managers to join your community events. Interview an essential leader about how Agile impacts their role. Host a UX Fishbowl with developers or a Conversation Cafe with managers. Keep organizing “Agile or Scrum Days,” but instead of only having coaches and Scrum Masters as participants, actively invite people with a non-Agile role. In the end, almost everyone is impacted by Agile!
In other words:
👉 Keep adding fresh oxygen to your bubble!
It’s not optional, but necessary!
What’s your view on this? What ideas, thoughts, and reflections do you have?