We had an opportunity to do better. A chance to ‘start over’. The closest thing to a nuclear reset I’ve ever seen. But are we capable of learning and changing? If the only thing we do now is go back to the way we’ve always done things…haven’t we failed our people? 

Uncertain times are great opportunities for leaders. We can show courage. We can prove our will to protect people from harm. We can model certainty by creating a future that others fail to see. People want to know how best to live their company values. We’ve had an excess of opportunity to put them in action since March 2020. 

I watched many leaders ask “how should we lead?” To be honest, it felt more like self concern. Nobody asked “how do we best serve our people?”. “What do they need to feel right now?”. If they had, they’d realize that people were desperate to feel cared for. Even if we didn’t know what would happen next, we should have made them feel protected.  

I don’t think anybody led during this pandemic. We got bogged down the mechanics. We figured out how to order standing desks. How to get more people on camera during video conferences. A few visionary leaders championed remote or hybrid work. Many more were itching to get people back in the office. Back to the normal state of monitoring and control. 

This is not what evolution looks like. It doesn’t mean giving ground when forced into a corner, only to pull it back in some other way when the pressure is off.  

You can’t mess with nature. In nature, every once in a while there’s an extinction-level event. Something that cleanses us. It’s not intentional or by design. It’s often completely random. The point remains, from time to time, the universe clears the decks. It happens whether you want it to or not.  

All you have to do is look outside a window to see one boiling now. 

Another economic downturn. Unbridled inflation and rising cost of living. Racial and social tensions. Violence. Anger and blame. 

But this one feels different. This doesn’t feel like the steady state, natural ebb and flow. I sense an ugly crescendo building. The time for leadership is now, and so far, we’ve failed to lead. 
 

To be tone-deaf implies a disregard for the currents of public sentiment. This is more than a failure to hear. This was a failure to learn. To be humble and understand what people needed in a moment of crisis. And to understand where we want to go next. 

Either we don’t know how to change, or we don’t want to. Didn’t it almost feel like, for the first time in a long time, the benefits would accrue to the people? A disruption of work customs invites a full review. A chance to address what was wrong. Long hours. Mindless meetings. Entitled bosses. Inequity, inequality, insensitivity. Clawed back pensions, vacations and benefits. Obsessive clockwatching and status reporting. This could have been huge. 

Instead, we focused on how to get back to normal. We didn’t ask if normal was failing us. We couldn’t hear the suggestion that centuries-old industrial concepts needed an upgrade. Why? Are our biggest corporations unable to justify a better life for the average worker? Or do companies not know how to make big change? Either way, at the rate modern CEO’s are paid, they should know better. Those who love the decoration of “business hero” should also seek the highest bar. 

We didn’t lead. To lead implies an invitation to follow. Who would follow someone to a more exhausting, depressing future? Who will follow when our needs are not heard, much less met? If one company chose to re-write the future of work, our eyes would be open. We’d see that leadership DOES make the culture. Leaders model values in action. What they do is a reflection of what they value. If they do things that don’t put trust in the hands of the people, what does that say about their priorities? 

Yet we struggle to understand mass resignation. We can’t get on top of the mess. We can’t stop the avalanche. Are we surprised? When leaders prioritize a return to broken models of mistrust and control – how can we trust them? Why would we place our highest energy on their results? 

The future of Agility demands that we help with these failures. The impact is far greater than the speed of software production. Our measurements must no longer be velocity. Stop staring at burndown charts and production per person per unit time. Turn your gaze to the wellness and greatness of people. They’re voting with their feet. How long will it take you to listen? 

Align yourselves with the people leaders and “cultural transformation experts”. Whatever that means. Propose experiments until you’re blue in the face. Expect failure and rejection. Someone will hear you. The right leaders will see a clear, better future and ask for your help. Be relentless in your goal to make work better. 

Right efforts will create right results – all the way down to the shareholder report. Track and measure what you do. Pay attention to small successes. Market your accomplishments. As with any great revolution, no one will listen at first. Persistence and consistency pays.  

If you believe that this is our last and best opportunity for a better way of working, you must act. If you feel called to make meaningful change, you have everything you need in your Agile Toolkit. The future depends on you. Will you answer the call?