#97 - R.I.P. Agile, Long Live Agile 2 with Cliff Berg

Boundaryless Conversations Podcast

On today’s podcast, we host someone who - has been at the forefront of the Agile revolution, and, at the same time, became one of Agile movement's most vocal critics, to the extent, that he dared to say: “R.I.P Agile”.

Cliff Berg, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Agile 2 Academy, and a leading figure in Agile and DevOps advising joins our podcast bringing his fresh perspectives on the decline of Agile. He also gives us a peek into the story of a book he recently co-authored, ‘Agile 2: The Next Iteration of Agile’.

Cliff takes us through what it means to re-imagine organizational practices and challenges the conventional framework-oriented approach, that often needs more contextualization and grounded action-based research.

Join us, as we discuss balancing leadership and self-organizing, and explore pragmatic approaches to operating successful businesses with agility and accountability.

This episode goes through a journey - we talk about Cliff’s viral post on the demise of Agile, and what he and a team of co-authors have done to consciously course-correct it, and publish a whole set of new ideas on how to approach Agile with a more contemporary and less ideological stance: Agile 2.

Cliff dismisses the narrative of “You don’t need managers”, and challenges why it’s important to reel our thoughts back in when it comes to decentralization of organizations.

He lays it out as it is: structure is not a bad thing per se, and the conversation goes through healthy ways of administering structure in organizations.

Tune in, if you’re interested in non-ideological ways to embrace agile practices, mixed with some of Boundaryless's staple topics: building optionality, entrepreneurial organizations that go big with skin in the game, and more.

Key Highlights

👉 Critical intersection between human behavior and technology, emphasizing the need for a deeper understanding of our digital coexistence.

👉 Calm Technology as an essential way to creating designs that respect human attention without overwhelming users.

👉Building tools that help users focus on the task and not the tool.

👉 Complexities of governance in technological and organizational contexts, with a focus on the potentials and pitfalls of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).

👉 Ways to bring a shift towards innovations that serve humanity and contribute to a more equitable future.

👉 Developing a questioning mindset for driving meaningful technological advancements.

Topics /chapters

(00:00) R.I.P. Agile, Long Live Agile 2 - Intro

(02:09) The transition from Agile 1.0 to Agile 2.0

(10:36) Solving Limitations of Agile 1.0

(18:26) Frameworks as a means to an end

(31:23) Increasing Optionality and Designing for Problem Solving

(38:16) Finding a Balance in Beauraucracy

(44:43) The transformation that sticks

Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://boundaryless.io/podcast/cliff-berg/

Episode recorded on 23th February 2024

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Music

Music from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: https://blss.io/Podcast-Music

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