Embrace A Skeptic

As an agile coach, you're bound to encounter a few skeptics in the teams and organisations you work with. Although sometimes it seems that skeptics are doomsayers bringing a cloud of negativity to the team and it's tough to see ideas shot down before they've been given a chance. In my experience, skeptics are to be embraced.

I've been coaching agile teams for a few years and had plenty of exposure to naysayers and cynics. What has surprised me is how many of former skeptics are now agile advocates. I started my own agile jouney as a skeptic about XP but I was curious enough to give it a try. I remember also when I first worked with Monica, she was a program manager who seemed determined to stop her team get even a toe-hold to try agile practices like Test-driven Development. Since then she's brought me in to coach her teams in two different media organisations and she now works for an agile consultancy. I have a bunch of similar stories about former agile skeptics so I thought I'd write up what I do when I meet an agile skeptic.

The first thing to remember about a skeptic is that they are at least giving your proposals some serious consideration. They are thinking about whatever is being put forward otherwise they wouldn't be able to come up with any arguments against change. Try to accept that most skeptics care about many of the same things as you do. They want to be able to do a quality job and not to waste time. However, they have to yet to be persuaded that being "agile" helps and likely fear that change will make things worse.

Moreover, they're likely to have real experience to share that underpins their position. To get a skeptic on your side, you have to listen to them and hear their concerns. You are likely to learn something useful by working through the obstacles they see. You can work with them to improve your approach. There may be simple tweaks you can make to avoid the pitfalls that they raise and allay their fears.

In their book, "Fearless Change: Patterns for Introducing New Ideas", Linda Rising and Mary Lynn Manns include the Champion Skeptic pattern. They advise that you actively seek a skeptic to help sharpen your thinking because skeptics can help you find weak parts of your change message.

So next time you find yourself worrying that a skeptic on the team is out to burst your agile bubble, pause and take time to listen to their concerns. You might learn something!

Comments

[Ruud Rietveld]

Great post!
I always take great pains trying not to fall into the negativity trap. It's so easy to see a skeptic only as a P-in-the-A. Find out *why* someone is behaving negatively and you already won half the battle. And also, was it Sun-Tzu who wrote: "Know thine enemy"?
You see, negativity is a trap, I fall in even now! :-p

I have also read Fearless Change, and while it is a bit American to me, it has some sound advice on how to sell your ideas and make them better.

[Scotty Bevill]

I love the "find a skeptic" approach. in my time teaching, I look for the "expert" in the room. These individuals cause others to get involved and break the ice. I try to remember that some people learn visually, some learn linguistically, some are auditory, and some just have to disagree so you'll explain it 10 times until they have an a-ha moment. Either way, i improve, or the rest of the class really does believe what I'm saying now.

Thanks for this one Rachel!

[Keith Pitty]

Thanks for your post, Rachel.

The idea of embracing a skeptic resonates with me as I strive to improve my argument about the benefits of agile to customers as well as developers. Customers who have little familiarity with the complexities of building software and are used to fixed-price, fixed-scope arrangements are, in my experience, the most difficult to persuade.

And, the fact that this idea comes (partially) from Linda Rising adds weight in my view. I was lucky enough to see her speak a couple of years ago. Memorable!

[Thierry CONTER]

I confirm that the skeptic is not against you!
Often, he has strong convictions about how to do things right.
In this case, he is open to discussion at the opinions and values level. Once he feels welcomed and respected in his opinions he is ready to hear yours.
Of course he will not change in a glance. He will need first to try on his own and finally adopt some new ideas.

[Anthony Green]

I think we should endeavour to make a clear distinction between skepticism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_skepticism, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodological_skepticism) and modern cynicism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynicism_(contemporary). Skepticism has it's roots in epistemology, and works at establishing what it means to have knowledge as distinct from belief.