Scaling Agile in Organizations: Balancing Team Autonomy with Collective Growth and Learning
In addressing the challenge of scaling agile within an organization, the focus shifts from ensuring team autonomy and creativity to fostering organizational learning and individual professional development. This transition is crucial, especially as a company grows. In small organizations with just a few teams, agile and Scrum favor team-level optimization. This approach is appropriate in these environments, where the emphasis is on team autonomy, allowing for nimble and creative decision-making. However, as an organization expands and more teams are integrated into the agile framework, this approach can lead to unintended consequences. One significant risk of maintaining the same team-centric approach in a larger organization is the development of silos. Teams, while remaining agile within their own realms, may become isolated, leading to a lack of cross-team collaboration and knowledge sharing. This isolation can foster the emergence of varied subcultures, some of which may not align ...