THE STORY ABOUT 'AGILE TOOLS' IS A STORY ABOUT B*LLSHIT – AND HOW TO AVOID THE TRAP OF THE NARRATIVE OF STANDARDIZATION

I have heard billions of stories about 'Agile Transformation,' 'Agile Journey,' and 'Going Agile.'

Billions.

And billions too many.

And, sorry to say, the majority of these stories are b*llshit.

The reason is simple: those billions of stories have been filled with discussions about outsourced tools, methods, and frameworks designed by someone else, somewhere else, rather than the organization itself. Frameworks like Scrum, Kanban, DevOps and SAFe are often presented as the keys to unlocking speed, flexibility, and responsiveness in today's fast-paced world. But is adopting a new set of tools or processes really enough?

The answer is simple: NO.

And not even close. Agile, agility, and adaptability have nothing to do with tools or methods.

Agility and adaptability are emergent properties, not something that can be achieved simply by adopting specific tools or methodologies. Simply implementing Scrum, DevOps, Kanban, or other ’Agile Frameworks' or tools or methods doesn't create agility.

True agility requires a shift in mindset, culture, and organizational structure. Implementing pre-defined agile frameworks and tools, can be a good starting point, but it’s easy to fall into the trap of focusing too much on the mechanics – the ceremonies, roles, and artifacts. This focus on ’doing agile’ rather than ’being agile’ will lead to reduced team autonomy and a situation where processes overshadow actual outcomes and lean principles. Simply installing a framework doesn't magically make an organization agile, just like buying a chef's knife doesn't automatically make You a gourmet cook.

Basically: scaling agile practices like a standard set of tools, without a strong foundation in lean or agile mindset, will lead to mimicking agile and a copy-paste culture without thinking. A heavy focus on standardized tools and predictable deliveries will even discourage the very experimentation and continuous improvement that lie at the heart of agility.

True agility isn't a toolset You install; it's an inherent characteristic, an emergent property of the organization as a system, as a whole. It's the fundamental capacity to effectively sense, adapt, and respond to customer needs, here, now, immediately, with zero distance to customer. It's about adaptability, flexibility, and resilience woven into the fabric of the organizational architecture. Achieving this deeper agility requires more than just process changes, it demands a fundamental transformation of:

Mindset Shift: Moving from an internal process or tool focus to a deeply customer-centric one is key. The narrative needs to shift from the 'how' (technical features, tools) to the 'why' (true customer need and value) This involves understanding the customer holistically and prioritizing their experience.
Cultural Change: Agility thrives in a culture that fosters continuous learning, promotes collaboration within the value stream, empowers employees, and embraces innovation without fear of failure. It requires a "complete cultural transformation", not just a superficial application of tools.
Organizational Structure: Hierarchical, top-down structures, with the hierarchy- based decision making- structure, will stifle agility. True agility requires adjustments to the organizational structure to support autonomy, shared decision-making, and smoother, value- driven based flow without strict functions.
Narrative of Standardized Value Offering and Adaptability: If and when organizational narrative prioritizes standardization as its focus of thinking, and then focusing on technical tools and transactional services, that will lead to a fragmented approach that hinders organizational ability to deliver true customer value. This prevailing narrative creates a ripple effect, causing fragmentation at the operational level, because the fundamental 'WHY' – the true customer need – is obscured, it becomes also impossible to derive value-driven solutions truly impactful way. Instead, as a default this tool- driven approach and fragmentation leads to strong paradigm of describing solutions as lists of technical features ('HOW') and then organization misses the opportunity to develop compelling value propositions, therefore shared, customer-driven thinking is not developing at all.

The narrative of standardization results in the creation of solutions portfolio lacking differentiation, as the portfolio practically is based on Standard Industry Services like 'Migration’, 'DevOps’, ’Agile Transformation’,’Digital Transformation’ and 'add-the-buzzword-here' without a unique value proposition. This leads to offering to be filled with spot-optimization and this way organization is telling the story of ’selling capacity and standardized, transactional, tick-in-the-box services and capacity, which all are designed, created or even owned by someone else, not by us’. Therefore, by shifting organizational narrative to focus on true value to Customer, that will create a more successful and sustainable portfolio and customer-driven solution deliveries.

Agility and adaptability ARE about how to see the Customer and how to create the value. It is a combination of customer-focused business model, business architecture, platform enablers (as IT Infrastructure etc.) and organizational values, which together creates the whole system called ’Organizational Architecture’. Organizational Architecture is a comprehensive framework that integrates customer journeys, service blueprints, value streams, key structures, processes, people, culture, and technology – to align an organization with its strategy and direction.

Roughly, Values (as part of culture), the Business Model (as the driver), Business Architecture (as a detailed business blueprint), and IT Architecture (as the enabling technology blueprint) are all integral parts of adaptable Organizational Architecture. And the ’agility’ emerges inside the Organizational Architecture, not just by bringing tools and methods for teams to use. Commonly used and commonly adopted agile tools and methodologies can certainly be valuable enablers when implemented thoughtfully, but be careful and remember: there are actually zero tools or methods, which can be labeled as 'Agile'. Zero. So, every time when You see the tool or method labeled as 'Agile’ You see the lie and art of b*llshit as its purest format.

It is important to really understand, that tools and predefined methodologies are not the destination. True, sustainable agility emerges when an organization commits to the deeper work of shifting its mindset, evolving its culture, and adapting its structure to genuinely sense and respond to the ever-changing needs of its customers and the market. It's about building an organization that can learn, adapt, and thrive, not just one that follows a prescribed set of rules, tools and methods.

When the contemporary business landscape is characterized by rapid change, evolving customer expectations, and heightened competition, in this dynamic environment, organizations are increasingly recognizing the critical importance of adopting strategies that prioritize the customer, foster adaptability, and cultivate a compelling organizational narrative. These three elements – customer-centricity, organizational agility, and organizational narrative – are not isolated concepts but rather interconnected pillars that collectively underpin sustained success and competitive advantage.

Customer-centricity, at its core, represents a fundamental shift in business philosophy, one that places the customer at the heart of all organizational decisions and actions, everywhere, as system, not as a spot-thinking or not as just responsibility of one function. This strategic orientation changes the traditional focus on standardized, predefined products or internal processes, to prioritizing a deep understanding of customer needs, wants, and pain points . It’s about embedding a customer-first mindset into the very fabric of the organization. This involves a holistic understanding of the customer journey and proactively seeking feedback and customer intimacy to optimize every touchpoint and interaction. Key principles are quite simple: necessity of deriving product features and organizational capabilities directly from customer requirements, immediately, fast and responding near the customer. These principles are foundational to truly adaptable value creation.

When an organization truly understands what its customers need and value, it can develop offerings that resonate with the market. This alignment between customer demand and organizational output drives customer satisfaction, fosters loyalty, and ultimately enhances profitability. Researches consistently demonstrates that businesses that prioritize their customers experience increased spending and stronger customer retention. By making the customer experience the guiding principle, organizations can create a unique proposition that attracts and retains customers in competitive markets. The emphasis on understanding customer needs at a system level and positioning the customer experience (CX) as the guiding concept reinforces to encompass a complete organizational philosophy. This philosophy, in turn, directly fuels value creation by ensuring that the organization's offerings are relevant, desired, and effectively address actual market needs and are constantly delivered, as promised.

True agility, necessitates a fundamental transformation encompassing mindset, culture, and organizational structure. The researches and studies (any also experiences of writer of this blog…) consistently highlights the need for a deep cultural shift to cultivate agility, involving aspects such as fostering continuous learning, promoting end-to-end- teams as fulfilling the principle of ’zero distance to customer’, empowering employees to make decisions, and maintaining a relentless focus on delivering value to customers. This transformation requires leadership that champions change, promotes a culture of innovation without fear of error, and aligns strategy with execution.

The true conceptualization of agility aligns strongly with the prevailing view within the research that it is an inherent organizational capability rather than merely the implementation of specific tools. An organizational narrative that prioritizes technical tools over customer value results in a fragmented approach and obscures the fundamental customer need.

And I can’t highlight enough the dangers of focusing on tools without a clear understanding of the underlying customer value. The narrative change from tool-based products and demands of standardized solutions as default are the language of mass production and this narrative does not alleviate the importance of connecting the specific features of a product to the tangible benefits they offer the customer, thereby shifting the focus from the technical 'how' to the customer-centric 'why' is crucial. The consequence of a tool-driven approach as an excessive focus on technical features ('HOW') is that solutions will be created and offered in the expense of developing compelling value propositions. Tool-driven narrative leads to describing solutions in terms of their technical features, rather than their value to the customer.

So, an approach of standardization of everything (tools, methods, products, offerings) in organizational strategy and solution development carries significant negative consequences. This will lead to a situation where the organization becomes overly reliant on the tools and methods and standardized solutions themselves, losing sight of the intended business outcomes and potentially becoming a slave to organizational standardization.

Furthermore, a tool-driven approach can foster ineffective collaboration and misalignment within the organization. If the implementation of tools is not guided by clear strategic goals and a deep understanding of customer needs, it will result in wasted effort, misunderstandings between function-based teams, and the misapplication of technology. This directly causes increase of organizational fragmentation and the resulting inability to derive solutions that are truly driven by customer value and the focus on standardized services and technical features will lead to a lack of differentiation in a company's offerings. While standardization can offer certain benefits, such as cost efficiencies and consistency in service delivery, it will limit an organization's ability to tailor its offerings to the specific and diverse needs and preferences of individual customers, thereby reducing its differentiation in the marketplace.

This lack of differentiation will lead to missing the opportunity to develop compelling value propositions. In today's competitive markets, where customers have numerous choices, having a differentiated offering is crucial for attracting and retaining them. When a company's services are perceived as being largely the same as those offered by its competitors, it becomes more challenging to stand out and capture market share. However, a strong organizational narrative, particularly one that is deeply rooted in customer value, can serve as a key differentiator even in situations where core services might appear superficially similar. By crafting a compelling narrative that highlights the specific value delivered to customers, the company's unique mission, and its core values, an organization can differentiate itself in the minds of its target audience.

A narrative that is centered around the customer plays a crucial role in identifying their specific needs, understanding their pain points, and recognizing their desired outcomes. This deep understanding of the customer is foundational for developing value propositions that are not only relevant but also genuinely compelling.

Furthermore, a customer-focused narrative enables organizations to articulate the benefits and the value they provide in a way that truly resonates with their target audience, moving beyond simply listing the features of their products or services. Moreover, a consistent and authentic customer-centric narrative is instrumental in building stronger relationships with customers, fostering a sense of trust and encouraging long-term loyalty. By consistently communicating the value provided through the lens of the customer's experience, organizations can create a powerful and lasting connection that differentiates them from competitors who may focus solely on their own internal capabilities or technical specifications. Strategic shift towards a customer-centric narrative is absolutely crucial for the development of value propositions that are both successful, deliverable and sustainable in the long term.

The extensive research on the creation of effective value propositions consistently underscores the fundamental need to begin with a thorough and nuanced understanding of the customer's needs and to frame the entire value proposition and organizational structures around the value creation, from the customer's unique perspective. A well-crafted customer-centric narrative provides the essential context and the appropriate language necessary to effectively communicate this value in a way that truly resonates with the intended target audience and inside the organization itself.

An organizational narrative, when focused on customer value, can overcome the limitations of a constant, standardization-driven approach and lead to more differentiated and successful offerings, delivering agreed solutions that represent true impact and value.

In conclusion, the true essence of agility emerges not from the frameworks we adopt, but from our dedication to continuously adapt and respond to the ever-changing landscape of customer needs.

So, maybe its time to change? So, just create the change, be the change.

The Official Status of Agile 2025: