Scrum and the agile movement in general have created a divisive environment between traditional project management and agile roles. This divisiveness has allowed accidental agile bullies on both sides to take root. Together, let’s reset on what agility and success mean and talk through actions we can all take to repair relationships and reestablish safety across our organizations.

1. Accidental Agile Bullies
A conversation starter by Brian Thayer

3. 3 Little Letters
P PM

4.  17 years in Technology
 Customer Service & Support
 IT Infrastructure Project Management
 Software Product Management
 Agile Practices Lead
 MBA, University of Indianapolis
 Certifications
 Professional Scrum Master I
 Certified SAFe 4 Agilist
 Certified Agility Health Facilitator
 Project Management Professional
 Pragmatic Marketing Foundations & Build
brian.d.thayer@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/briandthayer

5. unwanted, aggressive
behavior that involves
a real or perceived
power imbalance
https://www.stopbullying.gov/what-is-bullying/definition/index.html

6. https://www.business.com/articles/the-cold-hard-facts-about-workplace-bullying-and-how-to-handle-it/
72%American adults familiar with
instances of workplace bullying
https://www.business.com/articles/the-cold-hard-facts-about-workplace-bullying-and-how-to-handle-it/

7. 65.6 Maffected by bullying, including
targets and witnesses
https://www.business.com/articles/the-cold-hard-facts-about-workplace-bullying-and-how-to-handle-it/

8. 69%of bullies are men
60%of targets are women
https://www.business.com/articles/the-cold-hard-facts-about-workplace-bullying-and-how-to-handle-it/

9. 61%of bullying targets end
up losing their job
https://www.business.com/articles/the-cold-hard-facts-about-workplace-bullying-and-how-to-handle-it/

10. What is the
Connection to the
Agile Community?

11. https://www.scrum.org/resources/scrum-guide
Project Managers
do not exist in
Scrum

12. Larman, C., Vodde, B. (2017). Large Scale Scrum, More with LeSS (p. 64).
“Most LeSS adoptions can
immediately eliminate the
project manager role”
“It’s likely they would regularly
interrupt people and introduce
conflicting priorities.”

13. http://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/learning/thought-leadership/pulse/pulse-of-the-profession-2017.pdf
6% – 24%of projects fail to meet intended outcomes

14. http://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/learning/thought-leadership/pulse/pulse-of-the-profession-2017.pdf
71%of organizations report using agile

15. Is Scrum the
face of agility

16. https://www.scrumalliance.org/scrum/media/ScrumAllianceMedia/Files%20and%20PDFs/State%20of%20Scrum/State0fScrum_2016_FINAL.pdf
89%use Scrum as at least one of the agile
approaches in their organization

17. Agile Manifesto
Does NOT
Mention Specific
Roles

18. My Theory on
Accidental Agile
Bullies

19. We’re ALL
guilty!
At some
point, we all
believe our
way is the
only way

20. DAD

21. Don’t Go There!

22. Mental models form “OR” choices
Instead, focus on “AND”

23. The preoccupation
with methods is the
cause of Accidental
Agile Bullies

24. Methods Don’t Matter,
Results Do!

25. Griffiths, M.. (2015). PMI-ACP Exam Prep (p.376).
Project got shipped
Leadership remained intact
Team would work the same
way again

26. Rapid technological advancement
Increased globalization
Shifting legislation
Increased demand for transparency
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2016/07/12/does-business-agility-depend-on-company-culture/#2b0c7811ff62

27. http://blog.deloitte.com.au/navigating-the-agile-landscape/

28. http://agilemanifesto.org/
Individuals and Interactions
over processes and tools

29. Working Software
over comprehensive
documentation
http://agilemanifesto.org/

30. Customer Collaboration
over contract negotiation
http://agilemanifesto.org/

31. http://agilemanifesto.org/
Responding to Change
over following a plan

32. http://modernagile.org/
“We learn their
context and pain
points…what they
aspire to achieve”.
“We protect
people’s...reputation,
money, health and
relationships”

33. Break the
paradigm!

34. Business agility isn’t
defined by job titles

35. Yet many continue to
bully

36. Bullies care about
threatening, humiliating,
or intimidating others!
http://www.workplacebullying.org/individuals/problem/how-bullying-happens/

37. How do we put
an end to
Agile Bullies?

38. Stop the Madness!
http://smashthinking.com/how-tom-cruise-taught-me-when-to-agile-and-when-not

39. Patterson, K., Grenny, J., McMillan, R., Switzler, A. (2012). Crucial Conversations; Tools for Talking when the Stakes are High.

40. Everyone has a story, ask and listen

46. Be Intentional
Crucial Conversations
Learn from Stories
Focus on Customer
Convert the Bullies

47. Turn Accidental
Agile Bullies into
Allies for Change

49. For More on This Topic
& Mental Models
Google
 “My Agile is better than your Agile” by Hala Saleh
 Cargo Cult Agile
Read
 https://age-of-product.com/scrum-master-anti-patterns-job-ads/
 https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/mental-models/
 “The Fifth Discipline” by Peter Senge
 “The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook” by Peter Senge