Agile has revolutionized the way teams collaborate and innovate, but it has also suffered heavy criticism. Going as far as calling it cult-like, opponents say Agile can stifle creativity and motivation.

We believe Agile is a mindset rather than a process, and it needs the support of other frameworks to be effective.

What is Agile anyway?

Agile and Scrum are often used interchangeably, yet they mean different things. Agile is a mindset of flexibility, collaboration, and continuous improvement. It focuses on taking big tasks and breaking them down into smaller tasks, which can be worked-on in iterative cycles.

It is grounded in a very brief manifesto:

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:

· Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

· Working software over comprehensive documentation

· Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

· Responding to change over following a plan

In contrast, Scrum

is a specific process-framework that structures work into sprints, with defined rules, roles, artifacts and ceremonies. While Agile overall has had a very positive impact, the process of Scrum can sometimes lead to rigidity and inflexibility.

"To many in the outside world, agile is a cult, an ideology, a fad,”

says Geof Ellingham, Agility Guide & Leadership Coach. Unfortunately, many organizations have implemented Agile in a way that actually makes them less agile, focusing on rituals rather than outcomes.

In a 2018 Harvard Business Review article, Why Agile Goes Awry—and How to Fix It, co-authors Lindsay McGregor and Neel Doshi remarked, “Over the last three years, in our research on human motivation, we have analyzed the practices of engineers across over 500 different organizations using a combination of survey-based and experimental approaches. We’ve found that what happens in practice wildly departs from these stated principles…. For example, in common practice, processes and tools have become the driver of work, not individuals and interactions. In one large Fortune 100 company, the head of digital products said to us, ‘we’re not allowed to question the Agile process.’”

In another Harvard Business Review piece, Have We Taken Agile Too Far, former Amazon VPs Colin Bryar and Bill Carr argue “Agile is a highly effective tool for product development, especially software-driven offerings…but as companies expand its use into new areas (budgeting, talent management), agile is too often used an excuse to avoid careful planning and preparation.” This can result in costly product failures that do not meet customer needs effectively. The authors argue in favor of Amazon’s long-standing practice of “working backwards” from a carefully-crafted press release and FAQ’s package that explains a product in detail, before any development begins.

Unpacking The Best Elements of Agile

From our viewpoint at The Navigator Collective. Agile has some good elements and some not-so-good ones. We believe a modern, hybrid approach is necessary, combining elements of Agile with other frameworks to find the mashup that truly works. By integrating Agile with principles from Design Thinking, Play Innovation, and social sciences, organizations can tap the strengths without carrying-on any extra baggage.

In order to get to the best, let’s first chip away at the worst:

an overemphasis on religious-sounding words that can find teams more focused on process than results. Connected-work software platform maker Planview proposes that Agile has 5 key disadvantages:

Inefficient resource planning can result from the underlying assumption that scope is simply un-knowable.
Documentation is deprioritized, treated as “just-in-time” and often back-burnered, causing a lack of clarity.
Fragmented, incremental outputs can become inconsistent and lack cohesion over time—branding, structure, functionality, design.
The lack of a finite end-of-project can lead to infinite rabbit holes that consume time and resources.
KPI-setting and measurement can be very difficult when planning happens on the go.

On the other hand, more useful elements of Agile include:

A flexible mindset helps teams be open to changing requirements and challenges.
Face-to-face collaboration (rather than emails and status sheets) enhances communication and trust.
Time spent on self- and team-reflection promotes continuous growth.
An iterative focus encourages teams to break down big tasks and approach solutions incrementally, allowing for frequent feedback and adjustments.

Mix Vigorously

We look at Agile as one ingredient in a tasty innovation soufflé. Other frameworks like Design Thinking complement Agile by adding rigorous layers of empathy and creativity to the process. Design Thinking emphasizes understanding the user's needs and iterating solutions based on feedback. Other ideas like Play Innovation introduce elements of fun and creativity that can open innovators’ minds and lead to unexpected and innovative outcomes.

Delivering these frameworks effectively requires a nuanced approach—we use both human facilitators and AI agents to make it scalable. It takes a lot of training to ensure that both human and AI can facilitate effectively, however. Human facilitators are trained in Agile mindsets and Design Thinking/Play Innovation frameworks to foster collaboration, encourage diverse perspectives, and guide teams through cycles of ideation and feedback. Yet one human facilitator can only interact with so many individuals hands-on. AI agents give us the ability to assign mentors/co-creators in a 1:1 ratio. Just like the human facilitators, the AI agent must be programmed to help the user empathize with potential customers, explore widely divergent ideas, and select winning ideas objectively. They also must be trained to deliver learning incrementally, so the big task of learning how to ideate can be broken down into multiple “sprints” or exercises in a workshop.

Agile and the Social Sciences

The cross-over between Agile's philosophy and the social sciences are also very interesting. Agile's emphasis on face-to-face collaboration requires strong group dynamics, a key focus of social psychology. Agile’s focus on incremental learning and continuous improvement is well-aligned with the practice of cognitive behavior therapy. And Agile teams are cross-functional by design, and thus more inclusive.

Our own DE&I guru, Rachel More, noted in a recent post on The Navigator Collective’s blog, “Inclusivity focuses on making sure everyone's ideas and input are heard and valued, which helps create a safe space for risk-taking. When people feel included, they are more likely to lean-in fully. It's about building trust and respect, making sure everyone knows their contributions are welcome and they matter.”

In a similar way, we can see some cross-over between Agile and Cognitive Behavior Therapy or CBT, in both frameworks’ incremental approach. Our own practicing Behavioral Psychotherapist, Joshua Haddock, wrote in a recent piece, "Psychologist and Stanford Professor Albert Bandura’s self-efficacy theory emphasizes the importance of believing in one's capabilities to achieve success. By building self-efficacy, individuals can overcome their fear of failure and explore new ideas without being paralyzed by self-doubt." Building self-efficacy happens bit by bit, through learning and practice, followed by more learning and practice. There’s a nice parallel in the cyclical nature of both Agile and CBT.

Techniques from these fields enhance team dynamics and foster psychological safety, leading to more effective and creative problem-solving.

The Future of Agile in the Innovation Process

Agile continues to evolve, integrating new methodologies and adapting to changing business environments. Like Amazon’s work-backward or our own hybrid approach at The Navigator Collective— many companies focus more on the Agile mindset than the process, and look for ways to plug-in Agile thinking as a “supporting-actor” to other frameworks. Spotify, for example, has developed its own “Spotify Model” implementation. Airbnb is known for incorporating Design Thinking with Scrum and Lean approaches.

On our quest to make innovation more inclusive, fearless, and fun, we’re exploring a wide variety of things to help people be more creative. There’s no single magic approach – it takes a combination: schools of thought, frameworks, humans, AI agents. By integrating Agile with Design Thinking, Play Innovation, and social sciences, we aim to create a balanced approach that unlocks creativity and helps overall productivity.

What comes next? Hard to say, but one thing is certain: self-reflection and continuous improvement are definitely on the docket.

Paul Sears is Founder & CEO of The Navigator Collective. After 21 years in marketing and advertising agencies, Paul saw the massive backlog so many organizations face when it comes to filling their creative pipelines with early-stage concepts. What if everyone in the company could contribute viable ideas to move the business forward? Paul founded The Navigator Collective to help people, regardless of their professional background and training, innovate like they were trained creative professionals. Learn more at https://navigatorcollective.com, or book a free demo today.

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