Understanding Agile

3 Agile governance and organization

“When the government is simple and clear, people are simple and sincere.

When the government is complex and stringent, people are cunning and shall cause trouble. Lao Tzu”

I often use the analogy of Jekyll and Hyde to compare corporate governance with Agile practices. In Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Dr Jekyll is an upstanding individual who conforms to moral and social codes. Mr Hyde, his alter ego, has no such code and does what he wants. In the end, the conflict destroys the person.

Governance is often interpreted as providing a structured environment in which rigid procedures and gates are applied to give us the illusion of control. Agile, on the other hand, is often perceived ...