In the early days of internet communities, the conversation was limited to bulletin board systems and the early attempts at instant messaging. It was a wild and unregulated era. People got into an intense discussion that would degenerate into personal attacks known as “flame-wars.” Often the online conversation would be a mix of community building and toxic misanthropy. Other times, communities would sprout up and become repositories for wisdom and trivia in equal measure. To be an early adopter of the internet, you learn to find the good stuff and avoid the poison.
The most dangerous people in this new world were called trolls. According to The Guardian newspaper, they are the type of internet user “…who posts a deliberately erroneous or antagonistic message to a newsgroup or a similar forum intending to elicit a hostile or corrective response.” Today, social media and the internet appear overrun with these trolls looking to monetize the attention into fame and fortune. Today on the blog, I want to deal with a troll spreading disinformation about the agile movement.
Dealing with internet trolls is often like wrestling a pig in a mud puddle. After lots of exertion, you are dirty and exhausted, and the pig appreciates the exercise. When a troll is denied the nourishment of attention, the internet troll moves to another topic or potential victim. It is why a common source of wisdom on the web is “don’t feed the trolls.”
I spend plenty of time on the professional network LinkedIn. It is a way to keep in touch with old colleagues and stay on top of industry trends. Daily, I see articles from solemn people talking about why agile does not work. Many of these articles follow a similar template and often boil down to organizations being unable or unwilling to apply the information they discover during the agile process to improve. I liken it to a person who knows they have to quit drinking but journeys to the liquor store because they cannot fathom a life without alcohol. This week was an exception because someone seeking attention posted an article saying agile was unethical. I have dedicated my entire career to ethics and agile. To have someone accuse the agile reformation of being unethical felt like a grievous insult to everything I have stood for professionally.
Agile, emphasizing transparency and empiricism, is the height of ethical business behavior. Customers deserve collaboration instead of lengthy contract negotiations. The manifesto talks about working software being a principal measure of success. Rather than sticking to a plan, an agile professional will respond to changing conditions and market plans, and being an agile professional means being deadline-focused. Finally, agile requires you to be good with people and practice radical candor along with dynamic leadership.
Agile is an accepted part of technology organizations and global business because it works, and its practitioners embrace the highest ethical standards. The business world is harsh, but it will not tolerate frauds and grifters. A grifter will alienate everyone and then no one will do business with them, and eventually, a fraud will get caught and go to jail.
Finding an audience is difficult on the internet. It does not excuse spreading misinformation or outright falsehoods. Often you feel like a mime in a mosh pit wanting to express yourself and receive the attention you deserve. When I made my predictions about 2022, I said I wanted to fight misinformation. Any accusation that Agile is unethical for business should receive a dose of skepticism. I have paid a high price to be an ethical technology professional and speak truth to power. I will not feed trolls by letting them get away with spreading erroneous information.
Until next time.
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