Comments on: Escalation is Killing our Healthy Conflict in Agile http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/2009/12/escalation-is-killing-our-healthy-conflict-in-agile/ Adopt, Scale and Succeed with Agile Development Tue, 10 Jan 2012 03:30:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.5 By: Jonny Wilkinson http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/2009/12/escalation-is-killing-our-healthy-conflict-in-agile/#comment-4908 Jonny Wilkinson Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:54:53 +0000 http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/?p=3618#comment-4908 Wow ! What a great comment from Regina ! One thing I found particularly interesting is your comment... What we saw, ..., is that people who are accustomed to being “right” for a living ... are less likely to try to find a mutually satisfactory solution. Asking one of "those people" might elicit the response... "I'm not good at stroking people's egos." :-( What I think that means is, "I don't think it is right to compromise on a solution in order to stroke someone's ego, especially if think they didn't contribute significantly to the solution.". Wow ! What a great comment from Regina !

One thing I found particularly interesting is your comment…

What we saw, …, is that people who are accustomed to being “right” for a living … are less likely to try to find a mutually satisfactory solution.

Asking one of “those people” might elicit the response… “I’m not good at stroking people’s egos.” :-(

What I think that means is, “I don’t think it is right to compromise on a solution in order to stroke someone’s ego, especially if think they didn’t contribute significantly to the solution.”.

]]> By: Sameh Zeid http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/2009/12/escalation-is-killing-our-healthy-conflict-in-agile/#comment-4906 Sameh Zeid Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:11:24 +0000 http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/?p=3618#comment-4906 I always feel like our projects are bound to have escalations. In traditional project management, escalation is a formal process and can be part of the project management plan. Moreover, I found people escalate more often without following this process. In the agile world, where every one required for the project should be part of the team, I found escalation still happens. Dr. Deming has a point called "Drive out fear" that he incorporated into his 14 management points when he has returned back home from Japan. I think we escalate because of fear. Another point he added also was "Respect to people". He said in Japan a junior engineer can stop the line and management trust her that she is doing the right thing. From my view, this action is combination of respect and no fear. Such actions come from people who continuously think of ideas for improvement and have sense of urgency. They work within a system that not only protect them, but trust them! By not understanding these two points we are bound to escalate. Sometimes a manager may feel pride when he receives escalations. It increases his sense of security. We escalate to survive. We escalate because of lack of respect to other people. Even if it's winning, it is very short term. Then, the project probably starts its death march. To mitigate escalation, I think the project team should under-go training on the process (Scrum, Agile, XP…). The process should not be tweaked as this can form a bias that can increase the intensity of conflict and lead to escalations. The rules of engagement of the team members and appreciation of the interactions as required by the process can help to acknowledge each other more. I always feel like our projects are bound to have escalations. In traditional project management, escalation is a formal process and can be part of the project management plan. Moreover, I found people escalate more often without following this process.
In the agile world, where every one required for the project should be part of the team, I found escalation still happens.
Dr. Deming has a point called “Drive out fear” that he incorporated into his 14 management points when he has returned back home from Japan. I think we escalate because of fear. Another point he added also was “Respect to people”. He said in Japan a junior engineer can stop the line and management trust her that she is doing the right thing. From my view, this action is combination of respect and no fear. Such actions come from people who continuously think of ideas for improvement and have sense of urgency. They work within a system that not only protect them, but trust them!
By not understanding these two points we are bound to escalate. Sometimes a manager may feel pride when he receives escalations. It increases his sense of security. We escalate to survive. We escalate because of lack of respect to other people. Even if it’s winning, it is very short term. Then, the project probably starts its death march.
To mitigate escalation, I think the project team should under-go training on the process (Scrum, Agile, XP…). The process should not be tweaked as this can form a bias that can increase the intensity of conflict and lead to escalations. The rules of engagement of the team members and appreciation of the interactions as required by the process can help to acknowledge each other more.

]]> By: Jean Tabaka http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/2009/12/escalation-is-killing-our-healthy-conflict-in-agile/#comment-4901 Jean Tabaka Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:56:16 +0000 http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/?p=3618#comment-4901 Lisa, It is so cool that you see your enthusiasm as a potential threat to the team despite your wanting to use it as a gift for the team. I think allowing all voices in the room and divergence can build trust around trying new/different practices. It is much better than telling people that they must agree with you especially since you know you are right :-) Jean Lisa,

It is so cool that you see your enthusiasm as a potential threat to the team despite your wanting to use it as a gift for the team. I think allowing all voices in the room and divergence can build trust around trying new/different practices. It is much better than telling people that they must agree with you especially since you know you are right :-)

Jean

]]> By: Jean Tabaka http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/2009/12/escalation-is-killing-our-healthy-conflict-in-agile/#comment-4899 Jean Tabaka Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:53:56 +0000 http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/?p=3618#comment-4899 Thanks Dave for the examples. As the kid in "The Sixth Sense" movie says, "I see dead people everywhere." Read through Regina Mullen's comment and see what resonates for you about how we may be engaging non-usefully in Agile. Whether it is about how you adopt Agile, what the "right" practices are, or who you are listening to, you may hear some rhetoric that pushes you up against a wall. When, like the "dead people everywhere", we have this rhetoric expand and multiply, that is escalation, and that is a systemic dynamic. So now I'll give an example not in our Agile community. Think about whatever significant relationships you have in your life. Pick one person in particular to whom you are very close. And imagine this person with whom you are deeply connected saying to you, "If you REALLY loved me, you wouldn't think the way you do." What!!?!?! Yup, those exact words have been said to me. And, yup, that is a lose/lose situation even though the other person was going for the win. Sigh, Jean Thanks Dave for the examples.

As the kid in “The Sixth Sense” movie says, “I see dead people everywhere.” Read through Regina Mullen’s comment and see what resonates for you about how we may be engaging non-usefully in Agile. Whether it is about how you adopt Agile, what the “right” practices are, or who you are listening to, you may hear some rhetoric that pushes you up against a wall. When, like the “dead people everywhere”, we have this rhetoric expand and multiply, that is escalation, and that is a systemic dynamic.

So now I’ll give an example not in our Agile community. Think about whatever significant relationships you have in your life. Pick one person in particular to whom you are very close. And imagine this person with whom you are deeply connected saying to you, “If you REALLY loved me, you wouldn’t think the way you do.” What!!?!?! Yup, those exact words have been said to me. And, yup, that is a lose/lose situation even though the other person was going for the win.

Sigh,
Jean

]]> By: Jean Tabaka http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/2009/12/escalation-is-killing-our-healthy-conflict-in-agile/#comment-4898 Jean Tabaka Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:41:29 +0000 http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/?p=3618#comment-4898 Regina, This is such a wonderful commentary. Thank you so much for taking the time to post your perspectives. We have a great opportunity in the Agile community to learn from you about how we engage our passions. I love your observation that this Escalation dynamic may be in the Agile system if "the basis for the community is a desire to consciously engage around the edges of complexity." I want that engagement and I want that dancing on the edges of complexity. I just also want to hold myself personally accountable for how I engage. And, I respectfully ask others in our community to dance in healthy conflict as well. This was great. Thanks! Jean Regina,

This is such a wonderful commentary. Thank you so much for taking the time to post your perspectives. We have a great opportunity in the Agile community to learn from you about how we engage our passions. I love your observation that this Escalation dynamic may be in the Agile system if “the basis for the community is a desire to consciously engage around the edges of complexity.”

I want that engagement and I want that dancing on the edges of complexity. I just also want to hold myself personally accountable for how I engage. And, I respectfully ask others in our community to dance in healthy conflict as well.

This was great. Thanks!
Jean

]]> By: Jean Tabaka http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/2009/12/escalation-is-killing-our-healthy-conflict-in-agile/#comment-4897 Jean Tabaka Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:35:40 +0000 http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/?p=3618#comment-4897 Thanks Ryan,' I love that you keep going for the win/win. And yes, that is the exact opposite of the Escalation archetype. When there is a dynamic of win/lose in a discussion, I am very fearful that we ultimately devolve into a lose/lose stance and ossify. Then not only does no-one win in the discussion, but we can't get unstuck long enough to move to productivity in other areas. Now everyone really loses big time. It can be pretty insidious. Again, thanks for reminding us that there really are positive archetypes like win/win! Jean Thanks Ryan,’

I love that you keep going for the win/win. And yes, that is the exact opposite of the Escalation archetype. When there is a dynamic of win/lose in a discussion, I am very fearful that we ultimately devolve into a lose/lose stance and ossify. Then not only does no-one win in the discussion, but we can’t get unstuck long enough to move to productivity in other areas. Now everyone really loses big time.

It can be pretty insidious. Again, thanks for reminding us that there really are positive archetypes like win/win!

Jean

]]> By: Jean Tabaka http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/2009/12/escalation-is-killing-our-healthy-conflict-in-agile/#comment-4896 Jean Tabaka Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:30:55 +0000 http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/?p=3618#comment-4896 Hi Eric, Thanks for your query. Check out Ryan Martens comment on his perspective on the Escalation archetype. Then scroll down and check out Regina Mullen's amazing comment about mediating in the Agile community and what she is seeing as some interesting behaviors. It really does come down to having something deep within us needing to be right versus deeply wanting to gather insights and create a new set of insights. This goes back to my little 4 -step program of having an insight and presenting it for others to absorb. That's it. You can't force people to agree with you, especially not adults. That's not your job and it's not their job. :-) Thanks, Jean Hi Eric,

Thanks for your query. Check out Ryan Martens comment on his perspective on the Escalation archetype. Then scroll down and check out Regina Mullen’s amazing comment about mediating in the Agile community and what she is seeing as some interesting behaviors.

It really does come down to having something deep within us needing to be right versus deeply wanting to gather insights and create a new set of insights. This goes back to my little 4 -step program of having an insight and presenting it for others to absorb. That’s it. You can’t force people to agree with you, especially not adults. That’s not your job and it’s not their job. :-)

Thanks, Jean

]]> By: Lisa Crispin http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/2009/12/escalation-is-killing-our-healthy-conflict-in-agile/#comment-4895 Lisa Crispin Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:20:38 +0000 http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/?p=3618#comment-4895 I'm reading this post without the context around it but find it helpful in my situation. I've just come back to my team after 6 months working elsewhere. I have tons of new ideas for experiments I'd like my team to try. Of course they are not just going to agree to everything I suggest. It's good to know that I should welcome conflict and not feel I have to "win". In fact, I respect my team all the more for being thoughtful and forthcoming with their own ideas. I feel this is the best course for moving forward. Thanks, Jean! I’m reading this post without the context around it but find it helpful in my situation. I’ve just come back to my team after 6 months working elsewhere. I have tons of new ideas for experiments I’d like my team to try. Of course they are not just going to agree to everything I suggest. It’s good to know that I should welcome conflict and not feel I have to “win”. In fact, I respect my team all the more for being thoughtful and forthcoming with their own ideas. I feel this is the best course for moving forward. Thanks, Jean!

]]> By: Dave Nicolette http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/2009/12/escalation-is-killing-our-healthy-conflict-in-agile/#comment-4872 Dave Nicolette Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:14:00 +0000 http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/?p=3618#comment-4872 "Can you give a concrete example of where in agile something has been escalated in a win/lose situation for another agile method?" I don't mean to try and speak for Jean, but I think she may be alluding to the ongoing food-fight between proponents of Scrum and proponents of Kanban software development. I've been thinking about that conflict recently as well, and wrote about it here, FWIW: http://www.davenicolette.net/agile/index.blog/1970014/godzilla-vs-megalon-or-scrum-vs-kanban/ “Can you give a concrete example of where in agile something has been escalated in a win/lose situation for another agile method?”

I don’t mean to try and speak for Jean, but I think she may be alluding to the ongoing food-fight between proponents of Scrum and proponents of Kanban software development. I’ve been thinking about that conflict recently as well, and wrote about it here, FWIW: http://www.davenicolette.net/agile/index.blog/1970014/godzilla-vs-megalon-or-scrum-vs-kanban/

]]> By: Comment Report : | ADR as Art http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/2009/12/escalation-is-killing-our-healthy-conflict-in-agile/#comment-4868 Comment Report : | ADR as Art Fri, 04 Dec 2009 03:00:06 +0000 http://www.rallydev.com/agileblog/?p=3618#comment-4868 [...] That’s why I felt moved to leave the following LONG (…) comment on the Agile Blog. [...] [...] That’s why I felt moved to leave the following LONG (…) comment on the Agile Blog. [...]

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