The most dangerous moment in a transformation isn’t when a leader says, “We’re going agile.”
It’s when everyone applauds… and then nothing actually changes.
Same approvals, same escalation paths, same leadership behaviors, same culture, but just wearing a new hoodie.
In my conversation with Bob Tarne on Project Management Matters, one point hit hard because it’s so common: organizations treat methodology like a miracle drug.
Switch the framework, run the training, rename the ceremonies, and then they’re shocked when outcomes don’t improve.
The real unit of agility isn’t a sprint, it’s a decision.
If a team has to wait on a manager or director to approve small moves, you don’t have an agile organization. You have a permission-based organization… doing standups.
And this is why “copying what the best companies do” usually fails.
People copy the visible stuff:
* Spotify squads (from a moment-in-time snapshot)
* Amazon-style narratives (then they “tweak” them back into PowerPoint)
* Scaled frameworks pasted onto cultures that don’t support them
They borrow the artifact but skip the hard part: changing how the organization thinks, funds, approves, and holds power.
Now we’re watching the same pattern repeat with AI.
Some leaders are already treating AI as the next shortcut:
* “Replace entry-level roles.”
* “Automate the thinking.”
* “Let the agent run it.”
But AI won’t save you from accountability.
If your chatbot promises something your policy doesn’t allow, your company still owns the consequence. If your agent creates a backlog, a human still needs to validate it. Tools don’t replace judgment. They amplify it, sometimes in the wrong direction.
So here’s the question I’m sitting with after this episode:
What decision have you moved closer to the work?
Not what framework you adopted, what tool you implemented, or what training you delivered?
What decision changed hands so teams can move without waiting for permission?
That’s where transformation becomes real.
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