At the core of agile is the idea that decisions are made where the most relevant information and expertise are found. However, this approach relies on two key assumptions: that everyone is motivated by their work and that everyone can be self-directed. But what happens if these assumptions don’t hold true? Can self-direction really be taught to everyone, and what if motivation is completely lacking? This blog explores the effectiveness of agile thinking and how self-awareness, education, and personality influence the ability to be self-directed.
Typically, we explain that being agile from a people ‘s point of view means that:
- People are empowered.
- A manager is not giving you tasks and telling you what to do; the manager is helping you to achieve your goals and acting as your coach.
- People get to decide about their work, which increases their motivation at work.
- Teams and individuals are doing continuous proactive improvement because developing things that matter to them provides the motivation to drive change.
I have concluded that this way of thinking is based on two fundamental assumptions:
- Everybody likes their work.
- Everyone can be self-directed.
But are these assumptions really true?
Does everybody like their job?
Let’s look at this sentence for instance:
“Teams and individuals are doing continuous proactive improvement because developing things that matter to them provides the motivation to drive change.”
But what if you are not motivated? What if you don’t like your work? What if you always wanted to be a doctor but never made it, and now you are in a job that you just do to get money for a living?
I guess when you have the ability to make decisions related to your own work, even if the work isn’t your dream job, you probably would be able to make it more pleasant for you. As for motivation, it’s probably not that black and white — that you either have it or not. It might change over time. Motivation is something that you need to work on to both discover and maintain. So, even if you don’t think you have the motivation for the job, maybe you could try to work on that and dig it out.
Can everybody be self-directed?
How about empowering people? Does everybody want to be and is capable of being empowered? Do you know how to be proactive and self-directed? Do you like decision-making? Can you set your own goals and create a task list to achieve those goals?
Born to be or taught to be self-directed?
People often struggle with self-directing. I have been wondering if being a self-directed person is a skill that anybody can learn or is it a competence that some people naturally have while others don’t, similar to how some people are better at math than others.
It is understandable that for people who have been raised at school to listen to the teacher, at work to listen to the boss, and at home to listen to mom, it is a huge change for them to suddenly start deciding themselves what to do without asking anybody and being self-directed. But would we be different if we had been raised differently?
What if, as a child, your mom, instead of giving you a knife and telling you precise instructions on how to peel an apple, had just told you to peel an apple and left you to decide the rest?
Carol Dweck would probably answer “yes,” we would be different if we had been raised differently. According to Carol Dweck’s growth mindset theory, you can learn almost anything you want to. Your abilities can be developed.
Empowering within certain limits
I have heard that schools are adopting agile methodologies too, empowering the students. Students are more encouraged to listen to their inner voice and can, e.g., write about the topics they are interested in. Teachers are becoming more like enablers rather than simply giving instructions.
To succeed in this, we should be careful with the key point of empowerment: empowering in agile means empowering people within certain limits where people can be self-directed. If the student has to do an essay but he/she doesn’t know when it needs to be ready, if it is a biology essay or arts essay or is it needed to pass the course, we have not succeeded. Empowerment and freedom without limits and shared direction is not agile; it is a mess.
Is there a correlation between maturity and being self-directed?
Do we need some kind of maturity level before we can become self-directed? Do you need a basic understanding before you know what you want and what you want to achieve? Can a 7-year-old first grader be self-directed?
At least for me, I need to get a basic understanding before I start getting ideas about what to do and can set targets for myself. I feel that the more I know and the older I am, the more self-directed I can be.
I remember at school that I really needed the teacher to teach me the formulas and give examples before I was ready to solve my math problems. On the other hand, I find it a bit stressful if I must create everything from scratch. I sometimes prefer just following instructions for less critical tasks so that I can use my energy on more important ones.
Does personality matter?
We could also think about this from a personality point of view. According to the DISC personality study, it depends on your personal type whether you are a person who likes to decide or not.
E.g. (if I remember correctly), the C/S-type people like to be told what to do more than the D-type who likes telling others what to do. However, it is also said in the study that personalities can develop over time. Carol Dweck and her growth mindset theory would also say the same.
Conclusion
To summarise, I believe that to some degree, everybody can become self-directed, but probably as is true for many skills, some will be better at that than others.
Personality is something that affects the ability to become self-directed. Also, raising children from an early age to be self-directed would increase their competence in that. At least in my case, maturity and knowledge have increased my self-directing skills.
In conclusion, does agile really work? Let’s just say: people can learn. #growthmindset
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