Rotten Agile: Part 3 – Blame Culture and Broken Credibility
When blame dominates, ownership vanishes. Without ownership, progress stalls.
You’ve probably heard these before:
“The teams can’t improve because management won’t let go.”
“Management just doesn’t get Agile.”
“Scrum doesn’t work for us – it’s too rigid.”
“You’re not doing Scrum properly.”
“Product Managers are not Product Owners.”
“The problem is all these two-day certifications lowering the bar.”
“Teams aren’t taking ownership.”
“This organisation has a bad culture for Agile.”
“The business keeps interrupting our sprints.”
“It’s Scrum’s fault.”
“SAFe isn’t Agile.”
This list could go on. What these statements have in common is blame. It’s everywhere. Any challenge, deviation, or disagreement quickly becomes weaponised.
The Agile market has developed a culture of criticism, defensiveness, and entrenchment. Most blogs and thought pieces are filled with blame, whether of frameworks, roles, companies, or each other.
These complaints often stem from real issues. But they become excuses. Easy ways to avoid responsibility. Everyone becomes a victim of a flawed system. No one steps up to own the outcome. Rather than foster collective learning and adaptive change, the conversation spirals into finger-pointing.
This behaviour contradicts what Agile claims to stand for. The same coaches who teach psychological safety, productive dissent, shared understanding and respect fail to model those behaviours in the wider community. We preach collaboration but attack each other. We talk about safety and respect, but don’t practise it ourselves.
We’ve also lost track of the customer and helping them succeed. It’s become about doing Agile right, not delivering better outcomes. It’s become about which framework is better. The customer got lost in the noise.
On social media, posts are no longer constructive. The majority are criticisms of what’s gone wrong. Really? Is this who we are? Okay, I see the irony. My post is a criticism too.
From the outside, especially to executives, the Agile community lacks credibility. It looks like a group of clowns arguing over who’s more right. That doesn’t inspire confidence. It erodes trust. No wonder more organisations are walking away.
Agile started with the right intent. It aimed to help organisations deliver better outcomes and work in more human ways. But in practice, it’s become noise, ego, and infighting. As the market contracts, it only gets worse. Everyone is defending their frameworks, products, and personal brand.
This isn't a tooling problem. It’s a behavioural one. It is tied directly to the Agile brand. No amount of rebranding, new frameworks, or certifications will fix it. The damage is systemic. Many of us helped create it, even if unintentionally.
Maybe it’s time to let the Agile brand rest. Not because the ideas are wrong. But because the market has become too toxic to heal from within.
I don’t believe a patch in the Agile market will cut it. The brand has eroded too far, and the behaviours are too ingrained. We have to break free of this, raise the bar, and reclaim a professional standing.
Practiqual™ is there to help solve this problem. But it won’t be easy. Many of us have been caught in the bad behaviours for years. Habits have formed. I know because I struggle with it too.
The Practiqual™ community has a code of conduct that directly addresses these challenges, and every member must subscribe to it. Mistakes will happen. We’ll fall down. But we hold each other accountable. Let’s fix this together. Let’s stop being negative. Lets show conviction with unity to help others succeed. Let’s walk the talk!
Are you over the agile circus too?
I’m gathering voices who want to step off the merry-go-round. If that’s you, comment below or message me privately. Let’s talk about what’s next as I am in startup phase.
Series posts
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