Marcello Borzi’s Post

Since I’m already burying Change Management today, make some room for Agile… 😄 Agile is dead. There, I said it. Once a brilliant workaround for rigid bureaucracies and inflexible leadership, Agile allowed teams to collaborate quickly and effectively. But somewhere along the way, it got lost. Here’s why I believe Agile failed: 1️⃣ It became a checklist. What started as a mindset turned into a rigid process. Standups, sprints, and backlogs became meaningless rituals, with teams focusing on going through the motions instead of embracing Agile’s core values. 2️⃣ Scaling without culture. Organizations scaled Agile frameworks like SAFe without addressing cultural issues, creating more bureaucracy instead of the flexibility Agile was meant to foster. 3️⃣ Speed over value. Teams rushed to deliver “something” quickly, but often it wasn’t what mattered. Activity replaced impact, and Agile became busywork. 4️⃣ Leadership resistance. Agile demands trust and autonomy, but many managers aren’t ready to give up control. Without their buy-in, teams struggled to make it work. 5️⃣ Consulting overkill. Consultants saw the business and turned Agile into a product, overselling it as a miracle cure and a sort of also failing Change Management, which it isn't. 6️⃣ Ignoring the human factor. Agile pushed teams to deliver at breakneck speed without addressing well-being or trust. Burnout followed, and engagement plummeted. The lesson? Agile didn’t fail on its own—it was sabotaged by poor leadership, misinterpretation, and an obsession with process over people. True change begins with something simpler than Agile or any framework: authentic leadership asks employees the one question that really matters: “How are you?” It’s time to leave behind miracle tools and focus on the mindsets and cultures that create lasting #transformation.