A Tale of Two Agile World Series

About

The Agile Manifesto came out in 2001. Today, it seems that everyone is on the Agile bandwagon, making it fairly common in many workplaces. Still, whether a company is already established with Agile or just starting on their Agile journey, resistance to Agile, abounds. How is that manifested in such organisations? Where are the sources of the opposition? Do they come from People? Executives? Middle management? Individuals? All of the above? Or do they come from departments such as Engineering? HR? Programme Management? Everywhere?

Introducing “A Tale of Two Agile Worlds”:

In Episodes 1-3, we’ll look at senior management’s resistance from both the UK’s and the US’s perspectives. In Episodes 4-6, we’ll look at middle management’s, team’s and individual’s resistance. We’ll compare and contrast the manifested behaviours of resistance to Agile – both overt and covert forms. We’ll see how the people perceive and react to them. We’ll also dive deeper into understanding the various sources of the resistance.

Through the UK and US viewpoints, are we going to find the problems divergent across the pond, or are they ubiquitous? And would we be able to find the same solutions to the middle management, team and individual resistance problem?

[Episode 4] Joy and HR – Lessons for Creating an Intentionally Joyful Culture – Our Agile Tales

Welcome to our Agile Tales as we continue our conversations with Rich Sheridan, founder, CEO, and chief storyteller at Menlo Innovations.Aside from founding and leading Menlo Innovations, Rich is also the author of the best-selling books Joy Inc. and Chief Joy Officer, which argue that joy is essential to productivity and profitability in the workplace. Rich recounts his journey from early programming success and a rapid rise to VP to feeling despondent amid chaotic, late, over-budget software delivery, which sparked a search for better ways to organize people. In this episode, Rich explains Menlo’s “High Tech Anthropology,” a patented term for designers who study end users in their native environments to learn workflows and vocabulary, aiming to end “human suffering” caused by technology and create software that delights without manuals or training. He shares examples of widespread frustration with systems such as electronic medical records and ERP systems, then revisits the Langley vs. Wright brothers story to highlight purpose-driven discovery. He then presents an airplane model for organizations: lift of human energy over the weight of bureaucracy, and thrust of purpose over the drag of fear, emphasizing clarity, completing meaningful work, reducing meeting load, taking action through experiments, and eliminating fear-based management.00:00 Welcome to Our Agile Tales01:46 High Tech Anthropology Explained04:30 Designing for Real Users06:59 Why Software Causes Suffering09:14 Wright Brothers Purpose Story14:23 Airplane Model for Organizations16:44 Lift Human Energy at Work19:09 Meetings and Bureaucracy Trap22:17 Drag of Fear Leadership24:39 Closing and Next EpisodeAbout Rich SheridanRich Sheridan is the CEO and Chief Storyteller at Menlo Innovations and the best-selling author of Joy Inc. and Chief Joy Officer. He has spent years traveling across four continents and nearly 20 countries, helping organizations rethink not just how they work but also what it feels like to be part of them. His core message is simple: joy isn’t optional—it’s essential to productivity, profitability, and real team energy.Rich’s ideas have been featured in Forbes, Inc., NPR, and Harvard Business Review. What sets him apart is that he’s been living these principles for over 20 years at Menlo, the company he co-founded in Ann Arbor, Michigan—now known worldwide for its uniquely joyful culture.Follow Rich Sheridan at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/menloprezYou can check out Menlo Innovations' tours and workshops at: https://menloinnovations.com/tours-and-workshopsMusic: https://www.purple-planet.comVisit us at https://www.ouragiletales.com/about
  1. [Episode 4] Joy and HR – Lessons for Creating an Intentionally Joyful Culture
  2. [Episode 3] Joy and HR – Lessons for Creating an Intentionally Joyful Culture
  3. [Episode 2] Joy and HR – Lessons for Creating an Intentionally Joyful Culture
  4. [Episode 1] Joy and HR – Lessons for Creating an Intentionally Joyful Culture
  5. [Episode 8] Beyond Budgeting: 25 Years of Management Innovation
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