I post little jabs on LinkedIn from time to time. It’s my way of putting emojis on my posts, I’m a show-off.

One of the latest was: “I apologize for thinking that SAFe was the worst thing that could happen to agility. In the long run, Jira beats it hands down.” And I followed up with a comment: “9 frameworks for mortal men, 1 tool to rule them all.”

Outcry from some. “What are you talking about, we make of the tool what we want, the tool is never responsible.”

False and hypocritical

So either you’re tool salespeople and what you’re saying is false and hypocritical, or you’re vain coaches who want to say “I make of the tool what I want” and you underestimate or want to hide the harm that tools, and notably Jira, do. That’s up to you. But I’ve seen enough water flow under the bridge and you can’t fool me.

Naturally the tool has a strong impact on us. And it helps us as much as we suffer from it. Edgar Morin said in one of his books (“the paradigm of human nature” from memory) that we evolve on a culture - practice - nature cycle and it loops. Our culture impacts our practices which impact our nature which impacts our culture, etc. And our practices are shaped by tools.

Otherwise what about the fear/hope about AI that saturates us today?

Otherwise what about the impact of the “firearm” tool in the USA?

Here, two minutes of internet research.

A recent study, an older study, two images, the states where there are deaths in the USA, and the states where firearms are supported. Funny correlation. And then here’s the comparison with countries where these tools are not authorized. So a correlation with tools and practices, and a priori not a use initially sought by these tools, since apparently we’re mainly seeking to defend ourselves initially.



the references I just found on the web on this subject:

The dominating tool

The problem is indeed that the tool becomes dominating, or that it serves to dominate.

  • Accept that each tool is used somewhat differently by each team
  • Accept that each tool does one thing (and not two)

I had written an article about how not naming our tools could help us: Don’t name your tools.

And I’m currently editing the #masterclass “Scrum and agility” for Projet Winston with Claude Aubry.

Claude tells us about team self-organization: “the greatest risk for team self-organization is tools.”

(I hope many of you will follow it, release at the end of the month or early June).

Your organization or your impact?

Finally all this is true if your impact is more important than your organization. That the product, the service, what you manufacture is the target, and not the maintenance of the organization (important, but secondary).

Key question: is your organization more important than your impact?

No.

Your organization is at the service of your impact. If the tool dominates, it’s because the organization is more important than your impact, and perhaps the sign of a “politician” stage in the end of life of your organization.

I’m not asking you to…

Well I’m not asking you not to use tools, that would force you to exchange a lot, to have many interactions, to move forward regularly, to work on the now with focus, and that might work.

I’m simply asking you to use these tools with moderation, intelligence and perspective.