How Much Are You Part of the Problem?

I see a recurring pattern in many companies. Managers complain that their teams are “immature” and that developers “just execute” instead of thinking critically. But let’s take a closer look and we will often find that these same managers create the very behaviours they criticise.

Large companies love command-and-control structures, and the result is a self-reinforcing feedback loop. Managers treat developers as mere executors. Developers behave as expected and focus only on execution. Then managers complain that developers lack ownership. But we do not build ownership by imposing control.

One of the clearest examples of this is Scrum. Many companies mandate it from the top down, completely missing the core principle of self-organising teams. If we are forcing teams to adopt Scrum, we are not embracing agility. We are just adding another bureaucratic layer. Whether a team chooses Scrum, Kanban, or something else should be their decision.

Another common issue is the obsession with synchronisation and uniformity. Leaders demand that all teams follow the same process and move in lockstep. At the same time, they insist that context matters and there is no one-size-fits-all approach. The contradiction is impossible to ignore.

I am a big fan of intent-based leadership, a concept developed by L. David Marquet in “Turn the Ship Around!”

He puts it perfectly:

We learned that leadership is not about telling people what to do, but about creating an environment where they can take responsibility for their own actions.

More often than not, the problem is not the team. It is the system they are forced to work in.

Every conversation with a leader complaining about the dire situation their teams are in should start with the question: “How much are you part of the problem?”

Originally posted on LinkedIn.