I usually hate linking to Medium, but this post by Hanna Thomas on Agile’s roots in feminist thought is spot on:

Agile is described as a mindset. But let’s call it what it is and skip the middleman. Successful organisations aren’t ones that adopt an ‘Agile mindset’. Successful organisations are ones that adopt a feminist, queer, anti-establishment, progressive mindset — one that is flexible, experimental, pushes boundaries, self-organises, and acts in service of community.

There are two tasks. If you’re at an organisation that defaults to a macho style of command and control and is mired in bureaucracy (let’s be honest, there are plenty), the first task is to notice and appreciate collaboration, experimentation, self-organising, and support wherever you see it, then fiercely defend and champion the projects and people involved.

The second task is to recognise when you’re on fertile ground. If you’re in a team that centres feminist, queer, anti-establishment, progressive values and someone references Lean-Agile methodologies sometime soon — know that you are already there. You already have the mindset needed to try out the frameworks — whether it’s scrums, sprints, roadmaps, or stand-ups — and make them a stunning success.