Agile teams need to step out of their comfort zone and try new things because that will make them a better and more effective team. I have seen teams experiment and take giant steps while teams that avoid this are standing still. There’s a Dutch expression that translates like:
To stand still is to go backwards.
It means that you have to improve not to fall behind. Improvement is necessary. This is exactly what Agile approaches enable you to do.
Still, many teams don’t take the opportunity to experiment and decide to choose the beaten tracks. I have witnessed several reasons why people wish to avoid risks:
Company culture doesn’t promote thinking out of the box — people are expected to stay within the lines. The established practices are correct and should not be questioned.
Company culture doesn’t allow room for change — people are expected to work on stuff that adds direct value. Process improvements don’t add direct value, so it’s not allowed.
Fear of change — change can be scary. You are entering uncharted territory. Think of all the bad things that can happen!
Fear of responsibility — people might fear to take responsibility for the change. The fear of being responsible for failure is higher than the anticipation of success.
Agile approaches are intended to constantly reflect on what you did, learn from this and improve.
“At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.” - Agile Manifesto principle
When you reflect regularly, you will find out quickly if an experiment is worthwhile to continue. You can control risk.
You will not be efficient in your improvements if you only go for the safe bets. Try things out. Step out of your comfort zone from time to time.
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” — Samuel Beckett
The chance of being proven wrong is not a risk. It is the difference between an idea and an ideology.