Agility Without Insight: Why Understanding C-Level Pressure Matters

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Many Agile teams push for autonomy without seeing the real weight of leadership. This is a perspective from someone who’s been on both sides.

The View from the Team Room

When I started out as a software engineer, most problems looked like delivery problems. Dependencies, priorities, process gaps — all seemed fixable with enough visibility and better teamwork. Later, as a Scrum Master, I became an advocate for cross-functional teams, fast feedback, and continuous improvement. The team needed support, not interference. And leadership, I thought, just needed to get out of the way.

That mindset stuck for a while. But it shifted when I stepped into senior roles. The view from the team room is focused, detailed, and often right, but it’s also limited. Many in Agile circles push for more empowerment without seeing what that means in practice for the people responsible for holding the whole structure together.

There’s a clarity that comes from being close to the code and close to the user. Decisions are immediate. Feedback is fast. You can see results in hours or days. That speed is energising. But it’s also deceptive. It gives the impression that everything above the team level could move just as fast, if only people tried harder. It’s an…