Pitbulls Part 2-The Agile Perversion from Financial Incentives

On time and under budget do not matter to end users, yet it still is rewarded and desired at most businesses, even those who claim to be "Agile". It doesn't matter if the team "does agile" if the corporation does the standard individual financial compensation. They only can do a limited version of agile and it will be corrupted from within the team. The true motives aren't guided by the agile manifesto when each person is out for themselves. If you have that sick feeling that something is wrong with Agile in practice and you don't know how to put it in words, consider this blog. Consider that it may not be an Agile problem at all. What if the reward infrastructure is causing some perversion instead? The misunderstanding and twisting of Agile from what is defined in the manifesto.

How would you feel if you knew that your team mate made 10% more than you simply because of his height, or because at the time he was hired the company was really desperate to get someone in? What if your co-worker is simply prettier, younger, and thinner, with better dental work, and for that reason seen as having greater future potential. That is worth say 25% more than you make. What if you all worked very hard to meet the project goals, but because you were a week later than estimated, even though time to market wasn't critical to the sales of  the project, your team lost out on a bonus? What is the bonus rewarding? Does it include something for the long term well being of the company? Or is the software being treated as a hot potato to get off of your plate and dump it on someone else? What about sustainability?

Signs of Perversion/Moral Ambiguity

• Secrecy.
• Huge bonus and salary differences based on corporate layers.
• Goals are all money based or stock based on the very uneven reporting hierarchy.
• No team rewards.
• No profits shared.
• Promotions and bonuses are still earned by the "unspoken network" where whomever drinks with the Boss gets it.
• Old fashioned Old Boys network (or Sorority Sisters as the case may be), but not based on the work done on the current project.
• It is impossible for the entire team to win. This means someone must be ranked low.
• It is possible to get a stellar review and then be laid off, so risk and rewards don't match performance.
• A "class" system including serfs (interns or contractors), so rewards are even more uneven.

Signs of Team Rewards to Support an Agile Team

• Profit sharing exists and is protected.
• Stock grants per team in equal amounts.
• Sustainability over time matters.
• Delivering a product of quality that meets the user need is rewarded.
• The entire team is rewarded equally in some way. The same goes for failure.
• Salary ranges per job are available per office (area).
• Managers evaluate the entire team actual work and tasks against roles and pay.
• While no human judgment is going to be perfect, what happens on the team at work will be the performance rewarded, not if these people are you "drinking posse" or "golf buddies" or whatever other social thing. I know it is natural for people to want to build a shield of sycophants to feel safe, but that isn't what the agile manifesto is about. It is about the team working together to create software, and the reward structure needs to support the work.
• She who works the longest isn't rewarded the most. It isn't a contest. Instead, it is encouraged to have balance unless it is one of the RARE critical moments in a project where it actually makes a difference, and in that case the entire team sacrifices equally to get the job done.

Let's talk about the dirty perverted underbelly of Agile that no one is willing to address. This is the pitbull's owner. Many software companies have a legacy of an individual system of financial rewards which can be contradictory and downright detrimental to building a high performing and collaborative agile team. Some budgets are used to pay for unimportant factors that do not serve the users or even the company interests long term. It serves the trends of shareholders, short term financial gain, and it is morally bankrupt. Team rewards, including things like trust, openness, words of appreciation, satisfaction of a job well done, fun, and freedom may take more than a budget to distribute, but I believe that having team based rewards and some standards of fairness will improve productivity not just for the team, but overall for the company. When the goal is quality sustainable software, it takes more than being on time and on budget. It takes engaged and passionate people who care about more than just what they can get. There is a better way, and when I see companies making changes to a more ethical system of financial rewards I feel encouraged. The future belongs to the companies who get it. Team isn't just the people nearest you on the org chart.