like being clapped at by a CTO who loved the word “velocity” but hadn’t quite grasped its intent.

A long long time ago, well 8 years ago, I was brought into a small tech department with big aspirations. They were monopolising a niche market, but they knew their approach could be better.

The company wanted someone who could handle the full spectrum:
from defining product strategy, breaking down silos, and introducing new ways of working, to stepping in and delivering on projects, so they hired me.

Early on, it was clear that their biggest obstacle was a siloed team structure: front-end, back-end, testing, and product all worked in isolation. So, we experimented by creating a cross-functional team as a hypothesis to improve delivery flow. The team volunteered for the change, agreeing to move from individual to team-based story points, focusing on shared goals and unified progress. They quickly saw the power of working collaboratively, linking their efforts to customer value and achieving outcomes that mattered.

Then came a new CTO. He latched onto “velocity” as the measure of success, without understanding that a truly adaptable approach wasn’t about how fast you go—it was about delivering outcomes over outputs.
Every time we circled around the roadmap or held our syncs, he would stroll past, clapping and chanting, “Velocity, velocity, velocity!” without grasping the broader purpose of what we were trying to achieve.

The real lessons here?

One, never clap in someone’s face.

Two, for organisations to reach the outcomes that matter most, leadership needs to understand the ‘why’ behind adaptability. It’s not about ticking boxes or reaching a “done” point in transformation.

Three, It starts with education on the ‘why’ behind agile, not just the frameworks. When leaders support agile from a place of understanding, it empowers teams to deliver better.
It’s about enabling teams to work effectively, sustainably, and with purpose, to deliver meaningful results. True adaptability supports organisations in focusing on outcomes that matter, not just outputs.

If you’d like help setting your teams up for success, or enabling them to achieve better outcomes please get in touch for a free consultation call.