Several years ago now, not far from where I live a Great White shark swallowed an elderly swimmer. Only her red bathing cap was left.
Tyna Webb was in the habit of taking her morning swim, and despite being warned of increased shark activity in the area at that time, she nevertheless made the choice to keep up her daily routine.
In a groove?
That got me thinking about you. Are you keeping your daily routine, not heeding the signs and signals around you? If so, how is it that you’re expecting different results?
An additional benefit of Scrum’s time boxing is that it affords project personnel a formalized time to inspect and adapt. If these sessions are approached with honest and open minds, and without recrimination, they are powerful to effect the kind of change you need to become continuous improvers of your business.
Being in a groove may not be as advantageous as you think. Blaming stops learning; so too does routine.
At the heart of Agile practices is the Deming Cycle: Plan, Do, Study, Adjust. How often are you stopping to study and adjust?
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Great book on how to use the PDSA cycle: The Improvement Guide. The key is how quickly you turn the cycle. Short iterations. Very agile. Of those that actually use PDSA (in management anywhere) the biggest problem is having much much too long to turn the cycle. http://management.curiouscatblog.net/2006/10/16/deming-institute-conference-tom-nolan/