Holy cows

Every organisation has then.

Unquestioned assumptions that guide behaviour that everyone just assumes are the right things to be focusing on.

Holy cows can be metrics that are simply assumed to be useful.

Target customers whom every presumes are profitable.

Products that are thought of as the 'holy grail'.

The danger of holy cows, of course, is that everyone believes that they are so vital to the success of the organisation that it is regarded as a profound taboo to even question blind allegiance to them.

But in an agile organisation, holy cows are readily slaughtered.

If they are no longer fit for purpose, or serve as a distraction, or become less relevant - they are critically evaluated and archived if need be.

What are your organisation's holy cows?

What role do they play in the outcome your organisation is producing?

Who is stopping the critical analysis of your holy cows? Why?

What might happen if they are replaced with alternatives?

So often, danger rests right where we least expect it to be; within our midst.

Killing a few holy cows can make a big difference to a system that has become clogged up with old rhetoric that is no longer helpful.