Agile Journeys is an ongoing series of candid conversations with Agile professionals from across the spectrum — from technical leads and enterprise architects to Scrum Masters, Agile coaches, and transformation leaders. Each conversation dives into the realities of Agile transformations, adoption, and scaling: the frameworks that work (and the ones that don’t), the processes and tools that enable change, the techniques and tips that make a difference, and the challenges teams face along the way.
Our goal is simple: share unfiltered, practical insights from people living Agile every day — so you can learn, adapt, and help your own teams thrive. Read the full series here.
In this installment, we sat down with Addam Tait (LinkedIn), Enterprise Solutions Consultant at Atlassian and long-time Agile transformation practitioner. With over a decade of experience working across government programs, Fortune 50 enterprises, and startups, Addam brings a pragmatic, data-driven, and people-centered perspective to scaling agility.
What stood out in our conversation: his strong belief that visibility and transparency are the true foundation of business agility — and that without them, even the best intentions collapse.
Wearing All the Hats: Addam’s Early Agile Journey
Addam’s first exposure to Agile and Atlassian tools didn’t happen in a flashy Silicon Valley startup.
It happened at a tiny government contractor outside Washington, D.C.
“I was wearing a lot of hats. I set up Jira, ran standups, coordinated developers, and tried Agile because I had learned a bit about it in college. I figured — why not try doing it this way?”
In practice, that meant acting simultaneously as:
- Product Owner
- Scrum Master
- Jira Admin
- Project Manager
That hands-on chaos became a powerful learning experience.
From there, Addam moved into larger consulting environments, including Booz Allen and CapTech, where he deepened his focus on Agile coaching, enterprise transformations, and eventually program- and portfolio-level work.
Today, his work spans:
- Launching Agile Release Trains
- Acting as interim Release Train Engineer
- Coaching teams and leaders
- Designing tooling and analytics that make progress visible
The Constant Across Every Organization: Visibility
When asked what remains consistent across government, enterprise, and startup environments, Addam didn’t hesitate:
“The very first thing I do, no matter where I am, is get visibility into the work. What’s being done? What are the priorities? What does flow look like? What metrics exist?”
Without visibility, improvement is guesswork.
Addam acknowledges the Agile principle of people over process and tools, but adds an important nuance:
“At enterprise scale, you absolutely need tools. If you can’t see what’s happening from strategy all the way down to developers, how can you adapt strategy? How can you actually be agile?”
Visibility becomes the bridge between:
- Strategy and execution
- Leadership intent and team reality
- Problems and actionable change
The Moment Metrics Became a Superpower
One engagement permanently shaped Addam’s approach.
At a large hospitality company’s data & analytics department (~150 people), teams felt constantly busy, miserable, and undervalued. Work lived in spreadsheets — lots of them.
The first move: put everything into Jira.
Once work became visible, Addam introduced a simple experiment: tag “flyby requests” — urgent executive asks that interrupt planned work.
A few months later, the data revealed something shocking:
35% of the team’s capacity was spent on flyby requests.
That single metric changed leadership behavior.
The department VP stepped in to control intake, protect capacity, and reset priorities.
“That’s when it really clicked for me — without visibility, you can’t improve. You can’t even have the right conversations.”
Servant Leadership vs. “Just Make Them Faster”
Many organizations adopt Agile hoping it will magically increase speed.
Addam reframes the expectation:
“Yes, we’re going to move faster. But that means some things won’t get done. We’re going to do the most important things faster.”
Servant leadership doesn’t conflict with delivery speed — it enables it.
But it requires:
- Setting expectations early
- Explaining trade-offs
- Protecting focus
Speed comes from prioritization and clarity, not pressure.
The Most Common Executive Misconception About Agile
According to Addam:
“Executives focus on ceremonies and process. But real success starts with principles and values.”
If leaders don’t understand:
- Why planning happens
- Why backlogs are structured
- Why retrospectives exist
Then teams struggle to commit.
Buy-in doesn’t come from Jira workflows.
It comes from shared understanding of purpose.
Metrics Should Enable Outcomes — Not Become Weapons
Addam warns against “weaponized metrics”:
“You don’t want the metric to become the goal.”
Telling teams to increase velocity by 5% quarter-over-quarter leads to gaming.
Instead:
- Define the outcome (faster delivery, higher quality, better flow)
- Choose a small set of meaningful indicators
- Use metrics as conversation starters, not scorecards
Less is more. Learn more in our Agile Retrospectives for jira page.
Cultural Realities: Why Psychological Safety Isn’t Universal
One of the most powerful stories Addam shared came from working with teams heavily composed of H1B visa holders.
In retrospectives, no one spoke.
Not because nothing was wrong — but because speaking up felt risky.
“One person told me afterward: no one on an H1B visa is going to say something is wrong in a group setting.”
That insight reinforced how:
- Culture
- Geography
- Job security
- Power dynamics
shape participation.
It also explains why features like anonymous input in retrospectives can dramatically change engagement for some teams.
There is no one-size-fits-all Agile. Check out more on our DevEx page.
AI, Automation, and the Future of Coaching
Addam sees AI as a powerful assistant — not a replacement.
He’s particularly interested in AI’s potential to:
- Hold massive organizational context
- Surface hidden dependencies
- Suggest cross-team connections
“AI could notice that if you move a specialist from Team A to Team B, you unlock a high-priority initiative. Not to decide — but to prompt better conversations.”
AI won’t solve culture.
But it can augment human sensemaking.
What Makes a High-Performing Team?
Addam’s definition is refreshingly human:
- People get along
- There’s strong flow
- Customers are happy
- The team builds cool things
What it takes:
- Time
- Trust
- Supportive culture
- The right tools
- Strong leadership
- A little luck
And perhaps most importantly:
“If you’re not world-class yet, the least you can do is always try to get better.”
Advice for New Agile Coaches
“You have to be really good at building relationships.”
You can have perfect frameworks, slides, and certifications.
None of it matters if people don’t trust you.
Influence starts with connection.
Final Reflections
Addam’s journey — from small government projects to enterprise-scale transformations to Atlassian — highlights a core truth:
Visibility + alignment + trust create the conditions for agility.
Tools matter.
Metrics matter.
But they only work when paired with servant leadership and strong relationships.
That’s how teams move from busy… to effective.