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 the people living Agile every day — so you can learn, adapt, and make your own teams thrive.
In this installment, we sat down with Staffan Redelius (LinkedIn), an Agile Enterprise Coach, Atlassian toolkit expert, and founder of Improve-IT in Sweden. With more than 30 years of experience helping organizations evolve their ways of working, Staffan has seen the full arc — from the early waterfall years to the modern age of scaled agility, AI, and digital ecosystems.
From Waterfall to Agility
Staffan began his career in the traditional project-management world. But even then, he was drawn to the gaps between planning and reality.
“When you’ve seen projects collapse under their own bureaucracy, you realize agility isn’t just about methods — it’s about flow,” he says.
His transition to Agile started in the mid-2000s, as he began experimenting with Jira and Scrum. That curiosity became a career-long focus: helping companies design systems and processes that actually support how people work.
“Too many Jira setups fight against teams instead of helping them,” he explains. “My job is to make the tool disappear — so people can focus on outcomes, not administration.”
Beyond Frameworks: The Human Layer of Agility
When asked what organizations get wrong about Agile, Staffan doesn’t hesitate: “They think it’s about structure when it’s really about mindset.”
He sees a recurring trap in enterprises adopting Agile frameworks such as SAFe or LeSS without cultural change.
“They adopt ceremonies but not collaboration,” he says. “Agile theater is everywhere — daily stand-ups with no energy, planning sessions that feel like reporting exercises. If leadership can’t let go of control, teams can’t take ownership.”
For him, frameworks should be scaffolding, not cages. “You can scale chaos just as easily as you can scale agility.”
The Role of Trust and Psychological Safety
In every engagement, Staffan emphasizes one principle: psychological safety.
“Without trust, people won’t take initiative. They’ll only do what’s safe, and that’s the opposite of agility.”
He believes measurement should empower, not punish.
“You don’t measure to please management; you measure to learn. Data should feed retrospectives, not performance reviews.”
Keeping Jira Simple
As an Atlassian consultant, Staffan’s mantra is simplicity.
“Every time I walk into a client with 200 custom fields, I know what’s coming. Complexity hides accountability. Jira is infinitely flexible — that’s both its strength and its biggest risk.”
His approach: start with essentials, automate for clarity, and only scale what truly works.
“If your process is broken, digitizing it just gives you a broken process inside a tool.”
AI and the Next Wave of Agility
Staffan is optimistic about AI’s role in Agile work but realistic about its limitations.
“AI won’t replace coaches — but it can surface insights, connect dots, and reduce the cognitive load of managing complex systems. The danger is bad data; AI just accelerates whatever you feed it.”
He envisions AI-powered retrospectives and smarter feedback loops as the next frontier, helping teams reflect faster and act with more confidence.
Advice for Teams and Leaders
After decades of coaching and transformation work, Staffan’s guidance is refreshingly direct:
- Simplify first. “Agility dies in complexity.”
- Measure for learning, not judgment.
- Design tools around people, not the other way around.
- Keep retrospectives sacred. “That’s where learning happens — not in the sprint, but after it.”
And his retrospective-style advice?
- Stop: Over-engineering your tools and frameworks.
- Start: Building safety, clarity, and feedback into everyday work.
Final Reflections
Staffan Redelius’s journey reminds us that the tools and frameworks of Agile matter less than the mindset behind them. Simplicity, trust, and clarity are the quiet forces that make agility real — and sustainable.
Follow Staffan Redelius on LinkedIn and learn more about his work at Improve-IT.
And as always, discover more insights from Agile leaders around the world in the Agile Journeys series on the Catapult Labs blog.
✨ Key Takeaways
- Simplicity is the foundation of sustainable agility.
- Psychological safety enables ownership and innovation.
- Tools should empower teams — not control them.
- AI can augment retrospectives and insights — but context and culture still rule.