Why do agile marketers feel that agile needs to evolve?

This week, more than 80 agile marketers from around the world convened online for the Sprint Two virtual conference. One of its aims was to re-visit the values and principles which constitute the Agile Marketing Manifesto — originally codified at Sprint Zero in 2012. Next week at MarTech we’re going to talk about what happened and why.

Joining us will be John Cass, a member of the core leadership team for Sprint Two, agile coach and regular MarTech contributor Stacey Ackerman and Giannina Rachetta, marketing manager at 3M and a participant in Sprint Two for a panel discussion on the evolution of agile.

An approach to marketing that utilizes the principles and practices of agile methodologies

Practicing what they preach, the conference adhered to agile methodology. The proposed new agile values and principles were posted and reviewed. Where the audience identified minor or major risks with the new language (which was almost everywhere), they created virtual sticky notes and posted them on virtual boards dedicated to each value and principle.

Next, the audience was split into small breakout groups, each assigned a board to review using the ROAM (Resolved, Owned, Accepted, or Mitigated) method. Facilitators for each group presented the outcomes of the discussions to the full group and revisions were undertaken. All these things happened in set time windows; the speed at which debate and resolution over agile were accomplished were notable.

Dig deeper: Stacey Ackerman’s series on agile

Among many contentious topics was the use of the term customer-centric. Some felt it was “corporate speak,” others felt it didn’t reflect the need for agile marketers to serve internal as well as external customers. Another phrase picked carefully apart was “meaningful conversations.” Everyone agreed on the need for conversations with external and internal stakeholders — but what did “meaningful” mean. Did it mean conversations which drive business outcomes? But then what about conversations which build long-term relationships.

What about data? There was agreement that agile needs to be data-driven rather than opinion-driven. But do you accept the risk of bad data or do you try to mitigate that risk? That’s the main theme of the MarTech conference.

Underlying what might seem like semantic discussions were deeply held views about how agile needs to evolve. Please join us on Wednesday, September 15 to learn more. Free registration is here.

Watch next: An earlier discussion of agile featuring Stacey Ackerman and John Cass