A listener asks us to explain the link between "normalisation of deviance" and fear. Using examples like an agile team dropping its retrospectives, or NASA launching the Space Shuttle in too-cold conditions, we illustrate how being afraid can drive a group away from its espoused norms and toward dangerous alternatives, and conversely how you can use examples of "normalised deviance" to find and mitigate hidden fears.

SHOW LINKS:
- Idealcast with Gene Kim: https://itrevolution.com/the-idealcast-episode-14/
- Mitigating fears through expressing emotion on an oil rig: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/06/17/482203447/invisibilia-how-learning-to-be-vulnerable-can-make-life-safer
- The Fear Conversation chapter discussion: https://www.conversationaltransformation.com/blog/fear-the-original-sin-of-unproductive-conversations/
- Previous episode on normalisation of deviance: https://soundcloud.com/troubleshootingagile/overcoming-normalisation-of-deviance

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Fear and Normalization of Deviance

Troubleshooting Agile is a problem-solving session for agile teams. Jeffrey Fredrick and Douglas Squirrel look at common problems agile teams face and provide practical, immediately useful advice for getting back on track.