# Set Free the Caged Cheetah: stagnated agile and productization as a way out > Agile has stagnated, as Al Shalloway notes. Why it stays stuck at team level, and how productization and the Org Topologies map offer a way out. - Author: Alexey Krivitsky - Published: 2023-02-28 (updated 2025-06-15) - Type: article - Categories: Essentials - Canonical: https://www.orgtopologies.com/post/set-free-the-caged-cheetah-stagnated-agile-and-productization-as-a-way-out - Audio: https://www.orgtopologies.com/audio/post/set-free-the-caged-cheetah-stagnated-agile-and-productization-as-a-way-out/male.mp3 · https://www.orgtopologies.com/audio/post/set-free-the-caged-cheetah-stagnated-agile-and-productization-as-a-way-out/female.mp3 ```orgmap ref: post-cheetah-agile-1 frame: cheetah original: /images/posts/set-free-the-caged-cheetah-stagnated-agile-and-productization-as-a-way-out/image.webp ``` We noticed a quote from this [post by Al Shalloway](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alshalloway_agile-is-not-dead-just-not-kept-up-with-activity-7035406006029348864-Yel_/): > "I don’t see Agile as dead, or even dying. But it has stagnated." From the Org Topologies™ perspective, we agree: Agile has stagnated—but not due to a lack of intention. Rather, the **Scope of Work Mandate** and the **Scope of Skills Mandate** have remained narrowly constrained. In other words: - Agile is often **restricted to TASKS-level teams**—where short-term iteration and local optimization dominate. - And when scaled, it's frequently distorted through **heavyweight frameworks**, producing rigid, fragmented structures (e.g., large clusters of CAPS-1 or CAPS-2 units with PART-level coordination overhead). ## The Core Problem: Shallow Application, Deep Resistance We've seen many root causes blamed for this stagnation: - Frameworks that don't scale well. - "Agile transformations" that never reach beyond superficial restructuring. - Certification mills that reduce deep change to role-based rituals. But the deeper truth? **True change is hard**—especially systemic change that requires rethinking the organization from **WHOLE-1 or WHOLE-2** perspectives. As organizations grow, they build **fortresses of local optimization**. Fiefdoms. Silos. Middle layers dedicated to risk and cost minimization. These manifest as **low-elevation ecosystems** composed of disconnected CAPS and TASKS units, with no shared value clarity and fractured coordination. ## From the Cheetah to the Map Agile once promised the agility of a cheetah—lean, fast, adaptive. But that promise requires more than rituals. It demands **systemic elevation**: broadening both skill scope and ownership scope across the organization. Without that, **organizational entropy sets in**—and agility becomes theater. To keep agility alive, **we must redesign for it**. ## The Antidote: Consolidation Through Elevation Org Topologies™ offers a visual and systemic way to do this. At the heart of elevation are two imperatives: - **Skill Consolidation**: Achieved by forming **complete teams** (CAPS-2 and above) with the skills needed for fast-flow delivery. - **Value Consolidation**: Achieved by designing **business-oriented ecosystems**—like **PART-2**, **PART-3**, or ideally **WHOLE-level ecosystems**—where groups of teams co-own broad customer or stakeholder value. While DevOps and XP gave us ways to improve team-level fluency (horizontal movement), **value consolidation requires upward movement**. It means climbing out of the CAPS zone into PART and WHOLE ecosystems, where alignment, flow, and stakeholder-centricity can thrive. ## Why the Agile Team Isn’t Enough Local agile (i.e. team-level agility) is necessary, but insufficient. Elevating an organization requires: - A **shared backlog** owned by elevated product leadership. - **Cross-team coordination in cadence**, not via separate, delayed handovers. - **Integrated value domains** that align business and tech under common goals (e.g., moving from CAPS to WHOLE). In most organizations, we see confusion when we ask: “What is your Product?” That’s the **Product Gap**. Low-level Product Owners manage features and tasks (CAPS-level), while true product management sits far away (at WHOLE-level). The gap leads to broken feedback loops and poor adaptability. ## A Way Forward: Productize in 90 Days You don’t need to boil the ocean. You need a thoughtful start. Here’s how Org Topologies™ suggests you can begin consolidating value and elevating your org: ### A Seven-Step Path Toward Productization 1. **Find the Value Domain** – what whole does this system serve? 2. **Form Teams for the Domain** – multidisciplinary, elevated units. 3. **Form the Leadership Team** – elevated product leaders (not just POs). 4. **Agree on Initial and Future Structure** – current state and north star. 5. **Apply Product-Level Scrum** – not at team level, but across a team of teams. 6. **Strive for Zero Distance** – reduce the gap between makers and customers. 7. **Strive for Broad Specialization** – teams should span more, not less. This progression will move your org toward **higher-elevation ecosystems**, such as PART-2 or WHOLE-1, where true business agility lives. ## Own the Change As Org Topologies™ emphasizes, change must be **owned**, not rented. Frameworks won’t save you. What will? **Systemic clarity, shared language, and design-fit elevation**. So no, Agile isn’t dead. But it needs to **grow up**—from team-level improvements (TASKS and CAPS) to whole-system transformation (PART and WHOLE). Let’s stop pretending that a scaled framework can do the thinking for us. Let’s start mapping, assessing, and [**elevating**](https://www.orgtopologies.com/elevating-katas).