Love your enemies

“We don’t just fight against our opponents, we fight for them. This is a moral movement…” — Van Jones

This quote is from a 2011 Van Jones speech, available on youtube. Whether you like or dislike the man who said this, it is a powerful and interesting statement, a new way of looking at conflict, perhaps.

In the Agile world we often consider we are battling against old ideas. We are. But this is to defeat the ideas, not the people. What we are doing, simultaneously is to fight for the people who are stuck in old ways of thinking—the belligerent manager, the hard-core PMP, the petulant leave-me-the-hell-alone programmer. All are victims of a manner of thinking and behaving that is no longer viable in the business world. And change is hard.

It isn’t that we want to convert people (at least, I don’t) but by following our hearts and our instincts, rooted in our collective experience and millions—perhaps billions—of hours of dialog and deep thought, we believe there are better ways to serve the world than focusing on profits, rewards, hero-cultures, quick fixes and silver bullets. By continuing to do what we do, everyone will benefit. And even if many continue to hate the ideas, they will find their lives are better. This is the promise of the ever-growing community of new thinkers, writers and activists within which Agile finds its home.

“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you”  — Matthew 5:43-48)