Agile Anti-Patterns: 5 Immaturity Phases to Diagnose Fast and Fix Before They Become Culture

What’s the fastest way to spot “Agile that looks Agile” but kills outcomes?

Answer (execution-first):
Diagnose which immaturity phase your org is in (Dabbling, Doing, Denying, Diverging, Doom Looping), then fix the root cause: unclear outcomes, missing learning loops, weak coaching, fragmented working agreements, and leadership behavior that rewards output over value.

In this Productside session, Joe Ghali and Dean Peters break down the 5 Phases of the Agile Anti-Patterns Immaturity Model—real behaviors we’ve seen across startups, enterprises, nonprofits, and government teams. You’ll learn how to recognize the warning signs early, prevent anti-patterns from hardening into culture, and move teams toward mature, outcome-driven agility.

What you’ll learn (practical, not hype):
• What an Agile anti-pattern is (a “shortcut” that harms long-term outcomes)
• Phase 1 — Dabbling: adopting Agile vocabulary without Agile behavior
• Phase 2 — Doing: ceremonies without purpose (“Agile theater”)
• Phase 3 — Denying: blaming Agile instead of the implementation
• Phase 4 — Diverging: teams inventing incompatible versions of Agile
• Phase 5 — Doom Looping: repeating failed transformations on a cycle
• How to diagnose maturity during moments of friction (deadlines, escalations, exec reviews)
• How to influence leaders without conflict (shift from output → outcomes)
• How to reset learning loops (retros, inspect-and-adapt discipline)
• How to use working agreements to enable autonomy with alignment
• How to break the Doom Loop by making history visible and stabilizing expectations

280 Group is now Productside.

Featured speakers:
• Joe Ghali, Principal Consultant & Trainer, Productside
• Dean Peters, Principal Consultant & Trainer, Productside

About Productside:
Productside (formerly 280 Group) is an outcome-driven product partner helping teams build products that matter through training, consulting, and advisory services.
Learn more: https://www.productside.com

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