Agility Scales Is Dead. Long Live The unFIX Company.

Author: Jurgen Appelo

Words matter. Terminology is important. And names make a difference.

There may be no difference between a Human Resources department versus a People Support team, but changing a name from one to the other can be the beginning of a different set of behaviors. Maybe an Agile Team does practically the same things as an Experience Crew, but new terminology may signal a significant change of focus.

And don't get me started on the negative associations many people have with words such as lean, agile, or failure. Despite many best intentions, outstanding achievements, and essential learnings, some terms are best left behind because of people's earlier experiences and associations. By shedding the language of our past, we can more easily cut a path toward the future. And no, changing words alone is not enough. It helps only if you're serious about self-renewal.

By shedding the language of our past, we can more easily cut a path toward the future.

For the same reasons, I will leave behind the names Agility Scales, Shiftup, and MindSettlers. I gave these ideas all I could; I gained substantial knowledge and experience and enjoyed my work on these projects with earlier teams and wonderful clients. But it's time to move on.

My pivot to the unFIX model generates more buzz and interest than my previous three projects combined. With my new team, I want only to develop new opportunities around unFIX. I want no associations or distractions related to previous projects; thus, I am cutting away all that could be dragging me back rather than pulling me forward. And I want shareholders and customers to know I'm serious about this.

That means no more Shiftup and no more MindSettlers. The sites will go offline soon, and any remaining commitments will be carefully wrapped up. As part of this self-renewal, hundreds of people this week happily razed the warehouse where I had 2,000 copies of my last book, Startup, Scaleup, Screwup. They were gone in 30 hours.

It pleases me greatly to announce that the company Agility Scales BV is reborn as The unFIX Company BV. Because words matter, and names make a difference. Let's embrace our renewed focus and our new behaviors. We already have the domain: unFIX.com.

The official name change will be complete in a matter of days.

Jurgen

p.s. There is no change in ownership of the company. It is only a name change.