The Psychodynamic Aspects of Agile Coach Role during Company Agile Transformation

Applied psychoanalytical research

Abstract

The role of an agile coach is a prime example of a new type of support profession that is highly integrated into the business context and has a large set of new expertise. The modern world markets create a lot of pressure on organizations that are trying to adapt to new conditions to survive for themselves. One of the methods of adaptation is agile practices. In such transformation projects, the role of an agile coach has key importance to success, focused on how it is created – its goals, objectives, boundaries and powers. In this article, I will analyze the psychodynamic aspects of the role of an agile coach, its anxieties and defenses, based on the research that was carried out as part of my master's thesis. Based on research results formed social protections of the role were not found due to its constant redefi nition, great dependence on the organizational and business context. In addition to this, many of both internal anxieties associated with the specifi cs of agile practice, and external ones have been identified – when a role that is so different for an organization becomes a convenient container for the organization's projections.