September 2, 2025

How Do You Accept Destruction?

Last week, I said goodbye to an old friend.  This friend supported me in learning about agile and systemic ways of thinking, opened up many new areas of knowledge, helped me find unique employment opportunities, found ways to grow soft skills including facilitating large groups and international speaking, helped me launch a business, and discover communities of wonderful professionals in my city, state, and world that wanted to build better workplaces. 

That friend was Agile Orlando, the community I co-founded in 2008, brought back from a rocky start after the first year, and then grew into the Agile Florida community with several cofounders.  Agile Florida then became the model for an international group of learning professionals.

And when I learned more about systems thinking and thinking tools like Ecocycle, I knew destruction of Agile Orlando and everything that came from it was possible.

What is an Ecocycle?

Learning Liberating Structures introduced me to Ecocycle mapping which allows groups to visually represent where different initiatives, programs, or organizations may currently operate. It also helps a group identify what to stop, what to invest in, and what to change.  The approach is based on biological research and represents a natural closed-loop system of development, conservation, destruction and renewal in natural systems. 

The Ecocycle describes four repeating phases that a system will go through:

• Exploration/Gestation - This phase creates new ideas and initiatives with high potential but requires effort and discipline to grow.  Think “fertile ground.” This phase precedes Development but can be blocked by scarcity if there is insufficient investment.

• Exploitation/Development - The ideas and initiatives grow with sufficient energy being fed into them, and growth happens.  This phase precedes Maturity.

• Maturity/Conservation - Ideas and initiatives, rooted in support, can continue with minimal effort and spread through replication. This phase precedes Creative Destruction but can be blocked by rigidity when something continues that clearly does not provide value any longer.

• Creative Destruction/Release - This phase represents plowing up or pruning to make way for something new.  Through this composting of the old, we open up possibilities for renewal.

Without going much deeper into the theory, I saw Agile Orlando go through this natural progression.  But were we willing to end it?

Do You Plan Destruction or Let It Happen?

I slowly started stepping away from Agile Orlando in late 2017.  We were well into the maturity phase with several different programs and several motivated volunteer leaders.  And I had been tending this organizational garden for over 10 years.  It was time to step away and allow for some creative destruction.  I had no idea what this would look like, but I saw the larger agile international ecosystem also approaching rigidity.  The time for plowing it under approached.

The wise folks who tended Agile Orlando wisely decided that plowing involved not completely destroying everything. Instead, they decided to merge with a group we collaborated with many times, Product Tank Orlando. They saw the possibility of renewal.

When you study Ecocycle, you start to see the need for renewal in teams, organizations, and movements.  You can’t predict exactly when things will happen, but you watch for signs.  Sticking to frameworks, processes, and ceremonies that start to do more harm than good becomes one of the typical rigidity signals I look for.  The plow approaches.

As a leader, my best effort becomes compassionately plowing the organizational soil to make room for something new.  You also make room for the loss people feel as they become attached to what they build, and you help them see possibilities for renewal and new growth.  Some will always find it difficult to let go of those ideas, roles, and organizations of the past.

What’s the Danger of Holding On?

Far too often, I’ve watched organizations and individuals hold on to beliefs, ideas, and identities far too long.  They all get plowed under to make way for something new.  You’ll see it when fewer people start to show up, roles start to disappear from job boards, and money starts to disappear.  That’s when the plowing begins and new fields are being prepared for growth.  It’s time to move to those new fields.

Hope that helps.

Mark

P.S., I’ll be giving a webinar on September 11, 2025 entitled Can You Be Agile Without A Coach?  I would love to have you join me by signing up here. And please invite others who are starting to see a need for renewal and creative destruction.

Footnotes:

There are several footnotes here as I’m tying together many prior concepts.  You don’t need to go through all of these unless you are truly interested:

* If you are curious about the rocky start of Agile Orlando, you can read Long live @AgileFlorida (RIP Orlando Scrum).

* The re-birth of Agile Orlando started with a simple concept: Can we just have a conversation to learn?  This 3-minute video summarizes that story.  If you want to gain a better understanding of how you can build something similar, read Find Career Trails Through Connections and Skip Networking.