Agile as Will and Representation

[#1]

I’ve always loved Schopenhauer’s The World as Will and Representation.
It’s pure philosophy — but also, surprisingly, one of the best metaphors for modern management and Agile practice.

He believed that everything in the world exists in two dimensions: will (the drive behind action) and representation (how we perceive and make sense of things).

Now, think about Agile teams.
Why do some transformations succeed, while others — even following the same framework — quietly fade away?

It’s the same pattern:

1. Will — the collective intention to change.

2. Representation — the shared mental model of what “Agile” really means.

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The will to change

You can introduce Scrum, Kanban, or SAFe — but without real will, they become rituals.
Stand-ups turn into status reports. Retrospectives become checklists.
Agile stops being about adaptability and starts being about compliance.

The will in an Agile team is that inner drive to improve, to own outcomes, to learn faster than competitors.
It’s what Schopenhauer would call the “essence of action.”

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The representation we live by

Representation is our collective understanding — the “mental map” of how work happens.
Two teams may use the same board, the same backlog, the same Jira setup —
yet one thrives while the other stalls.

Because Agile lives in the shared representation of how people see their system.
A Kanban board can be just a ticket tracker — or it can represent continuous flow, focus, and improvement.
The difference is not in the process, but in the meaning people assign to it.

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The paradox of Agile

Every Agile transformation looks the same on paper — roles, ceremonies, artifacts.
But in practice, each one depends on two invisible forces:
the will to make it real and the representation that unites the team.

So maybe Schopenhauer wasn’t that far from modern management after all.
The world as will and representation.
Agile as will and representation.

With that thought — have a mindful sprint. 🙂

[Marcelo Viana de Siqueira]

Great reflection! Philosophy is at the root of everything, including Agile.

[Vlad Zhigulin]

Thank you, @Marcelo Viana de Siqueira ! I completely agree — philosophy truly reflects everything we do, including how we think and act in Agile.