The Matrix — An Agile Epic
The movie The Matrix, seen through Agile eyes
1999 was the year The Matrix came out. I had the fortune to see it on the second evening of the Lowlands festival in The Netherlands. After the last band played, they rolled down a huge screen at the main stage and we all lay around on the grass and watched it. It was one hell of a trip.
The movie has stayed with me since then and I’ve watched it multiple times. It has always intrigued me, with its layers of meaning and philosophical subjects. I watched it again recently, and this time my Agile eye snapped into focus. I realised that The Matrix is also a story about the epic struggle of Agile against the established order of the world.
Let me explain.
But first, I’m assuming you have seen the movie or at least know the story. If not, do read about the plot of the movie first. On IMDB or Wikipedia, for example. Needless to say, if you haven’t seen the movie and want the full experience, I suggest you do that first. Believe me, with this movie it is worth it.
The Setting
The Matrix is the story of Thomas Anderson, a regular working guy who is, of course, a software engineer. “Of course”, because the birthplace of Agile is in the software world.
Thomas works at some software company, Metacortex (what’s in a name), in a claustrophobic little cubicle with absolutely no hope of a personal touch, not even a plant or a poster. And we never actually see anything of what he does, suggesting his job is mind-bogglingly boring.
The city where he lives is non-descript. It seems like it is always grey and dreary. Even when it isn’t dark or raining, the weather looks grim, like a permanent state of autumn. Everything is greyish or even greenish, suggesting people are only half-living. We see no friends, family, nothing. His apartment is dark and there don’t seem to be any windows.
The only interaction we see of any kind is with his boss, during a brow-beating for being late, in which it is explained to him he is expected to respect authority, stop thinking he is special, and accept that he is part of a whole - i.e. a cog in the machine. It’s almost as if the only reason Neo is alive is to work.
This to me is a pretty precise representation of a world dominated by Taylorism. A homo economicus, Dickensian, old-fashioned command & control world. A grim status quo, and precisely the thing we as Agile practitioners are trying to change. As the Agile Manifesto puts it:
We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it
What is wrong with the world?
Thomas is actually a hacker, codename Neo, and his goal is to find something. He has algorithms searching the net. He falls asleep behind his computer screen, looking for that something.
As Morpheus tells him in their first encounter:
You’re here because you know something. What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life — that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.
So this is where it gets really interesting. What is that something that Neo is looking for? We eventually find out that he is looking for an answer to the question “what is the matrix”. And we find out that the Matrix is a virtual reality, devised by sentient machines to use humans as batteries, to produce energy.
This is of course the mind-blowing turn in the movie which provides for all the fun effects and crazy fights. But what I find intriguing is the way this is just an explanation for the outcome — that grim, Tayloristic world we encountered above.
What does that say about us humans? What does it say about how we react to control? Does a need for control always lead to despotism?
Later on in the movie, Agent Smith tells us how humans rejected more utopic versions of the Matrix, eventually leading to the adoption of the Matrix we encounter in the movie.
To me, I can’t help but notice that I’ve heard frustrated managers talk in a similar, if less venomous way, about their employees. How control is necessary and how without it the world falls apart. In fact, I’ve heard developers talk about Scrum this way too!
What is Wrong with the World?
That feeling goes deep. I think most of us realise growing up that the world is not at all a paradise, and that it can be a nasty place. It is part of growing up, learning to deal with that fact. Some of us deal with it by becoming activists, joining Greenpeace, or becoming politicians. Some of us become Agilists, trying to help fix the world through the way we approach work. Many of us try instead to get on with our lives and not think too much about it.
Ultimately, doing something about that splinter in your mind is not easy, and it takes conviction and dedication. Agilists are like that, we are people who are convinced we can do something about the world, even if our contribution might be small. And we are driven by an idealism that is delicately tied to a deep faith in people.
The Real World
Once Neo escapes from the Matrix we encounter the real world. The real world is no picnic either. The world has been ravaged by the war with the machines, and humans live underground. Above on the surface, the world looks like Mordor, with a permanent cloud cover that makes everything dark and dreary.
In fact, the world seems just as grim as the matrix itself. But if you pay attention you will notice that the greenness and palidness you see in the Matrix are gone in the real world. Colours are clearer and everything is crisper.
What is also quite interesting to notice is that although the Matrix looks like a modern, civilised metropolis, there always seems to be an underlying tension and hostility. In the real world, however, we straight away get a feeling of camaraderie, strong bonds, and safety. Here, it is all about people.
This contrast for me emphasises that the way to fix what’s wrong with the world boils down to our humanity. Where The Matrix removes our humanity from the equation to ensure perfect control, in the real world our humanity is leading. Literally the first value of the Agile Manifesto!
Individuals & Interactions over Processes & Tools
This is what we Agilists are all about. Our goal is to empower our teams and give them the freedom to do it themselves. Delivering twice the work in half the team may be fantastic, but it is only a side-effect of this.
Teamwork
And yes, it all happens in the team. The crew of the Nebuchadnezzar (Morpheus’ ship), who have rescued Neo, act like a well-oiled machine, or dare I say it, a high-performance team.
The whole movie follows Morpheus and his team and although we know that there is a city they live in, somewhere, the team seems to be completely self-sufficient and in full control of their actions. Everyone seems clear on their role and there is obvious drive — intrinsic motivation. Even under terrible pressure, like when they lose three crew members, there are absolutely no doubts or dejectedness. They doggedly go on following their goal.
But it goes further than that. You see them taking care of each other, making fun of each other, sharing doubts. In fact, the team seems to me a perfect example of the Scrum Values in practice.
We also see how leadership is something organic. Morpheus may be the captain of the ship, but you feel that his leadership is something he has earned, it is based on hard-won respect. And when Morpheus is taken by agents, we see Neo take up that leadership. We also see this organic leadership at the end of the movie, when we see Morpheus stepping back and letting Trinity decide when to trigger the EMP, even though his ship is being destroyed all around them.
The Traitor
The exception is Cypher, the one person in Morpheus’ team who can’t deal with the real world and eventually turns on the team, choosing to work with the agents to set a trap for Morpheus.
As Cypher tells us himself, “Ignorance is bliss”.
This is perhaps the hardest thing that I have had to learn as a Scrum Master, that not everyone is ready to accept the change. In fact, indifference is more common than I would care to admit. But it is a reality that we have to accept.
As Morpheus puts it, while walking in a crowd of people with Neo, “You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it.”.
Call us early adopters, agents of change, activists, but the truth is that it takes a special breed of people to take up the conviction and be ready to fight for it day after day. I am proud to count myself among them, but I’m also acutely aware of how tough the struggle can be.
Agent Smith
I mentioned “agents” a couple of times. The agents are “sentient programs”, basically people in the Matrix who look like normal people but are actually machines. What is cool about the agents is that they can bend the rules of the Matrix and do amazing stuff, like dodging bullets and changing stuff in the Matrix. Their job is to make sure nobody misbehaves in the Matrix. They are like the police force, but with superpowers.
For me, from an Agile perspective, the agents represent the people who operate outside the rules of command & control. The ones in power, the ones with authority.
They are that typical manager or company owner we all know, who stands above the rules and can do anything they want, while at the same expecting you to “know your place”. They have the power to punish anyone in the system who misbehaves according to their own arbitrary definition of what misbehaving is.
But they are also the people who decide that from one day to the next, we are “doing Agile”. The ones who will suddenly decide all Scrum Masters are obsolete, or that Project Managers should suddenly be called Product Owners. Often you get the feeling that there is absolutely no accountability for these decisions. And indeed, there isn’t.
Agent Smith, the main agent trying to catch Neo and the rest of the gang, illustrates this perfectly. We see how he goes out of control as the movie progresses, doing things to which the other agents react with surprise. But nobody does anything to stop him.
What I find really interesting is how the way Neo’s boss speaks at the beginning sounds exactly like the way Agent Smith speaks, tying the idea of a lack of accountability to old-fashioned management and leadership.
Morpheus
Morpheus for me is of course the Master of Agile, the wise Agile Thought Leader who has seen it all. He has such a deep understanding of Agile that everyone is in awe of him. He is the one who shows the way, just like our Agile Thought leaders use their experience to gradually form and shape what Agile is, and the tools we have at our disposal.
What I find really captivating about Morpheus is two-fold.
First of all, he keeps telling Neo, “I’m trying to free your mind, Neo, but I can only show you the door, you’re the one that has to walk through it.”, which is exactly the way it goes with Agile. We cannot force people to do Agile, or even less, understand what it is. This is often quite frustrating, but it is part of the job. It is part of the Agile mindset.
Second, Morpheus has some idea of how the future looks, but he knows he will probably not be part of it. In Neo he sees an important step towards that future, perhaps the future itself, but he knows the change is too big and will require generations.
I believe, without any self-pity or regret, that this is the same for all of us Agilists. The world we are trying to create will not be for us, but for future generations, simply because the change is so huge.
The One
And that brings me to Neo. The reason that Neo is so important, and this is something Morpheus recognises, is that Neo is the one who can access both worlds. Neo turns the tables on the Machines, becoming more powerful than the agents, eventually growing to control the Matrix.
Think about it, would that not be an awesome power in our Agile context? Being able to work in an Agile way, while at the same time be able to rule the command & control world?
I think the biggest challenge in our work is the “agents” in our organisations who use their lack of accountability and skills in the old-fashioned command & control approach to negate our efforts. How many times have you worked your ass off to achieve some change, only to have a manager nonchalantly burn it all done with the wrong off-hand remark?
At the same time, for us Agilists it is hard to wield that command & control power, because it simply goes against our principles. We believe in empowerment and safety and such and in the damage authority can do, so we avoid it at all costs.
Now imagine that same agent but this time on our side? An Agile person comfortable with the power of command & control? Able to literally force people to accept Agile? Now that would truly be a change agent!
Know Thyself
The last subject I want to talk about in this article is perhaps the most important theme of the movie, the matter of choice.
There are quite a lot of choices in the movie. Choosing between the red and the blue pill. Neo choosing (or accepting) to be The One. Cyphers choice for the Matrix. Just to name a few.
What I find really interesting about all these things is that if you look closely, none of them are really a choice. This is made especially clear with Neo‘s journey to become The One. While he is struggling to decide whether he is or not the One, those around him (Morpheus, the Oracle) are trying to tell him it is not about choice, it is about understanding.
Becoming a Scrum Master is not really a choice, it is the result of a conviction. You do not become a Scrum Master for the money. The uncertainty, the challenges, the general aggravation are not really worth that. We become Scrum Masters because we believe in something larger than ourselves.
Also, and this is something I find hugely important in Agile, in Agile we do not wait to be given a choice. A choice implies an external factor that gives you that choice. Instead, in Agile, we take charge. We do experiments, we try things out. We seek understanding until the choice disappears and only one logical avenue remains.
That is the power of Agile, that everyone can take charge. Everyone is a partner. And we do not play dice. We defer decisions and experiment and seek information until the way becomes clear.
Conclusion
Supported by a mostly metal track, which of course is the music of revolting (pun intended), non-conformist, nerdy developers, the Matrix was the movie of a generation, an ode to youthful resistance and finding your own way.
I imagine that perhaps many will find this article somewhat self-fulfilling, far-fetched even. But like they say, metaphors are an excellent tool to power new associations, insights and understandings.
And think about it. Next time you are facing some challenging thing in your work, feeling nervous and uncertain, maybe some impostor syndrome, imagine yourself with sunglasses and posh clothes, ready to do amazing kung fu and dodge bullets. That’s sure to give you a confidence boost.
As Morpheus explains to Neo — it is all about believing in yourself:
Neo, sooner or later you’re going to realize just as I did that there’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.