Abstract
Agile Software Development (ASD) methodologies are often viewed as restraining IT innovation and causing technical debt. Recently, agile mindset leaders have been introduced as a remedy to solve this clash, describing them as those who secure dynamic capabilities. In other words, ASD alone, without an open, agile mindset, can serve as a blocker rather than a supporter of innovativeness in IT. To confirm this thesis, this study compares the impact of agile and non-agile mindset team leaders on developing dynamic capabilities in the IT sector to verify how critical an agile mindset is in IT. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) model was developed based on a sample composed of 474 IT employees to investigate it. Results showed that the sensing capability in the non-agile leader model is ineffective. Therefore, the innovations are hindered. The leaders with an agile mindset foster greater organizational agility and reduce the need to confront resistance to innovation. Therefore, agile mindset team leaders, in contrast to non-agile mindset team leaders, are those who can secure organizational agility in IT. So, securing ASD team leaders with an agile mindset is critical to win organizational agility in IT.
Paper Type
Full Paper
DOI
10.62036/ISD.2025.26
Impact of Agile Software Development Team Leaders’ Mindset on Dynamic Capabilities for Achieving Organizational Agility
Agile Software Development (ASD) methodologies are often viewed as restraining IT innovation and causing technical debt. Recently, agile mindset leaders have been introduced as a remedy to solve this clash, describing them as those who secure dynamic capabilities. In other words, ASD alone, without an open, agile mindset, can serve as a blocker rather than a supporter of innovativeness in IT. To confirm this thesis, this study compares the impact of agile and non-agile mindset team leaders on developing dynamic capabilities in the IT sector to verify how critical an agile mindset is in IT. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) model was developed based on a sample composed of 474 IT employees to investigate it. Results showed that the sensing capability in the non-agile leader model is ineffective. Therefore, the innovations are hindered. The leaders with an agile mindset foster greater organizational agility and reduce the need to confront resistance to innovation. Therefore, agile mindset team leaders, in contrast to non-agile mindset team leaders, are those who can secure organizational agility in IT. So, securing ASD team leaders with an agile mindset is critical to win organizational agility in IT.
Recommended Citation
Kucharski, M., Kucharska, W. & Jussila, J. (2025). Impact of Agile Software Development Team Leaders’ Mindset on Dynamic Capabilities for Achieving Organizational AgilityIn I. Luković, S. Bjeladinović, B. Delibašić, D. Barać, N. Iivari, E. Insfran, M. Lang, H. Linger, & C. Schneider (Eds.), Empowering the Interdisciplinary Role of ISD in Addressing Contemporary Issues in Digital Transformation: How Data Science and Generative AI Contributes to ISD (ISD2025 Proceedings). Belgrade, Serbia: University of Gdańsk, Department of Business Informatics & University of Belgrade, Faculty of Organizational Sciences. ISBN: 978-83-972632-1-5. https://doi.org/10.62036/ISD.2025.26