Why Velocity Has Quietly Lost Its power

V. Lee Henson CST
17 hours ago
3 min read

And What Smart Leaders Are Paying Attention to Instead

For a long time, velocity was treated like a scoreboard.

If velocity went up, teams were “winning.” If it went down, something must be wrong.

Leadership dashboards lit up. Conversations revolved around points completed. Forecasts were built on historical averages. And slowly, almost invisibly, velocity became a proxy for success.

That era is ending.

In 2026, velocity hasn’t disappeared, but it has lost its authority. The most effective leaders I work with still look at it, but they no longer lead by it.

And there’s a very good reason why.

The Problem Was Never Velocity

It Was How We Used It

Velocity was designed to help teams plan, not to help leaders judge.

Somewhere along the way, it crossed a boundary it was never meant to cross.

When velocity became:

a performance target
a comparison tool
a commitment device
a signal of team “health”

It stopped being helpful and started becoming harmful.

Teams learned quickly that points could be optimized without improving outcomes. Conversations shifted from “Did this create value?” to “Did we hit the number?”

And when that happens, learning slows down.

Speed Without Context Is a Dangerous Illusion

Here’s what velocity never told you:

Whether the right problem was solved
Whether customers benefited
Whether quality improved or eroded
Whether risk was reduced
Whether the organization learned anything meaningful

Velocity answers one narrow question:“How much relative work did we complete?”

Leadership, however, needs answers to much bigger questions.

And this is where the shift begins.

What High-Performing Leaders Look at Instead

In organizations that are truly adapting, leaders are widening the lens.

They are asking:

What changed because this work shipped?
What did we learn that we didn’t know before?
Where did flow slow down and why?
How quickly can we make and act on decisions?
What trade-offs are we repeatedly making?

Notice something important here.

None of these questions require abandoning Agile practices. They require maturing leadership conversations.

Velocity may still exist at the team level. But leadership attention moves to learning, flow, and impact.

The Leadership Trap Velocity Created

Velocity felt comforting.

It gave leaders a number. Numbers feel objective. Objective feels safe.

But complex work is rarely objective.

When leaders rely too heavily on velocity, three things tend to happen:

Teams optimize the metric instead of the outcome
Conversations narrow instead of deepen
Real risks surface later than they should

This is not because teams are dishonest. It’s because systems reward what leaders emphasize.

One Shift That Changes the Conversation Immediately

If you want to reset how your organization thinks about progress, try this in your next review:

👉 Replace “How many points did we complete?” with “What did this work enable?”

That one question:

elevates the conversation
invites learning
reduces defensiveness
reconnects work to purpose

Velocity can stay in the background where it belongs. Leadership focus moves forward.

Why This Matters More Than Ever in 2026

With AI accelerating insight and automation reducing effort, output-based metrics are becoming even less meaningful.

The organizations that will thrive are not the fastest movers.They are the best learners.

They sense change early. They adjust course quickly. They make fewer large mistakes by learning through smaller ones.

Velocity cannot measure that.

Leadership can.

The AgileDad Point of View

At AgileDad, we don’t tell teams to abandon metrics. We help leaders understand which questions metrics can answer and which they cannot.

We focus on:

better decision-making
healthier flow
clearer priorities
stronger leadership judgment

Because when leaders evolve how they interpret information, teams don’t need to game the system. They can focus on creating value.

If velocity still dominates your conversations, that’s not a failure.It’s a signal that the next leadership evolution is ready.

And that’s where real agility begins.