Agile and Trust: How They Intersect
摘要
Trust is the essential enabler of Agile success. It is a structural requirement for Agile teams This chapter explores how both cognitive trust (rooted in competence and reliability) and affective trust (founded on interpersonal connection and psychological safety) are operationalised in Agile frameworks, particularly Scrum. From well-defined roles and transparent artefacts to ceremonies like Retrospectives and Daily Stand-ups, Agile is intentionally designed to embed trust into everyday team practices. The chapter draws on foundational trust theories and contemporary Agile scholarship to examine how these mechanisms foster accountability, openness, and adaptability. It also considers the unique challenges of distributed teams, where trust must be cultivated through intentional practices rather than informal encounters. Ultimately, the chapter positions trust as the invisible architecture that sustains high-performing, self-organising teams. Without it, Agile degrades into superficial ritual; with it, teams can learn, innovate, and deliver with resilience and integrity.