Non-Technical Debt (NTD) is a common challenge in agile software development, manifesting in four critical forms:•Process Debt arises from inefficient or outdated workflows that hinder agility and adaptability. Examples include misaligned processes, poor synchronization across teams, and unclear role definitions, all of which can slow progress.•Social Debt stems from suboptimal team dynamics or organizational culture, such as poor communication, lack of trust, or fixed silos. These issues hinder collaboration, increase misunderstandings, and often result in costly rework.•People Debt refers to issues with people and their competence. It reflects challenges related to human resources and expertise, such as inadequate training, hiring delays, or overworked teams. This form of debt limits an organization’s ability to retain skilled, motivated personnel and meet increasing demands.•Organizational debt arises from outdated structures, policies, or practices that no longer align with the organization’s goals. Such rigidity limits innovation, hinders adaptability, and prevents the pursuit of operational excellence.The NODLA project11 (2021–2024), a collaboration between Karlstad University and four leading Swedish industrial partners, reveals how various debt types disrupt large-scale Agile Software Development (ASD) environments. Through extensive surveys, in-depth interviews, and statistical analyses involving a diverse group of software professionals, we identified key drivers of NTD and their impacts. Our findings emphasize:•Well-structured, highly cohesive teams learn faster, adapt more effectively,and innovate consistently.•Psychological safety, fostered by proactive leadership, is essential for innovation, experimentation, and keeping employees.•Inefficient processes and unclear roles contribute significantly to drops in job satisfaction, productivity, and team morale.•Social fragmentation, particularly in remote and hybrid settings, breeds rework, delays, and increased costs.•Neglected human resource needs, such as delayed hiring or insufficient training, limit an organization’s ability to meet growing demands.This white paper distils these insights into practical, evidence-based strategies, such as refining team composition, clarifying roles, fostering psychological safety, streamlining workflows, and embracing failure as a learning tool. By implementing these strategies, organizations can reduce NTD, reclaim agility, and unlock their teams’ full potential.