What do you do if your organization's need for agility clashes with the need for stability?

If your organization needs agility but also stability, find a balance then make sure to talk openly about both needs, aiming for compromise okay and that way, you can keep things flexible while ensuring stability for long-term success.

Setup Two streams or organisation units BAU : business as usual group who shall pickup end products of agility and make sure business is always stable NewCo: group working on agility work items

When an organization's need for agility clashes with the need for stability, it's crucial to assess the specific needs and priorities of the organization. This involves understanding the business context, identifying key stakeholders' requirements, and evaluating the potential impact of agility and stability on the organization's goals. Assessing needs helps in finding a balance between agility and stability, ensuring that the organization can respond effectively to changing market demands while maintaining operational reliability and consistency. Stakeholder interviews, data analysis, and collaboration with relevant teams to gather insights and make informed decisions.

1. Always be ready to embrace change in requirements while ensuring that the core stability of the system is maintained. 2. Build customer satisfaction through early and continuous Delivery. 3. Foster collaboration between business stakeholders and development teams to ensure priorities and balance between agility and stability. 4. Encourage open and efficient communication to focus on clarity and quickly address any concerns.

Finding the right balance is the key for success. The initial phase might see some up and down , i mean it could be a case where the team is not able to do the balancing act and a compromise is being made on one aspect or the other. What as a leader we have to assure is that we have the confidence in agility and give the team the long rope to mature and understand the importance of agility and not compromise on qulaity at any cost.

It might be helpful to highlight successful examples of agility in action and demonstrate how it can lead to innovation, competitive advantage, and improved business outcomes. Engage stakeholders in open dialogue, address concerns proactively, and foster a culture of experimentation, continuous learning, and adaptability to gradually get them to embrace change.

Change is a constant. Team needs to know without change, companies cannot survive and thrive in today's business context. While repetition is the mother of skill - to gain agile competency, it is understanding that's the father of mastery - the values, principles & concepts.

- Highlight the benefits of agile practices: Briefly explain how agile methodologies like Scrum or Kanban can introduce faster feedback loops and iterative development. - Connect change to stability: Emphasize how agile practices can help your organization adapt to change while maintaining a stable strategic direction.

As a software engineer at Tata CLiQ, I leveraged Agile methodologies like Scrum and Kanban to enhance backend systems, fostering communication and cross-team collaboration. Currently pursuing an MBA in Digital Transformation, I am adept at problem-solving and data analysis. As a project manager at CYBEES, I excel in stakeholder management, risk mitigation, and resource optimization, driving continuous improvement initiatives.

Think of it like building with Lego blocks. You want to be able to change your creation if you get a better idea, but you also don't want it to fall apart if you bump the table. So, you find a balance between being able to switch things up and making sure your creation stays sturdy.

A hybrid approach can help strike a balance. By combining agile practices with stable processes, teams can adapt quickly to changing requirements while ensuring consistency and reliability in critical areas. This approach allows for iterative improvements and innovation without compromising on stability, making the process smoother and more sustainable in dynamic environments.

- Describe your proposed approach: Explain how you envision combining agile and traditional methodologies. - Provide an example: Briefly illustrate how agile practices might be used in specific departments or projects while core operations remain stable.

As a software engineer at Tata CLiQ, I've honed skills in Java, communication, and cross-team collaboration. Combining these with my MBA studies in Digital Transformation, I advocate a hybrid methodology. This blends Agile's adaptation and product development with traditional stability-focused management. Spearheading projects at CYBEES, I've mastered stakeholder management, risk mitigation, and cross-functional leadership. This hybrid approach ensures innovation while maintaining stability.

This is something which SAFe talks about where they introduce the Dual Operating System. Its a true way of working for scaling agile in multi-team environment for large organizations. This leverages the proven experience and results of the hierarchy based approach and layers it with the entrepreneurial mindset based network approach. This enables fast decision making yet maintaining stability.

For people who are used to structure and a waterfall approach, it might be best to use a Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) to help with the transition. If a team is able to fully transition into Agile, it would make sense to just allow them. At the end of the day, Agile is a flexible tool and should be implemented with the best results in mind.

Communication becomes crucial in such situations because it helps align stakeholders on priorities, manage expectations, and find a balance between agility and stability. Effective communication fosters transparency, trust, and collaboration, enabling teams to navigate complexities and make informed decisions that support both agility and stability objectives.

There should be clear guiding principles established so that people know when and how to balance agility and stability. More importantly, regular sync up meetings and informal conversations should build understanding and trust among the stakeholders.

- Explain the rationale: Describe the reasoning behind prioritizing stability in certain areas and agility in others. - Manage expectations: Explain how clear communication will help address potential concerns about change within the organization.

—>Achieve an improved understanding of the system in production —>Ensure short time of reaction to issues fast —>Clear communication of requirements and performance with the business

When agility clashes with stability in your organization, clear communication is crucial ???. Start by framing agility as a means to enhance stability, not disrupt it. Use specific examples and data to demonstrate how Agile methodologies can improve responsiveness while maintaining core stability ??. Facilitate discussions between Agile teams and stakeholders to understand concerns and resistance ??. Offer to run small-scale pilot projects that showcase the benefits of Agile practices without compromising overall stability ??. Regular feedback sessions and transparent reporting on pilot outcomes help build trust and clarity. Injecting a bit of humor and positivity can ease tensions and encourage open-mindedness ??.

Training and supporting teams in agile methodologies can make this process easier by fostering a culture of flexibility, continuous improvement, and collaboration. Providing ongoing education, mentoring, and resources for implementing agile practices can help teams navigate the tension between agility and stability more effectively, leading to better outcomes and organizational resilience.

Well, facilitating agile teams with robust training and support nurtures a climate of adaptability, continual refinement, and collaborative synergy, thereby optimizing the agile process. Furthermore, through the provision of ongoing education, mentorship, and resources tailored to agile implementation, teams can adeptly manage the delicate balance between agility and stability, culminating in superior outcomes and fortified organizational resilience. However, the provision of requisite tools and resources underscores the paramount importance of enabling teams to excel in agile practices. Train the team on how they would go about Sprint planning & daily stand-up meetings approach to keep track on what tasks are in progress and blockers.

- Outline training methods: Briefly mention workshops, seminars, or agile coaching as ways to support employee adaptation. - Emphasize resource provision: Highlight the importance of providing teams with the necessary tools and resources to succeed with agile practices.

Think of it like playing on a sports team. Each player knows their position and what they're good at, so they can make split-second decisions during the game. It's about trusting your teammates to make the right call when things are moving fast. Imagine you're learning a new skill, like playing guitar. You practice a little bit every day and learn new songs over time. It's about always looking for ways to get better, whether it's fixing mistakes or trying something new.

- Define metrics: Mention specific metrics you would use to track the effectiveness of your approach. - Focus on both aspects: Emphasize the importance of measuring progress in both agility (e.g., speed to market) and stability (e.g., system uptime).

Regular check-ins, reflections, and adjustments ensure this isn’t just a one-off experiment but a new way of operating. It’s about being agile in our approach to stability and stable in our pursuit of agility.

- Leadership buy-in: Briefly mention the importance of strong leadership support for the combined approach. - Phased implementation: Briefly suggest starting with a pilot project to test and refine your approach.

As I mull over this, it strikes me that at the heart of this exploration is a fundamental belief in the power of balance. It’s a reminder that the most vibrant ecosystems thrive on diversity and balance. Perhaps in our quest for organizational success, it’s this balance between the fast-paced world of innovation and the deep roots of sustainability that will ultimately define our path forward. It’s not just about navigating the clash between agility and stability but about redefining how we view their interplay, seeing them not as forces in opposition but as partners in a dance, each step informing the next, leading us toward a future that’s both dynamic and enduring.