Agile Transformation – Journey…

Agile - More than a buzzword, agile is a powerful business tool that’s going to stay with us for bit longer than we anticipate.  It’s quite apparent these days that it’s quickly becoming table stakes, particularly in highly competitive industries. The whole world for that matter is becoming highly competitive.

I came across few readings on Agile & it’s interesting journey of transformation in the organizations. What I observed as a common factor in all the different readings is an eye opener. Humbly sharing my thoughts which may help those who are still planning for Agile transformation or who have already started the journey. Remember it’s a journey and destinations are many and not only the one. 

Most effective mantra for a success in agile is, creating flexible, innovative, result-driven teams that are fully empowered, is a must-have for any company that is looking into transitioning or sustaining high agility. 

It’s extremely important to have a roadmap for creating the most effective agile environment, organizations must learn how to:

1.     Integrate agile into their echo-system,

2.     Assemble & steer your teams to get results,

3.     Foster collaboration & demolish silos,

4.     Lead key initiatives in an agile environment. 

Be careful with the 4thone. Remember we are not in any race. Some organizations get overwhelmed with it and fall in trap of deploying fragile framework rather than sustainable Agile mindset.

Once we get those flavors, it will be useful for organizations to deploy the mind set of “Doing Agile right” and avoid transformation chaos. 

It’s also equally important that management team is fully bought in the idea and benefits of deploying Agile transformation and it’s simple thumb rules. Top-Down flow of this mind-set is going to be one of the key success-factors to accomplish success. In this transformation journey organizations should fully focus on WoW ( Ways of working ) & WIIFM ( What’s In It For Me ). And this should happen mandatorily at all levels. Focusing on these two elements only by few functions or teams or individuals will make your journey rough & bumpy.

In Agile world we often see the need of new approaches to management. Today the need to change management approaches is emerging. The last couple of years we all have noticed Radical Management, Management 3.0, Tribal Leadership, Leadership Agility, Servant Leadership, Leadership and the New Science, Reinventing Organizations, Turn the Ship Around etc. But the management paradigm shift is still needed & it’s so very crucial. A common theme is a stronger focus on teams and the individual as a team member. Another common theme is how the role of the leader is transforming to become the role of a visionary, a goal setter, a facilitator and a coach instead of a “Boss” or a “Manager”. One big reason for a different management approach is that today we face complex situations and environments. The ”good old” command & control management culture just doesn’t fit well in a complex environment. Command and control may work in a simple or obvious environment. In a complex environment it takes more than that to reach the goal and be able to deliver value.

In addition to the complex realities of today, we also face a high demand for early and fast delivery. Decisions made by managers have a large impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization. Today it is simply not enough to tell employees what to do. As a manager you need to focus on leadership and how to create the best circumstances for effective and efficient work to take place.

The Agile manager needs to be skilled in leadership as well as management issues. An Agile leader is able to create and communicate a vision, a direction. The Agile leader is able to set the boundaries for making the vision come true and an Agile leader is able to provide the right environment and circumstances for successful product development to take place. When I say “product” commonly it’s simply a deliverable / solution which adds value & fosters productivity.

The above may not be enough. The shift in paradigm is a shift to self-organizing teams, to cross functional teams, to managers becoming servant leaders. As an Agile leader you need to be aware of the fact that most decisions about how to develop products are better carried out by the teams and the team members than by you. One part of the equation is to identify what I as an Agile leader need to decide and provide and what I can leave for the teams and team members to decide upon. This is the toughest shift Managers must adopt quickly and trust me it’s not easy. Simply by saying “we are agile” is fooling yourself and your organization. You need to honestly & sincerely practice it. 

Jurgen Appelo wrote a book in 2011 “Management 3.0 – Leading Agile Developers, Developing Agile Leaders”. I must say that it is a must-read book by all leaders who are planning to transform their organizations / businesses into an Agile model. He beautifully explains how to empower a team and what different authority levels he sees. In his views, “Empowerment is more than just a delegation. It includes the support of risk taking, personal growth & cultural change” and “The real reason of empowerment is the manageability of the complex system itself. Smart managers empowers people to prevent the whole system from breaking down. When empowering teams & people, he distinguishes between seven levels of authority :

Tell, Sell, Consult, Agree, Advise, Inquire & last but not the least delegate.