Avoid getting your digits burnt this transformation season

You may, or more likely, may not have read an article I published a few years back outlining some of the key differentiators between “digital” and “traditional” IT (So... what is Digital?). At the time, a number of trends were emerging in our industry which were about to have a significant impact on the way virtually all organisations conduct their business. The internet of things is now well and truly upon us, big data is king when it comes to monetising and honing commercial targets, and the consumer has become a brutally strong tail wagging corporate dogs to near the point of cruelty. A need has thus emerged to deliver products and technologies to our customers faster and cheaper than ever before to remain competitive. To remain relevant. To remain in business.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and if I were to go back and throw a couple of other disrupters into the mix, I’d certainly add Robotic Process Automation and AI in there, but what I failed to see happening in such a short amount of time was the ubiquity and wholesale shift towards a “digital first” approach. That is, digital delivery no longer being just an adjunct to existing commercial avenues but fast becoming the core focus of virtually every enterprise, from banks, to retail, to engineering. At the core of that focus is a move towards restructuring and reprocessing the enterprise around the digital delivery pipeline, and more specifically, agile delivery methodologies. The results are always spectacular. And by that I mean, they are either a spectacular success or a spectacular failure – and I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve been a part of both. So whether you’re considering engaging in digital transformation, have already committed to the process or find yourself grinding through the tough first few months, here are some of the key take-outs from my experience that will help stack your odds in the favour of success.

The mentality is more important than the method

Remember learning about public speaking back in school? One of the first things they taught you was to work off notes rather than read back your presentation verbatim. The reason for this is that when focusing on prescriptive content, us mere humans tend to lose focus on manner and (critically) fail to engage with the audience. Similarly when starting out with agile, the tendency is to focus on nailing every aspect of “the process”, losing sight of delivery goals and leaving good practise by the wayside. Consequently the quality of output very quickly suffers - this is the primary reason agile is dismissed in the Enterprise, because “we’ve tried it and it doesn’t work for us”.

The most important thing here isn’t doing what Google or Facebook do, but rather having the mindset that we can and will deliver faster and better projects

The best way to counter this is to phase in agile methodologies. On each sprint or deliverable focus on nailing one or two elements until the team think that way instinctively, and then they’ll feel comfortable with having new concepts introduced. The truth is, there is no “perfect” digital delivery mechanism and each team will respond differently to certain ways of working. And that’s OK. The most important thing here isn’t doing what Google or Facebook do, but rather having the mindset that we can and will deliver faster and better projects/software. By phasing in various approaches, you’ll identify what does and doesn’t work at each retrospective and tune the adoption accordingly without damaging the quality or quantity of output in the interim, which brings me to my next point:

It takes different strokes to rule the world

The most consistent folly when enterprise engages in digital transformation is the desire to take the “kitchen sink” approach and force development like methodologies down the throats of the wider IT community (and beyond). There are many agile practices that when appropriately applied to traditional waterfall driven teams lead to a tremendous increase in output, visibility and self-worth; I’m a strong advocate of team-wide standups, fail-fast and iterative delivery milestones, but shoehorning infrastructure and business initiatives into strict time-boxed sprints and detailing requirements in stories and epics is rarely the most prudent approach.

Similarly, activity based working (or, the policy formally known as “hot desking”) makes complete sense in cross-functional and dynamic areas of the business, but can have a detrimental effect on productivity and morale when improperly imposed. Balance is the key here, and knowing the people, capabilities and purpose behind a particular functional unit will allow you to tune the level and rate of Kool-Aid delivery.

Accept the bimodal operating nature of IT

On the topic of appropriate application of agile practices, one thing we must acknowledge when engaging in Digital Transformation is that there are certain areas of the business that are so risk sensitive that they cannot afford (either financially and/or reputationally) to modify or accelerate their existing processes. Security, Storage and Database are three such areas that spring to mind, where a disruption to existing ways of working may compromise the integrity of your core systems or lead to incidents that cause irreversible loss or damage. Respect this, but by the same token, don’t allow teams to use it as an excuse. Just because one works on say, databases, does not mean that they shouldn’t look at the possibility of moving towards agile methodologies, but rather management needs to weigh up the risk component against the desire to increase the delivery cadence of certain IT functions. In reality, most large enterprises will need to maintain and accept a bimodal operation of their IT workforce, at least until the majority of monolithic points of risk are architected out of the system.

If it feels chaotic, it’s probably chaos

For the hardcore fisherfolk among us, you’ve probably at one time or another dabbled in the use of a baitcaster reel, lured (ahem) by the promise of unprecedented casting distance and accuracy. Chances are, however, that within your first few casts you also experienced the dreaded birdnest, which soon ended your fascination with the baitcaster and enjoyment of the greater sport of fishing. For those unaware, casting with such a reel requires an adept tempering of the release speed to achieve maximum distance whilst maintaining control. Same goes for digital delivery.

If during the delivery of your agile project you feel the work, product or management is out of control, chances are, it is. I’ve heard some describe digital IT as “controlled chaos” but even that should only ever be a transient state, with sustained, measurable and reflectable delivery at pace being the ultimate goal. To catch a fish, you need to maximise your time in the water. Picking out knots and re-rigging because you’ve tried to run too fast too quickly is a waste, which as we know, is the primary undesirable in a well-oiled lean machine.

Do not underestimate the fear of the unknown

The most important piece of advice I have for organisations engaging in digital transformation, is to acknowledge that for your staff, the change and the associated upheaval will be HUGE. Whatever numbers you’ve come up with around staff attrition and target delivery times for “new digital/agile projects” – double them. As an IT professional, I’ve been through a few technology epochs – the move to virtual infrastructure and then to “the cloud” being two of the most monumental ones, but while the adoption of agile methodologies has been an evolutionary one for those in the dev/software engineering field, for the greater IT community and virtually all business folk, this is a completely different way of thinking, working and delivering. Be prepared for any and all of the following statements:

• They want to optimise us so they can outsource us
• We’re already delivering as quickly as we possibly can
• I don’t like all this crap they’re sticking up on walls, we’re a business, not a crèche
• It’s not going to work, we deliver <insert surprisingly appropriate candidate here> not applications
• We can’t do that and remain secure
• This isn’t what I signed up for

Like any good organisational change piece, communication is the key. Keep everyone informed, involved and engaged in the change, respect their intelligence, acknowledge their history with the company and consider elevating early adopters to "champion" status to disseminate the message throughout the organisation, thus avoiding half-truths and misgivings among the staff. As agile as you want your teams to be, so too must your transformation programme be ready to pivot and adapt to the reactions and responses of your people.

I hope at the very least I've provided you with some food for thought as you embark upon an exciting, admittedly challenging but ultimately very prosperous time for your organisation. Good luck!