July 2023 "Are We There Yet?" - Polarities, Unwritten Rules, and Driving Organizational Change

Welcome to the July edition of the "Are We There Yet?" newsletter!

Next week is the Agile 2023 conference (#agile2023) run by Agile Alliance . You will certainly be seeing me post from the conference with observations and insights. If you are also attending the conference, please reach out so we can plan to meet up at the conference.

This month's newsletter focuses on novel ways of addressing issues we face in our daily organizational lives. First, we look at a book that shows us that some problems are not solvable, but instead are polarities that need to be continuously managed. Next, we explore how unwritten rules work and are enforced. Finally, we discuss whether we should drive organizational change from the top down or from the bottom up.

Want to discuss any of the techniques or approaches discussed in the newsletter??Let's talk - you can schedule free, initial discussions at https://www.practical-agility.com/book-an-appointment.

Book Review - Polarity Mapping - Identifying and Managing Unsolvable Problems by Barry Johnson Ph.D.

I recently read Barry Johnson's Polarity Mapping - Identifying and Managing Unsolvable Problems.?

So what's a polarity??A polarity is a pair of opposite but interdependent methods, strategies, or actions.?Examples of polarities are candor and diplomacy or centralization and decentralization.?There is nothing inherently bad about polarities, but more often than not, we fail to recognize them as polarities and instead treat them as a "problem to be solved" rather than a "polarity to be managed."?When we treat a polarity as a problem to solve, predictable change dynamics take place which lead to sub-optimal results.

If you have been in organizations that struggle with issues like centralization vs. decentralization, individual vs. organizational responsibility, quality vs. cost minimization, efficiency vs. exploration, etc., this is a book you should read.?Whether your organization finds itself oscillating between the two seemingly opposite approaches or mired on one side of the approaches, you will recognize your organization within the discussions in the book.

Each of the two pairs in a polarity is referred to as a pole.?Each pole has its positive attributes and negative attributes.?Therefore, you can look at a polarity as a set of four quadrants, with a left-hand side pole and a right-hand side pole, with the upper quadrants reflecting the positive attributes of each pole and the lower quadrants reflecting the negative attributes of each pole.

The author uses this quadrant modeling to help teams recognize the dynamics of how organizational behavior changes over time between the two poles based on whether they see this as a problem to solve or a polarity to manage.?The author goes on to describe two different ways that polarities can be managed effectively, depending on the level of resistance to the change and whether the balance of power favors "crusaders" who are pushing change or "tradition bearers" who want to keep the status quo.

The discussion on the "Myth of One Pole" (essentially caused by either/or thinking) - "If you stay on one pole, you will at least get the benefits of the upside of that pole even if you also experience the downside." - and the "Merged Pole Myth" (seen with both/and thinking) - "You can merge the two upper quadrants and get the best of both poles simultaneously." - was quite enlightening.?Both these myths help one realize that there are no free rides and that polarities must be continuously and actively managed with the knowledge of what the downsides of both poles are so that one can maximize the benefits of both poles and minimize the downsides of both poles.?The "Myth of One Pole" shows us that you have to manage the polarities because if you stay on just one pole, you will wind up mostly suffering from the downsides of that pole.?The "Merged Pole Myth" shows us that while you are working to maximize the upside of both poles, you can't avoid the downsides of the poles by doing both - you have to actively manage the ebb and flow of the poles based on the current situation in your organization.

One other concept mentioned in the early part of the book that I thought was insightful in the notion of being both accurate and complete.?The author uses one of those negative space drawings where, depending on how you see the drawing, you see one thing or something totally different.?When two people who see different things in the drawing try to resolve their differences, they can both be accurate in what they see but not be complete in that they reject what the other person sees in the diagram.?To be both accurate AND complete, we need to acknowledge what the other person is seeing, after which we can start to discuss things in a more collaborate both/and manner instead of either/or.?This is a great approach for anytime we are trying to discuss conflicting viewpoints in a collaborative manner.

I want to send a special shout out to Jardena London , author of Cultivating Transformations, who first exposed me to the polarities concept in her book and then through subsequent conversations.?Once you are done reading Polarity Mapping - Identifying and Managing Unsolvable Problems, I highly recommend you check out Jardena's book!?Maybe I'll provide a detailed review of her book in an upcoming newsletter.

Unwritten Rules of Baseball

People who don't watch baseball too closely may not realize that there are quite a number of unwritten rules that baseball players expect their teammates and their opponents to follow when playing. These rules are often matters of sportsmanship, modesty, and etiquette. When these unwritten rules are not followed, players take justice into their own hands to bring offenders in line, often times by plunking them with a fastball. This may seem capricious and juvenile, but in fact all our organizations have unwritten rules. While we don't aim baseballs at violators of these unwritten rules, our colleagues do mete out their own "justice" if we cross these unwritten lines.

To dig deeper into unwritten rules and how we can ensure everyone navigates them well, check out these thoughts on unwritten rules.

Should You Cultivate Change in Your Organization at the Front Line Team Level or at the Leadership Level?

Many of us have participated in the age old debate when thinking about organizational change management (for example, an agile transformation) - drive change top down from leadership or work with front line teams and individuals to have change percolate bottom up throughout the organization.

Those who say you have to start at the top cite these reasons:

• Leadership support is critical to success, including providing messaging and vision
• Leaders have the ability to change incentives to encourage the desired new ways of working
• Sometimes the structure of the organization needs to be modified to facilitate cross-functional work

Some common downsides of this approach:

• The change rollout takes longer to plan out and coordinate
• The change is almost always a "big bang" approach - all or nothing
• People throughout the organization have little to no autonomy or agency in the change

Advocates of starting the change organically with a few teams and growing from there to other parts of the organization promote the following benefits of this approach:

• The people involved in the change are empowered to participate in shaping and implementing the change
• Given the smaller scope of the initial change, teams can experiment with different approaches to see what works best in this environment which then informs the initial practices of the next teams that begin to adopt the change
• The change can be started quickly with early adopters or proponents and proceed organically as others in the organization see the positive results of the early changes
• Adoption of the change is more sticky

Downsides of the bottoms up approach include:

• Corporate incentives may discourage the new ways of working as seen through pay, bonuses, and promotions
• Early adopter teams may run into structural obstacles, like team structures or budgeting systems, that make it much harder to succeed with the new ways of working
• Resistance in middle or upper management may block the expansion of the change to further parts of the organization

For those who were paying attention when reading the review of Polarity Mapping - Identifying and Managing Unsolvable Problems, what are we really facing here?

You got it...it's not an either/or approach, but rather a both/and situation. In other words, it's a polarity to be managed across both poles.

If we choose only to do one or the other, we'll wind up mostly with all the negatives of that approach. For example, if we only work on change at the front lines of the organization, we'll eventually get shut down or realize little benefit as structure and incentives work against the change, and at the first sign of failure, middle management or even senior leadership will snap back to old habits and kill the change. If we impose the change on the organization from the senior leadership team, it will take a long time to implement, while individuals will be resistant at forced change and will revert to old habits as quickly as possible. We'll likely end up right back to where we started.

However, if we work the change partially from senior leadership (providing clear executive vision, thorough communication throughout the organization of why change is necessary, and creating incentives to support the new ways of working) while simultaneously encouraging proponents and early adopters to take an active part in creating the change (experimenting, serving as internal champions, identifying better ways of working), we will hopefully reap as many as benefits as possible from both approaches as long as we are sensitive when the disadvantages creep in so we can tweak the steering wheel a bit in a timely manner.

This is a great example of how applying the concept of polarities gives us a better way of looking at certain dilemmas and helping us map approaches that give us the greatest chance of maximizing our benefits and minimizing our downsides.

If You Missed It

On Wednesday, June 26, I had the pleasure of sharing a 15-20 minute lightning talk with my fellow Princeton Agility Meetup members.?My talk centered around "Rethinking Program Status Meetings" including how we move away from red, yellow, and green status updates and instead focus on new learnings and decisions made from those learnings.?

If you missed the live meeting, you can check out video of my presentation and then let me know whether you agree, disagree, or have more to add to the discussion.

Upcoming Events / Happenings

Monday, July 24 - Friday, July 28 - Agile Alliance's Agile 2023 Conference - one of the premier Agile gatherings of the year is taking place the week of July 24 in Orlando, FL.??I'll be attending sessions all week, looking to connect with old friends and meet up with new ones at the conference.?Especially fun are the impromptu sessions, hallway conversations, and other serendipitous connections.?If you are planning on attending Agile 2023, please let me know and we can ensure we find a time to connect at the conference.

I will be participating in the Agile Advice program at Agile 2023, where agile coaches volunteer to provide free agile advice for fellow attendees who sign up.?My time slot is on Monday, July 24 from 1-2 PM, so if you happen to sign up for that time slot and get paired with me, I look forward to meeting you.

On Tuesday, July 25 from 2:00 - 3:15 PM, I will be one of the speakers presenting lightning talks.?My talk will be a 5 minute lightning talk sharing my recommendations for reimagining program status meetings.?If you are at the conference, I hope you'll stop by to hear what I have to say.?I would love to get your thoughts and feedback on my ideas.

Tuesday, August 8, Noon EDT - Philadelphia Area Agile Coaching Dojo - In this meeting, we will be using an actual dojo format to break off into group of 3-4 to practice our agile coaching chops in scenarios of our own choosing.?People will take turns being the coach, the coachee, and the observer.?This is intended to be a safe place where people of all skill and experience levels can improve through practice and observation.?This is open to anyone who is interested in practicing agile coaching, no matter your title.?As this event is virtual, it is also open to people in any location.?If you want to sign up for this event, go to https://www.meetup.com/philadelphia-area-agile-coaching-dojo/events/294865513/.

Tuesday, August 15, 7:00 PM EDT - Philadelphia Area Agile Coaching Dojo - In this meeting, we will be using lean coffee format to discuss topics related to agile coaching that attendees choose collectively.?This is a great place to discuss situations you may be facing in your organizations and with your teams and a great way to get different perspectives from other members.?This is intended to be a safe place where people of all skill and experience levels can improve through practice and observation.?This is open to anyone who is interested in practicing agile coaching, no matter your title.?As this event is virtual, it is also open to people in any location.?If you want to sign up for this event, go to https://www.meetup.com/philadelphia-area-agile-coaching-dojo/events/294865932/.

Wednesday, August 16, Noon EDT - Tampa Bay Agile Meetup - "Conversations as Catalysts: Empowering Agile Teams for Better Business Outcomes" - I am honored to speak and share my thoughts on five different cross-functional and cross-organizational conversations that maximize teamwork, alignment, customer value, and business outcomes. This is an important topic because only one of the conversations is contained in a meeting prescribed in the Scrum guide. I hope this session sparks ideas for how people can incorporate powerful conversations beyond the Scrum team to enable great business and customer outcomes.

Contact / scheduling info

If you have any comments about something you read in the newsletter or have suggestions for topics you'd like to see covered in future newsletters, feel free to DM me on LinkedIn or via our website: https://www.practical-agility.com/contactus.

If you'd like to schedule time to discuss a topic in an introductory meeting, you can schedule a meeting at: https://www.practical-agility.com/book-an-appointment.

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