Real Transformation Looks Nothing Like a Case Study

Welcome to Behind the Scenes of Agile, where we pull back the curtain on what really happens in transformation. Not the polished case studies, not the perfectly structured frameworks—but the messy, unpredictable, and deeply human side of agility.

“Real transformation isn’t plug-and-play. It's to assess, build, experiment, break, and rebuild. Over and over again.”

If Agile Were Improv Theater

If Agile were a performance, it wouldn’t be a meticulously rehearsed Broadway production. It’d be improv theater—spontaneous, adaptive, and full of unexpected twists and always finding its rhythm. Some moments feel like pure chaos, but the magic happens when the team trusts each other and builds on what’s happening in real time.

People love to talk about Agile as if it’s a clean, structured process. Most of the stakeholders actually expect that. But let me tell you, from the trenches: real transformation looks nothing like a case study.

It’s messy. Big wins, small losses, sometimes the other way around. In the long term, it is the trend that matters, not the occasional setbacks.?

Creating something new, either if it is a new way of working, a process, a product it’s a series of missteps, small wins, and big “aha” moments.?

So if running with agile teams, you cannot control the work, situations get more complicated than expected, and politics hits you in the face, what can you count on?

Not so early in my career, yet better late than never,? I learned something that stayed with me: jobs come and go, but relationships stay. And in Agile, trust is the foundation that makes everything work.

You can have the best frameworks, the most awesome digital Kanban boards, and the most sophisticated stand-ups, but if your team doesn’t trust each other? You become just actors waiting for cues that never come, standing in awkward silence instead of building on the scene together.

Without trust, Agile is a shallow performance in which people feel controlled and blocked. Back to the Broadway musical. With it, teams take risks, adapt on the fly, and create something that lasts.

The Power of Tension on Stage

And let’s talk about tension for a second. People see friction in teams and panic—oh no, we must be doing something wrong! But here’s the truth: if there’s no tension, there’s no transformation.

A great Agile team is like an improv troupe. They challenge each other, play off new ideas, and aren’t afraid to take a scene in an unexpected direction. They don’t work alone - they rely on their partners to pick up cues, keep the energy flowing, and make the story stronger. Sometimes an actor does not show up for the act, the show must go on.

It’s uncomfortable, but it’s how breakthroughs happen. No one creates a memorable performance by playing it safe.

We’re seeing the same shift in how companies think about performance. For years, businesses treated employee evaluation like a rigid script - hit your lines, get your bonus. But work isn’t scripted. It’s dynamic, collaborative, and constantly evolving, so performance measurement should be.

What if we stopped rewarding people based on old-school, rigid KPIs and started measuring real progress? Imagine moving from performance checklists to OKRs - where success isn’t about:

• hitting predefined marks
• controlling tasks delivered (that by the way you are not sure if they connect to the business result you want to achieve)?

but about?

alignment        

adaptability        

real business impact        

Because let’s be honest, just like Agile isn’t about following a process, great performance isn’t about perfect execution. It’s about executing strategy in a way that continuously delivers business value.

And the companies that figure this out will be the ones that thrive, while others get stuck in a loop, repeating the same scenes, testing the same routines, hiring the same roles, wondering why they never broke new ground.

Building, Breaking, and Rebuilding

Of course, no transformation is without resistance. Some teams will fight to keep the old ways (but we’ve always done it like this!, or my favorite… I do not have the time for this), some leaders will need a little extra convincing (explain Agile to me one more time...), and we’ll keep debating what “product” actually means in different contexts (spoiler: it’s not always digital).

But that’s the reality of Agile at scale - it’s not plug-and-play, it’s assess, build, experiment, break, and rebuild. Over and over again.

At the end of the day, Agile isn’t about checklists. It’s about impact. Where people work in a structured yet flexible approach that ensures strategy translates into tangible success. It’s about creating a space where people don’t just follow a process but actively shape it.

To help you navigate these challenges and ensure your Agile transformation leads to real business impact, explore the Agile Strategic Execution Framework created by The Catalyst?.         

It’s a practical checklist designed to align strategy with execution, maintain discipline, and drive measurable results. Check it out and start applying these principles to your team today, and please provide feedback so we can always continuously improve ??        

?? Agile Execution Framework by The Catalyst

Now, tell me, what’s a moment when your team was deep in chaos, convinced everything was falling apart, only for something incredible to emerge?

Let’s pull back the curtain on those behind-the-scenes moments.

—

Carol Wosiack

Global Strategy & Transformation VP @ Kraft Heinz |Independent Board Member & Chair of Digital & Growth @ Veste SA |? Speaker @ London Business School & Faculty @ Link Business School.