Secret #1: One size does not fit all (from Seven Secrets of Scaling)

To understand the context of this seven secret series, please read the introductory article.

My passion to transform organizations (especially at scale) is energized by the results of creating an environment that enables people to pursue their true passions and perform productively at work and live a life of innovation and fulfillment. Remember that the fulfillment is a basic human right and intrinsic motivation plays a pivotal role in any successful transformation [inference from Simon Sinek].

Over the past 15+ years (in 10+ verticals), one lesson I have learned from large organizations is to make the workplace practices and initiatives relevant to the context, thus reducing the

traditional worship of consistency [inference from Donald G. Reinertsen].

From tech Lean Startups to Scrum, from service excellence KanBans to ScrumBans, from Agile at scale to scaled Agile and the pursuit of a perfect ‘Lean & Agile Enterprise’ - we have seen numerous trends, transformations, and tribulations over the last two decades.

The conundrum of helping teams decide on when to use Agile (scrum), Agile (scaled), Agile (KanBan) or Waterfall for your projects in your given contexts has no simple answer.

Whether you use the cynefin model or similar systems thinking sensemaking models, the expected outcome is to identify a way to rationalize an approach to delivering value to the customers in the most efficient way.

What should we do in this confused situation?

A typical consultant's answer will be:" it depends..."

My answer is - let us have a conversation ??

Note: This is not a silver bullet and please do not get hung up on the shallow interpretation of basic recommendations. There is hours worth of discussion required in addition to the root cause analysis before a methodology can be chosen (or carefully be experimented upon).

For those who are new to this questions - here is a quick visual primer of the methodologies under discussion:

The real challenge at hand is not just to be agile & lean. It is to collaboratively recognize and visualize the key pain-points for your teams, departments, divisions, and the whole enterprise, in pursuit of a better working environment with higher collaboration, transparency and respectful feedback driven trusted culture?

A short answer to the above long historical dilemma can be summarized in two words: ‘Contextual Awareness’

Be it Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS), Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD), and Nexus etc are intending to guide enterprises in scaling lean and agile practices.[2][3]. A growing number of frameworks seek to address the problems encountered when scaling beyond a single team.[4][5]. My understanding and experience are that Lean startup is a world apart from the lean enterprise. What works for one setting might not necessarily work for the other. We can’t just randomly pick out a philosophy/ methodology and claim that it works for all kinds of organizations and all kinds of people.

Every methodology has a particular scale, limitation, and applicability. As organizations adhere to principles and values which remain the same, practices can be used from various methodologies interchangeably and with their own flavors.

Whatever chopped, combined and changed methodology you choose - it has to be adaptive. It requires a certain level of customization according to

• the context,
• the complexity of challenge at hand,
• the stage of the program,
• the type of culture (both culture of the company as well as the national culture).

Conclusion:

A round peg in a square hole is not a good idea.

I strongly believe that every methodology that works initially will need to evolve with time. As we gain a little bit of traction and maturity, the methodology evolves and this evolution is led by the delivery team themselves. There are infinite permutations and incarnations of agile & lean practices to choose from. Even when you choose a specific set of practices and these produce results for you - fresher perspectives and variations are inevitable.

Humans are not machines. Our emotions and intrinsic motivation require a regular dose of autonomy with limited constraints. As long as we stay aligned with principles, the practices can keep evolving.

Coming up next: Stay tuned for the next secret as we explore the confusions between bottom-up vs top-down approach.