Transforming and Teaching an elephant how to dance

"Starting next week we will stand up. So there will be no chairs at our meetings!"

Sometimes we tend to go overboard in our zeal to adopt a methodology for our transformation. We use jargon. Big words. Many big words sometimes. Transforming an organization takes a lot of effort - hence the teaching an elephant how to dance metaphor.

One great example is how we tend to adopt agile ceremonies like stand ups when we start our transformation. I've seen several scenarios where stand ups are implemented without a strong understanding of what purpose they serve. At the end of the day these are not status meetings. You don't round up people for meetings that are about a rehash of status. You also don't want to force rules that make no sense.

Agile practitioners including scrum masters, agile coaches and product owners know the silver bullet syndrome very well.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Agile methodologies have moved out of the elite into the mainstream. We still have to be careful about our adoption process. Go into your transformation prepared.

My perspective is simple. Think of scrum when you are attempting a complex problem that requires more than one mind to do some creative problem solving. Don't use scrum as a way to solve your personnel problems. 

 The point is you can’t force agile methodologies like scrum on people who

(a) aren’t ready for it or

(b) are finding ways to work around established practices.

 #1 You can’t expect miracles if the team is full of bad apples. You have to prepare the scrum team for the work ahead. 

People matter.

The backlog matters too, but really it is about your scrum teams. Give them the chance and ability to succeed with a great environment and a great way of working together.

#2 Before you try a transformational change like scrum be sure to engage all your impacted teams.

With a large organization moving to transform throughout (and I mean up and down the food chain) is like teaching an elephant to dance. A roadmap of the agile program is needed. Plan to introduce changes carefully.

#3 To transform a team to move to scrum start with clear expectations on where they will be needed.

Without participation and a positive response from the team the scrum effort will not succeed. Stop. Confirm they are with you. Before you move into the next phase of transformation.

#4 Introduce Changes Gradually

When you set the roadmap identify key candidates for your pilot project.

You want to pick a winner, one that the business definitely wants to see. Introduce changes very slowly. Moving from one pilot to another too rapidly is a bad idea.

If your key teams aren’t vocal about this project you probably don’t want to use this as your poster child.

#5 Train Before You Jump In

I have seen organizations attempt to scale a transformation without an agile coach. The process is deceptively simple. Yet there is more to it as I learn from each agile transformation.

Bringing it all together - Let the agile process evolve through your transformation. Be cautious about using methodology and jargon as silver bullets to solve your organization's problems. When used well you will see teams working well and delivering the results you were looking for.

Welcome to my Linkedin Newsletter – Transforming Organizations. You’re there leading a transformation and it is getting crazier for you emotionally and intellectually. You are working with and influencing several teams. What can you do to enable them?

We now have a community of 5600 plus subscribers interested in transformations - I am learning from you and hope your transformation journey is going well. #change #customers

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