A View from the Peloton #4: Agility

The Tour de Cure Australia #signaturetour is a marvel of organisation. Riders, vehicles, destinations, timetable, school visits, rest stops, meals, processes and contingencies all needing to be accounted for, but when you're talking about 150 riders out on open roads for 8 days, it is impossible to account for every contingency. It's also a dangerous affair and on that front, the margin for error is pretty small. The tour brings together people from all over the country for this ride requiring the rapid formation of cohesive teams, further amplified by the decision in this year's tour to change up the peloton line ups each day (to promote development of upcoming ride leaders and to integrate the tour community more).

I noticed, in this, a great parallel between this situation and the teams I've helped shift to more agile ways of working. To remove confusion, I'm referring here to "little a" agile, being a continuous improvement approach that allows teams to form quickly, respond to changes, and deliver value quickly?(as opposed to "Capital A" Agile being a project management methodology which also does those things accompanied by defined roles, rhythms and ceremonies).

I am going to borrow some terms I learned from Christian Boucousis CSP at Afterburner , who shares the #FlawlessExecution approach that fighter pilots use to ensure 98% success. It is one of the simplest models of this mindset I've found that really made the pennies drop for me - and observing TDC in action on tour, it was these lessons I found myself reflecting upon.

1. High Definition Destination - Many people mistake agile as meaning "not having a plan and making it up as you go along." Clarity of the goal and meaning of success is absolutely key. Having a strong planning stage, knowing where we were going and the roadmap to get there. This extended well beyond "get to town A by 2pm" as we also had a very clear measures for fundraising and safety that lined up the whole community in the same direction.
2. Non-negotiables - Whilst the tour was officially run over 8 days, the preparation started a long time before. Everyone on tour does trains in the months leading up to day 0 to ensure everyone is not only physically prepared but completely aligned on a crystal clear frame of operating - ride etiquette, safety, rules and communication. This meant that, regardless of which peloton you were assigned into, you were on the same page and had a shared language. This removes so many barriers and makes players in teams incredibly fungible. This is where a defined methodology, like Scrum Agile, can really add value - but it doesn't have to all in on one branded model, it just needs to be a consistent approach for your organisation.
3. Briefing - The practice of bookending each cycle of work with clear communication is so critical to effective execution, learning mindset and alignment. Briefing ensures task clarity, identifying the most important task to be done and who is responsible for doing it. Particularly when you are forming and reforming teams regularly this practice removes assumption, therefore reducing risk and error. Keep it short (brief even?), to the point (don't update status, just what's ahead) and make sure it is two way so that everyone is clear that everyone is clear.
4. Debrief -?I often hear "agile is about failing fast, but our function can't afford to fail." Like I mentioned earlier, riding bikes can be dangerous and failing often ends with broken bones (or worse)… and did I mention Christian Boucousis CSP is a fighter pilot? And it's these high stakes situations where we should be particularly taking steps to improve every execution. So I prefer to use the language "learn fast" to clear up the confusion. TDC ride leads were disciplined in holding debriefs every single time we stopped - so 3-4 times per day. Again it was short and sharp and everyone shared (nameless and rankless in Afterburner language) what worked and didn't ensuring we didn't miss anything. If there was something to improve, we'd catch it and improve on it. If something was working well, we'd celebrate and amplify it. Retrospectives are becoming commonplace in the workplace these days but the frequency and immediacy of the debrief really sets it apart as a learning amplifier.

Thinking and working in cycles can be a different mindset. When things are moving constantly, clarity at all times is key; and when you want to continuously improve performance and/or mitigate risk, looking for every learning opportunity is how you will achieve it. These 4 practices were all in play throughout this year's signature tour, enabling the daily formation of new peloton line-ups and the safe and successful navigation of 150 riders over 1000km through heatwaves, road conditions, traffic and fatigue.

I'd love to hear what works in your organisation and what you've learned from your own agile journey?