Maybe Agile isn’t the answer for everything

I keep in mind considering once I first began utilizing Agile over fifteen years in the past that you just couldn’t use Agile for all the things in an organisation. Five years later once I learnt of Kanban I started to rethink about whether or not that was true. I might see that it might be utilized in a broader context exterior of software program improvement and even exterior of initiatives.

The thought that you just wouldn’t use Agile in a venture the place necessities have been outlined upfront was additionally an oddity to me – why wouldn’t you mitigate threat and get suggestions as you ship regardless of considering that you just acquired your necessities 100% proper? At one stage of my life I used to be a Business Analyst. I wrote the very best enterprise and system necessities. My paperwork, in my thoughts on the time, have been epic odes to the perfection of considering. I learnt in a short time that outlined necessities by no means altering was a farce. I used to be human and my thoughts had unintended errors and gaps. 

Some would dispute that Kanban is extra a Lean technique than an Agile one, nevertheless I’ve thought-about it one component of a wider suite a strategies, practices and methods. This suite was once often known as an “Agile umbrella” however it’s now known as “New Ways of Working”. It combines Lean considering, Lean Startup considering, Design considering, Agile considering, Software craftsmanship considering and rather more. 

With such a broad toolkit now on the disposal of organisations we must be fixing issues in all places. But we aren’t. We aren’t constant, nor predictable within the outcomes of our transformations. Our good designs and strategies are failing on implementation or their stickiness will not be robust sufficient to deal with a big c-suite change. Maybe we’re affected by the identical drawback that we had once we thought we might do necessities upfront – that we expect we all know all of the solutions when actually we’re doing it completely improper.

I had for some time thought that the potential resolution lay in experimentation – testing and studying the processes that work for a tradition. Part of me continues to be hooked up to this thought, particularly as I’ve seen it work most of the time. After all, complexity concept says that in a fancy system that ‘probe-sense-respond’ is the very best method. But what if complexity concept is improper too?

I like Agile. I like what it does to people and groups and the distinction it will probably make to them. It is only a lot more durable at scale to get it working. There are faculties of thought that the very best method is to descale your organisation. I’m not in opposition to this as a tactic, however to me it’s an excessively simplistic reply to a fancy drawback.

Yes there may be tonnes of literature about setting your self up for achievement on what it’s essential do when kicking off an Agile transformation, I in all probability have a weblog or three on this already, however recently I’ve been considering that in some organisations we shouldn’t be attempting to do Agile transformations. I do know, that is very heretical.

I’m not proposing that we hand over. I now have a unique speculation – repair the extra vital points within the organisation earlier than attempting to kick off an Agile transformation. What vital points you could ask? If you could have any of the next points I imagine you must attempt to repair the basis trigger of those earlier than attempting any type of transformation (Agile, New Ways of Working, or one thing else).

The ‘restructure each three months’ organisation

If your organisation restructures a minimum of each six months (and I do know of a quantity in Australia that restructure its individuals a minimum of 3 times a 12 months) then I don’t really feel like an Agile Transformation goes to achieve success on this surroundings. 

Agile requires steady groups to create productiveness. Every time you restructure you:

  1. Create uncertainty. This uncertainty dramatically reduces particular person productiveness.
  2. Force groups to undergo Tuckman’s mannequin, once more lowering productiveness.
  3. Force work to be re-distributed to groups, making a maintain on stream.
  4. Confuse stakeholders who work with groups on the place work is at and who to interact/work with, additionally dramatically impacting stream.

The science of impression on productiveness for factors 1 and a pair of are effectively understood, however I imagine there was little achieved to show the importance to productiveness of factors 3 and 4. 

I’d argue that you must take a look at and be taught to what extent your restructures are profitable in eradicating issues. If your organisation restructures greater than 3 times in a 12 months I don’t suppose there may be sufficient stability to have the ability to take a look at and be taught from. 

Also, all too generally organisations restructure to unravel one drawback and inadvertently create new issues, therefore creating the cycle of ache the place one other restructure is required. Any structural sample may have trade-offs – most organisations don’t spend the time to grasp the choices, trade-offs and mitigating steps for every trade-off. 

If you’re in one in all these organisations, earlier than implementing an Agile transformation you must:

  1. Stop restructuring greater than every year (twice ideally)
  2. Learn your selections and trade-offs and implement applicable mitigations
  3. Test and be taught utilizing actual information – how have you learnt your organisational productiveness and the way does your construction have an effect on it?
  4. Change handle the restructure higher to mitigate productiveness dangers (most organisations say they do that, in my expertise I’ve but to see one in all them do it effectively)
  5. Performance handle out your folks that aren’t performing. This means having a HR group that may truly cope with troublesome conversations and managers who’ve expertise to cope with system considering round efficiency (assuming Deming’s Law that 85% of points are the system and never the individual). Why did I add this one? Most organisations use re-structures as a method to take away poor performers (largely resulting from labor legal guidelines) relatively than doing the onerous yards to take away them by means of the formal HR course of. If organisations did correct methods and efficiency administration lots much less restructures can be required. You might additionally argue that higher recruitment processes would scale back poor efficiency points downstream. 

The ‘implement change with out change administration’ organisation

If you’re in an organisation that rolls out change poorly then attempting to roll out an Agile Transformation goes to be inconceivable with out good change help. Poor change administration consists of:

  1. Change plans which are by no means carried out
  2. Change plans that don’t goal the proper teams
  3. Non existent change plans
  4. Insufficient change plans (for instance an e-mail or two is completed however nothing to embed an actual functionality change)
  5. Lack of deal with behavioural worth variations. Immunity to alter talks about behaviours which are onerous to shift due to unconscious wants. This requires a particular person or a persona based mostly method to alter administration relatively than a complete collective method.
  6. Rolling out a change that has been ill-considered or not piloted

If you’re in one in all these organisations, earlier than implementing an Agile transformation you must:

  1. Look on the capabilities and course of by which you do change administration and get actual information from individuals (not managers) inside your organisation as to how profitable earlier change initiatives have been
  2. When you discover that they haven’t been as profitable as you could have beforehand thought, discover out why. Do some root trigger evaluation and repair these issues
  3. Check to make sure that your change administration processes can deal with an incremental method to supply

The ‘ready for the following CEO’ organisation

I haven’t seen this sample typically, nevertheless it tends to be in extraordinarily bureaucratic organisations or in authorities organisations which have a set date of management tenure. In any such organisation the CEO has had challenges of their management type. This consists of:

  1. They don’t create a protected house; failures usually are not tolerated
  2. They make outlandish guarantees to shareholders on what might be delivered and when, with out ever checking with the individuals who will do the work whether it is achievable. They typically do that beneath the guise of making a “robust imaginative and prescient” or “stretch targets”
  3. They don’t join with their organisation past their direct stories

The impression of that is an organisation stuffed with apathy and disconnectedness. People throughout the organisation don’t need to make investments their time within the imaginative and prescient or any modifications pushed prime down. Consequently they do the minimal they have to do to fly beneath the radar ensuing within the organisation staying in a holding sample while they look forward to the CEO to be exited.

If you’re in one in all these organisations, earlier than implementing an Agile transformation you must:

  1. Have robust conversations on the C-Suite layer and even the Board about how the CEO is performing and the way their behaviours impression the productiveness of the entire organisation, the way it units an instance for the leaders beneath them.
  2. Think about having an ‘Undercover boss’ mechanism to get actual suggestions on issues and insights of individuals deep within the organisation.

The ‘new shiny’ organisation

Are you in an organisation that has hassle focusing? ‘New shiny’ organisations are inclined to act like a cat chasing after a laser gentle – all the things else will get zoned out. The greatest points with any such organisation tends to be:

  1. That as soon as one thing is kicked off there may be little deal with supply or execution of the work
  2. Which ends in decrease advantages realisation, decrease worth to prospects and a supply system stuffed with waste
  3. And while the ‘shiny’ is perhaps Agile, one thing new will come alongside and you’ll find yourself having an implementation that not has any focus or intent to comply with by means of on
  4. Then there are the true issues of the organisation which are by no means actually prioritised as the brand new shiny retains everybody’s consideration.

If you’re in one in all these organisations, earlier than implementing an Agile transformation you must:

  1. Stop beginning and begin ending. Learn methods to create focus by means of to worth realisation earlier than kicking off one thing new. 
  2. Have a mechanism for with the ability to perceive what the core issues/impediments are in supply, ranked by waste and observe very often the steps being made to resolve them. In essence, deal with supply optimisation.

The ‘we don’t have time to be smarter’ organisation

Are you in an organisation that’s so busy that there isn’t a time to work smarter? People are at all times in conferences. They have conferences on prime of conferences. They have plenty of individuals doing the identical factor. Each space solves their very own issues, however the identical issues exist all all through the organisation. 

Fundamentally that is an organisation that has no slack (groups loaded 100%) and a set mindset. To be honest, there’ll naturally be people who within the organisation nonetheless have a development mindset, however the organisation isn’t culturally setup to encourage steady enchancment and to encourage studying.

If you’re in one in all these organisations, earlier than implementing an Agile transformation you must:

  1. Stop behaviours like slicing venture prices or time frames. I see this all too typically – executives suppose a venture prices an excessive amount of, slashes the funds or time and forces the workforce(s) to ship beneath this strain and suppose they’ve saved the corporate tens of millions. Every time I see the venture finally ends up costing the unique determine and time, however as a result of groups have been compelled to suppose that they had much less time they minimize corners, decreased high quality and launched technical debt. It is a false financial system. Work finally ends up being costing extra over time as a result of operational maintainability of the answer.
  2. Introduce slack time into the system – load groups as much as solely 80%. Slack permits the system of labor to deal with unplanned exceptions and offers individuals house to suppose critically in regards to the what, why and the way of their actions earlier than beginning them. It additionally provides individuals house to look extra broadly to different individuals and different organisations for options to issues.

The ‘we’ve tried it six instances earlier than’ organisation

Some organisations have already tried Agile many instances over and failed. They have this actually robust perception that ‘this time it is going to be completely different’ which can be true, however all too typically, little is completed to retrospect on why earlier makes an attempt have failed.

If you’re in one in all these organisations, earlier than implementing your subsequent Agile transformation you must:

  1. Do a root trigger evaluation on the place implementations have gone improper (it might have been one of many earlier forms of organisational patterns that has triggered this)
  2. Share with the C-Suite and the board these findings
  3. Get buy-in with this group on how this implementation goes to be completely different and the way it’ll deal with these root trigger points
  4. Test and be taught whether or not it does deal with the problems earlier than rolling something out.

The ‘we have now 5 consultancies in right here’ organisation

I’m not saying that consultants are the issue – simply that plenty of completely different guide teams who’re unaligned is a very large drawback. Consultancies, very similar to coaches, may help to offer you perspective that you just don’t ordinarily have, they’ll present experience and world information and assist drive a better focus in direction of worth. But if their views differ then you will be creating deep factions of energy within the organisation which are working in opposition to one another. Often in addition they don’t have visibility of what one another is doing. 

If you’re in one in all these organisations, earlier than implementing an Agile transformation you must:

  1. Think about consolidating/decreasing the variety of guide teams
  2. Create visibility about what what every group is specializing in, or be sure that the work is totally mutually unique
  3. Determine if there’s a lack of alignment between teams and maintain workshops between invested events (ie the people who find themselves working with the consultancies) to achieve alignment.

The ‘we have now managers (not leaders) in all places’ organisation

You might have picked up by means of a few of the options above that a number of key methods are being persistently utilised. Agile requires a unique kind of supervisor, a pacesetter who may help to alter the tradition of an organisation, who can suppose critically of ‘the way in which that we do it now’ versus the opportunity of the way forward for the organisation. A key enabler to Agile that you must think about previous to kicking off an Agile Transformation is a Leadership Transformation. A Leadership Transformation ought to: 

  • Focus on lean wastes and stream evaluation, methods considering, and root trigger evaluation capabilities throughout the organisation
  • Focus on the distinction between administration kinds (Taylorism, Theory X vs Y, Management 3.0) and what works within the organisation now versus what is required for the organisation going ahead (which does rely on a very clear imaginative and prescient for the organisation)
  • Educate managers on choices on methods to construction it’s individuals and what the impression that construction has on communication and stream
  • Educate managers on choices of governance and finance and what the impression that these choices have on stream, engagement, and values
  • Provide managers incentives to deal with new behaviours (although watch out as extrinsic motivation can backfire)

This management transformation creates the interior pull for an Agile transformation, however importantly places management on the journey sooner in order that they are often simpler in supporting an Agile transformation by means of the proper behaviours. 

A remaining word

Agile Transformations are tremendously onerous. Don’t make it more durable by setting them up for failure earlier than they’ve even began. 

Categories: Agile, Agile Elsewhere, Culture, Leadership, ManagementTags: Agile, change, change administration, Leadership, Management, restructure, safey, transformation


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