The Agile Director

Paving the Path to Modern Life

2024-12-12T00:00:00+08:00

Here’s the thing: What does the Bristol Turnpike Trust in 1816 have to do with US property prices today?

More than you might think. In this episode of Here’s the Thing, we explore how the innovative road designs from Scottish engineer, John Loudon McAdam — sparked a wave of changes that transformed everything from trade, urban spawl, just-in-time manufacturing, to the very way we live.

Join me in Part 2 of my series on The Unintended Consequences of Small Ideas That Change the World. From cobbled streets to sprawling suburbs, McAdam’s innovation paved more than just physical paths — they paved the way for the modern world.

🔍 Here’s the Thing explores the intricate web of cause and effect, revealing how legacies of centuries past influence today’s business strategies and challenges.

#History #Innovation #CauseAndEffect #UnintendedConsequences #Roads #UrbanDesign #ModernBusiness #UrbanDevelopment #HeresTheThing

Paving the Path to Modern Life was originally published by Evan Leybourn at The Agile Director on December 12, 2024.

The Rise and Fall of Buzzwords

2024-11-20T00:00:00+08:00

Here’s The Thing. Buzzwords are powerful ideas made hollow by overuse.

Buzzwords like “synergy,” “disruption,” and “new normal” once captured groundbreaking ideas, but overuse has turned them into corporate clichés. Why do we keep using them, and what happens when they lose their meaning? Together, we explore how buzzwords are born, rise to popularity, before ultimately falling to ridicule and insignificance.

Discover the hidden dangers of buzzwords, the cycle of their rise and fall, and what we can do to communicate more effectively. It’s time to ditch the jargon and get back to saying what we really mean.

The Rise and Fall of Buzzwords was originally published by Evan Leybourn at The Agile Director on November 20, 2024.

Evan's Theory of Agile Constraints

2024-09-09T00:00:00+08:00

Here’s The Thing. Your organization can only be as agile as its least agile function. And that’s not technology anymore.

In this video, we dive into “Evan’s Theory of Agile Constraints” and explore how the real bottlenecks to agility now lie outside of software development. In other words, it doesn’t matter if you can deploy in seconds if it takes months to get a hiring ticket or budget change approved.

Spoiler alert: there’s always a constraint, but the good news is—you can fix it!

Evan's Theory of Agile Constraints was originally published by Evan Leybourn at The Agile Director on September 09, 2024.

You Can't Break Down Silos

2024-08-09T00:00:00+08:00

There is a common refrain said by those responsible for organisational change. “We need to break down silos”. That is a load of absolute Rubbish. You can’t break down silos.

Hot off the press, my next “Here’s the Thing” video. I wanted to tackle the common myth that you can “break down silos” to improve collaboration and efficiency. But the truth is that silos are a natural part of human behavior.

So, while it’s crucial to address the issues silos can create, simply trying to dismantle them is not the solution.

You Can't Break Down Silos was originally published by Evan Leybourn at The Agile Director on August 09, 2024.

From Arrogance to Authentic Leadership

2024-07-26T00:00:00+08:00

It takes Confidence, Skill, and Empathy - in alignment - to be a successful leader.

Let me share the start of my personal journey and the mistakes I made along the way. Where;

Confidence and Empathy without Skill is fraudulent.
Empathy and Skill without Confidence can be mistrusted.
Skill and Confidence without Empathy can come off as arrogance.

Wherever you are in your career, I hope you can avoid the mistakes I made.

From Arrogance to Authentic Leadership was originally published by Evan Leybourn at The Agile Director on July 26, 2024.

The Legacy of Distrust in Modern Workplaces

2024-07-10T00:00:00+08:00

Join me as we explore some of the historical roots of this mindset. Tracing back to the late 1800s and early 1900s when Scientific Management “revolutionized” workplace practices alongside the growing rise of unionism and the workers rights movement.

It is this cultural context that helped to establish a foundation of distrust between managers and workers—a sentiment that continues to influence modern business policies.

In understanding this, perhaps we will see modern businesses shift towards a more trusting and empowering approach to governance, respecting the competence and integrity of their workforce.

The Legacy of Distrust in Modern Workplaces was originally published by Evan Leybourn at The Agile Director on July 10, 2024.

Companies Exist to Serve Their Customers

2024-07-02T00:00:00+08:00

Using the Australian Government’s Royal Commission into Banking Misconduct as a case study, I explore how a focus on short-term profit caused significant harm to customers. The consequence of which caught up with the banks leading to major fines and executives losing their jobs.

Key Points:

Companies should prioritize customers over profit.
Profit is an indicator of success, not the purpose.
Ethical companies deserve our support.

#BusinessEthics #CustomerCentric #ProfitVsPurpose #BankingRoyalCommission #CorporateCulture

Companies Exist to Serve Their Customers was originally published by Evan Leybourn at The Agile Director on July 02, 2024.

Where There's A Pill, There's A Way

2024-04-09T00:00:00+08:00

Let’s take a history lesson together and dive into the monumental impact of a small pharmaceutical innovation known as “the pill”. Giving women control over their reproductive health was just the beginning. The pill has been a catalyst for women’s reproductive autonomy, significantly shaping the modern workforce and altering the course of history.

Where There's A Pill, There's A Way was originally published by Evan Leybourn at The Agile Director on April 09, 2024.

Nobody wants to work anymore.

2024-04-02T00:00:00+08:00

For the last 100 years (and more), people have been complaining about the work ethic of the next generation. And we have newspaper articles to prove it.

In today’s video, we dive into the age-old complaint. But is it really about work ethic, or is there more to the story? Inspired by Paul Fairie’s enlightening tweet thread, “A Brief History of Nobody Wants to Work Anymore,” we explore newspaper articles spanning the last 100 years to uncover the pattern behind this recurring lament.

Nobody wants to work anymore. was originally published by Evan Leybourn at The Agile Director on April 02, 2024.

Your Org Structure is 1000 Years Out of Date!

2024-03-26T00:00:00+08:00

Evan delves into the fascinating history behind the organizational structures of today’s corporations, revealing how they are inadvertently rooted in medieval practices. We explore the functional hierarchy prevalent in most organizations, where individuals report up a chain that prioritizes skills transfer—an approach strikingly similar to the apprentice system of the Middle Ages. This system, designed for a simpler time, now hampers modern companies by sub-optimizing for collaboration and the flow of value in an era that demands cross-functional teamwork and agility.

Your Org Structure is 1000 Years Out of Date! was originally published by Evan Leybourn at The Agile Director on March 26, 2024.

on Inspiration over Imposition

2019-12-07T00:00:00+08:00

If you read my last article, you will see that I believe that both top-down and bottom-up change is a fundamentally flawed metaphor. Organisation change only occurs through an infusion of new ideas, new cultures, and new structures brought about by active change agents in every part of the organisation. It requires leaders with an agile mindset and a desire to see change, it requires do’ers to be willing and able to push beyond their job description; it requires enabling functions to see their role in the bigger system; and it requires managers to collaborate with other divisions to help them become successful.

As should be evident by this point, organisational change is hard. There’s no single approach that works for every organisation. However, looking at transformation failure rates, we can confidently state that there are clear ways NOT to run a transformation. Most egregious, imposing a new set of values and practices via a transformation on an unwilling or unprepared workforce. This is at best ineffective and at worst unethical. Prima facie, by treating an organisational change as a series of imposed process and practice changes, leaders get a simpler and more “predictable” result. It doesn’t work.

Which brings us to the title of this article: Inspiration over Imposition.

Ideally, once a company has made a decision to begin a journey towards business agility, the leadership team must commit and maintain a transparency of purpose. This includes disclosing the intentions of agile teams, their final objectives, the processes they will take to reach those objectives, and any figures and measures relevant to the teams in question.

As a rollout of agile values and practices continues, management should invite participation from the workforce. There are many strategies that a management team can implement to win the hearts and minds of employees, many of which revolve around core principles of fostering understanding and conviction, reinforcing change through formal mechanisms, developing talent and skills, and modeling the new roles.

This tightly aligns with the changes discussed in the People Management Domain in the Domains of Business Agility. Delegation becomes the art of delegating outcomes, rather than actions, and always in service of the customer. Each employee is accountable for their actions and the impact on the customer. It is the role of management to set and communicate vision, goals, and measurements while supporting their teams wherever possible. It is not their role to tell the teams how to do their work or impose new systems of working on them.

In other words, when a leader delegates an outcome, they should step back and watch their teams step up.

As a short aside, inviting change is not a guarantee of organisation change; it is ultimately a personal choice of each employee. This means understanding what motivates people. A good model of motivation is Professor Steven Reiss’ 16 Basic Desires Theory. Based on initial studies involving more than 6,000 people, Professor Steven Reiss proposed that nearly all human motivation can be individually modeled along a spectrum of 16 basic desires. Leaders need to develop approaches that inspire them in a positive way and tailor invitations that best align to an individual team member’s motivation.

If management engages in these processes genuinely and openly, they will retain the trust and commitment of their workforce throughout the agile transformation. If not, they will alienate their employees and deepen the chasm between management and the workforce. We explore this concept in more detail in our, soon to be released, research paper on Business Agility in Unionised Workforces.

At the end of the day, we spend the majority of our waking life at work, thinking about work, checking work emails, and . . . you get the idea. We spend more time working than we do with our family. This isn’t a value judgement, merely a statement of fact. This means that our work should be engaging, valuable, and enriching. If it’s the majority of our life, it should also be the best part of our life. And working at a company that respects that fact by providing each of us with autonomy to work towards a clear and sincere purpose is a pretty good start.

-Evan Leybourn, 7th December, 2019

on Inspiration over Imposition was originally published by Evan Leybourn at The Agile Director on December 07, 2019.

on False Dichotomies

2019-10-27T00:00:00+08:00

During the last decade, I have enjoyed many arguments relating to the various pros and cons of top-down vs bottom-up. And honestly, it doesn’t matter what is going top-down or bottom-up; transformation, communication, strategy, etc. I posit that this is, in fact, a false dichotomy.

Let’s start with top-down for a moment.

The premise of top-down is that the will of business leadership exerts an undeniable influence on those below; that the organisation will follow a change if the leadership buys into it. In this scenario, those who are trying to influence an organisation to change want to use its leaders as a catalyst for the rest of the organisation. In many ways, this is a seductively simple approach. Change ten people and you change everyone. Of course, if you fail to change the top leader (or the top leader quits) the whole house of cards crumbles.

Ask yourself: is this true change? What happens when the leaders resign? Do they provide effective support as the rest of the organisation transforms? Are they willing to invest the time it takes for the change to become self-sustaining?

Let’s look at the alternative for a moment; bottom-up.

The premise of bottom-up is that a critical mass, or groundswell, of change is more democratic and likely to be sustainable; the organisation will follow a change if the teams take it upon themselves to instigate it. In this scenario, those who are trying to influence an organisation to change want to use its teams as a catalyst to change processes, systems, measurements, and structure. While harder to execute, this approach does put the individual’s decision rights at the heart of the change - a key principle to business agility. But it relies on a viral effect to be successful. That other teams will see the change and adopt it over their existing practices, processes, and values.

Again, ask yourself… Is it true change? Can the teams have an impact on business strategy or governance processes? Do the teams have enough information to make those decisions? Is there a glass ceiling to the change? Are the organisation’s measures and KPIs supportive of such a change (or are people willing to risk their bonuses on the inevitable short-term productivity loss)? Can management override teams autonomy and demand things return to the status quo?

So why is this a false dichotomy?

Very simply, because it’s the wrong metaphor entirely. I want you to imagine a cup of tea. You don’t add tea leaves to the top or bottom of a glass and expect to make tea. Tea infuses. Tea saturates. Tea brews. With only a small amount of heat, a small amount of motion, and a small amount of time, the tea leaves spread and change every drop of water into tea.

The same is true of organisational transformation. Those small pockets of influence need to be everywhere; stirring things up, moving about, and influencing without imposing. Someone in HR, a team in technology, maybe the CFO - change agents across the organisation, loosely coupled in action but tightly aligned in purpose.

So stop arguing that change should be top-down or bottom-up. Change everything.

on False Dichotomies was originally published by Evan Leybourn at The Agile Director on October 27, 2019.

on Principles over Policies

2019-06-09T00:00:00+08:00

Last week, Brittany* asked if she could stay in Vienna for a few extra days after the Business Agility Conference. My first reaction was “of course, you don’t even need to ask”. After all, she has the leave available (we don’t track vacation days) and it has negligible impact on flight costs whether she flies back on Wednesday or Sunday. My second reaction was “why does she feel that she needs to ask?”. So, I called her…

What I hadn’t truly understood was the cognitive implications of moving from a large company with strict processes to a small company with personal autonomy (and accountability). It is natural to look for the boundaries that define what you are allowed to do. And in most companies, those boundaries are defined as processes.

Brittany: While this is Evan’s blog, given the topic, I thought it right to share my perspective as well. Working for the Business Agility Institute has required me to shift my mindset in more ways than one. While these changes are welcome and have brought a greater sense of ownership and joy to work, I find myself reverting to an old way of thinking more than I’d like to admit! In this example, I was recalling previous “Travel Policy” agreements my friends and I had encountered at our first few jobs out of college, where we were mostly entry-level employees. I would imagine those that we encountered were fairly standard, requiring a form with a description of the trip and signatures from my direct supervisor, their supervisor, and our company’s accountant or Human Resources director (or some similar combination). Adding on a “fun” travel day to the end of a business trip wasn’t forbidden, but would require the same level of approval.

It was with that mindset that I approached Evan to ask about adding an extra day or two onto my upcoming trip to Vienna, Austria. I wanted to be clear that I understood the purpose of my travel was for work, and that I just wanted to take advantage of the hours-long flight I would be on anyways and do a little travel afterwards. I also wanted to be clear that any extra expense (if the flights were significantly more expensive, for example) would come out of my own pocket–I wasn’t expecting BAI to pay for me beyond what is necessary for my work in Vienna.

Evan: So, why has this approach and mindset become the norm? Imagine that you’re an executive in a large company. You have a thousand people working for you. You don’t know them all. You can’t know them all. But you are responsible for their actions and you have KPIs to achieve. The easiest thing for you to do is to create Process and Policy – with a capital P. With that in place, you can stand behind someone in the supermarket and not know they work for you. But as long as the follow the Process, you know what they are doing and how they are doing it.

But, just because it’s the easiest thing for you to do, doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. First of all, it undermines the ability for an organization to leverage the intelligence of the people who work for them. Second, it undermines the ability for those people to be creative and to be better.

Brittany: I’m young, so I haven’t been named an executive in my somewhat short professional career (yet!). I can only speak to the effect of processes from the employee side–and they can often feel like an organization has very little trust in its employees. I often felt with previous travel policies specifically that I had already made a mistake–why else would a policy require multiple levels of clearance for a short business trip? Had I not proven trustworthy or capable of separating business travel from personal travel? Did I need to work harder or do more to reach a level of trust to where I could book a flight or rent a car on my own, and simply submit the receipt to prove it?

When Evan called me to discuss my question, we decided to document the set of principles that BAI operates under–rather than a set of policies. We’re sharing them with you below.

Principle #1: Act in BAI’s best interest**

Evan: I want you to imagine that you’ve just joined a company like BAI. “Can I fly business class to Europe?”, “Can I take a couple of days off, do some sightseeing, and fly back later?”. You shouldn’t need to ask those questions. If you understand the principles, and use your common sense, then you can answer those question yourself***. Your previous employer might have a policy that says; you must return on the earliest possible flight. Why? That policy is heavy-handed and misses the point. Worse, is that same company also has a policy that says; we promote work-life balance.

You aren’t stupid. You notice those kind of contradictions. It’s why you left your previous company.

Is taking a few days off in BAI’s best interest? Absolutely yes. I need you fresh and excited and energized. I need you to come to work with an open heart, ready to face whatever comes next.

You’ve been hired because you have the right skills, culture, and attitude to create something of value. You already know more than your boss (that’s why they hired you in the first place). You’re empowered in your job and can make decisions that affect everything from customer satisfaction, product quality, to the companies P&L. So, why should you need to ask permission to spend $100 if it’s already in the company’s best interest.

Brittany: This principle helped me to have a frame of reference for decision-making. I have been extremely fortunate to travel a bit for both work and fun, and it’s proved deeply enriching to my life, outlook, and perspective. I remember the day I got my passport like it was yesterday! Getting the chance to work for an organization with an international scope is simply a dream come true. But, I can’t experience the breadth of cultures and countries I am priveleged to work with from a computer screen–any time I can expand my world will only benefit my work.

Principle #2: Look after your family and health (work-life integration)

Evan: A corollary to acting in the company’s best interest is to look after yourself. Do not sabotage your own well-being for the organisations. That is not sustainable in the long term, no matter how urgent something seems today. If you need time off, take it. While there are a lot of discussions around the pros and cons of unlimited leave, it is our responsibility as employers to create an environment where you are able, and comfortable, to take the time off that you need. You need the time to recharge and come back better and stronger.

Brittany: Most companies give lip service to this, and I have been priveleged to work for organizations that also “walked the walk.” However, this is the kind of principle that’s helpful to see and remind myself of often. We live in a world where people are overworked and have little in the way of real “integration” in their lives. It’s something we can all strive for.

Principle #3: Governance is based on audit not approval (ask for forgiveness, not permission)

Evan: Governance may not be a sexy word but it’s vital. Very simplistically there are two forms of governance; audit and approval. Approval-based governance says; “stop here, until I tell you to proceed.” That’s not how I want to run a business. I hired you for a reason – why should I stop you from doing your job? Another company may be afraid; “what if they make a mistake?” To which I respond, “is the total cost of delay greater than one mistake?” The answer is usually no.

So, make that decision. Do what you think is right. And do it now. But, I’m also not stupid – I will check. If you spent $5,000 on an airfare, I’m going to come and ask you about it. If you make a mistake, I’m going to ask what you learned. If you keep making mistakes, that’s a different issue. As we grow, we may hire someone less than honest – we will discover and rectify that very quickly. In the meantime, nothing in the organisation is going to slow you down. I would rather lose $5k to a mistake than $50k in lost opportunities.

This is not the same as coming for advice. If you need my help, I will always be available****.

Brittany: This principle, translated into the dialect of a true millenial, is: “I hired you because I’m pretty sure you’re not an idiot.” I work hard and do my best, and I’m guessing that’s part of the reason BAI took a chance on me (I also have great jokes and make really good cookies, though the latter is hard to prove while working remotely). Knowing that my supervisor/boss trusts me to do my job is empowering and I don’t waste time waiting for permission.

Principle #4: Delight our members, volunteers, and community

Evan: Technically, this is Principle #1, but for narrative flow, I’ve left it to last. It’s also the most obvious. You are empowered to make decisions, yet I need you to make the right decisions. Will it delight the customer? That’s a pretty good place to start.

Brittany: This one is my favorite principle. At the core of BAI is people and wanting to help people thrive at work. It’s the guiding principle of BAI and I’m honored to be part of it.

Back to BAI. We are small, and our very nature means we’ll never grow too large, but I am going to hold off writing formal policies for as long as possible.

* Our overworked and underpaid sole employee
** With apologies to Netflix
*** If you really want to know it’s; No – we don’t have that kind of money, and Yes – at worst it’s a couple of hundred dollars difference
**** Taking timezones into consideration of course

– Evan
June 9, 2019

on Principles over Policies was originally published by Evan Leybourn at The Agile Director on June 09, 2019.

on Timezones

2019-05-04T00:00:00+08:00

As inevitable–and as welcome–as tax season, Daylight Savings Time emerged upon us all last month. If that weren’t enough, we had the pleasure of two time-shifts. Australia moved back and Europe and America moved forward. Thus, those of us living south of the equator effectively lose, not 1, but 2 hours with the rest of the world. And, like trying to invite friends for dinner, no one can agree on a common date.

Trying to figure out what time it is before you call someone is like trying to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit while your house is burning.

The Business Agility Institute is a global organisation. We have members in 34 countries around the world and active volunteers in almost as many countries. Coordinating that many timezones is as complex as figuring out what’s happening in Primer.*

But there is a very real consequence of this. Since March, email conversations now take weeks. If someone from America emails me during their day, I will receive that at 6am in Australia. If I’m lucky, I can respond immediately; however, my life does not revolve around the Institute. Between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. is time I spend with my daughter . . . waking her up, getting her ready for school, find her hiding in her bed, making her lunch, and generally being a father. By 9:00 a.m. when I am back home, the United States East coast has already left for the day, and there’s barely an hour left on the West coast. So, by the time they see my response 24 hours have already passed.

My only workaround is to default to video conversations. Generally, I would prefer to avoid meetings, but the ability to have a conversation with somebody, create something, and make a decision at that moment cannot be overstated.

Alas, there’s no great insight in this article . . . just simply sharing some of the challenges we face running the Institute.

* My only time-machine joke in this article. I’m so proud.

– Evan, 3 May, 2019

on Timezones was originally published by Evan Leybourn at The Agile Director on May 04, 2019.

on Delegation

2019-03-20T00:00:00+08:00

There is a particular freedom that is felt when a burden, no matter how gladly accepted, is lifted. A sense that, once again, time is yours to command rather than holding you prisoner to your own choices. On Thursday we closed the Business Agility Conference in New York City. This particular burden is one of the greatest creations in my life (a statement that I will regret making once my daughter is old enough to read this). Though tinged with exhaustion, seeing this amazing community come together to learn, share ideas, and enjoy time with each other leaves me satisfied in a job well done. In the immortal words of the greatest philosopher of our times: “That’ll do pig, that’ll do!”

I am amazed at how close we are to a perfect event. After the 2017 event, I felt that we tried to do too much. After 2018, I felt the timing was off and people left exhausted and rushed. After this event, I have no such concerns. Despite the fact that, much like my wife*, who immediately points out all the flaws in her cooking at a dinner party after everyone tells her how much they enjoyed dinner, I am my own worse critic. Sure, there are tweaks to be made (I’m thinking a professional emcee next year if we can afford it), but it was pretty much the experience I wanted everyone to have.

I also learned a lot about my own mental limitations. I am bad at delegation. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve long since learned how to delegate complete outcomes and let people own them. I’m specifically talking about delegating small or simple tasks.

Not because I want to retain control (I don’t). Not because I believe I can do it better (I can’t). And, not even because my ego gets a boost when I’m the hero of the day (although I would probably be the last to know). Channeling my inner Pooh-Bear, I don’t want to be a bother. And what’s worse is that I’m not. These are people who want to be involved and, more importantly, want to feel involved. I am just transferring my own insecurities onto them. Ironically (in the Alanis Morissette** definition), I like volunteering to do this kind of task for other people. It can be fun to do something simple (e.g. support the registration desk or print table numbers) and know you’re helping someone else without needing to commit everything you have to it.

It’s never too late. Luckily, this is one of those situations where identifying the problem is half the solution. I know people want to be an active part of the community and I need to let them. So, if you asked to help, please know that I probably did need it. And, at the next event, I will take you up on it. Make the offer at your own risk.

* I do share the cooking equally with my wife. The difference is that I’m arrogant enough to think I’m a pretty good cook, despite her creations being measurably better.
** Not actually Irony

on Delegation was originally published by Evan Leybourn at The Agile Director on March 20, 2019.

on Travel

2019-03-08T00:00:00+08:00

Like a first-year university student before a big assignment, the rapidly approaching Business Agility Conference means many late nights and early mornings (sadly, some days at the same time). I’m certain my natural cynicism (not unlike a second-year student) will catch-up to me shortly, but today I remain excited and enthusiastic. At the risk of sounding hippy, I am in a place where I draw my energy from my work rather than let my work drain my energy.

My biggest work focus right now is redeveloping the Business Agility Library. When we started the library, I had a vision of hundreds of case studies and references to help organisations on their journey (we’ve carefully avoided any “body of knowledge” association as most peoples reaction at the start was “not another bloody Bok”). Wikipedia had been our guiding metaphor, so it was fairly logical for us to adopt Mediawiki, the platform behind Wikipedia. However, as is fairly obvious to anyone who’s been online in the last 20 years, Wikipedia isn’t the most user-friendly of interfaces. I may donate every year, but even I think that it looks like a typewriter fell in love with a dictionary.

It comes as no surprise that over the last year, we’ve had a number of “polite” comments about how we might improve the Library. The consensus is that if it were easier to navigate, it will reach more people and serve our mission better.

And so, I have turned to my past. A long time ago I was a web developer. I had thought (hoped) that I had left those days far behind. But over the last few days, those skills have been very helpful. In the course of a week, I have totally re-engineered the Library. Building on the new Domains of Business Agility, I developed a new Library interface on our main website. It uses all of the styles and structures of the website with the contents and depth of the wiki. This had also involved copying the content from the wiki to the website. Hundreds of articles and case studies; hence the late nights. Sadly, this is not something that I can easily outsource.

Let me explain why–there are two kinds of outsourcing: tasks and outcomes.

I can quickly outsource a task, as long as I can define it to be easily understood and replicated. A real example, we wanted to create printed versions of the 15 best case studies in our Library to give away at the conference. I selected the case studies, created a mockup in Word, and then engaged someone from Fiver to turn the vision into a reality for the rest.

Outsourcing outcomes is very different. The benefits are exponentially higher, but so is the investment of time and effort. The challenge with the Library is that, when moving each article, case study, or video to the other site, we have the opportunity to make small improvements to each one. This can only be delegated to an expert; someone with the time and expertise to truly” own” the library. And today, I don’t have that person. Soon, but not today.

And so, it is two o’clock in the morning and I am painstakingly moving content between systems.

-Evan, 21 Feb 2019

Evan’s status report

Feeling: Inspired to create
Where in the world: On my way to Denver
One big thing: Data migration (a fancy way of saying copy and paste)

on Travel was originally published by Evan Leybourn at The Agile Director on March 08, 2019.

on Existence

2019-02-27T00:00:00+08:00

This journal owes it’s existence to a convergence[1] of unrelated events. A passing conversation at 6:30am with America, a complaint during lunch in Australia, and the unsettling thought that, despite already working 13 hours a day, I can do just one more thing. So to my American friend who wanted to know more about how I run the Insitute and to my Australian friend[2] who felt that the Institute had lost my “voice”, all I can say is; “be careful what you wish for”.

So I have decided to keep a public journal of everything that’s going on; my frustrations and excitement, what I’m learning, what I’m doing, and what I should be doing. Of no surprise to anyone with a small child, those two are rarely the same thing!

It will be light-hearted, sarcastic, and sometimes a little flippant. But it will be my story and told from the heart. Expect to hear about the joys of raising a 6-year-old daughter (who has just entered her Goth phase about 10 years early) whilst starting an international community and research organisation[3]. For those who have known me for a while, you might remember that I kept a journal of my 9-month experience of living in Singapore with my daughter while my wife was working in Australia. Think of this as part 2.

Evan’s status report

Feeling: Tired[4] and frustrated[5]
Where in the world: Melbourne, Australia[6]
One big thing: Start a journal

I try[7] and do one big thing each day. Today, it was to start writing this journal. That’s a little too meta, even for me, so let me share the small things I’ve been doing. My biggest challenge is with Vienna. Trying to put on a conference there is almost harder than listening to Viennese opera[8]. And, while I’m mixing my metaphors, like any American trying to play cricket, we dropped the ball. A severe oversight means that, not only are we late in putting the program together, but we also have to scramble to change venue. Luckily Mike Leber has been an absolute champ in helping to fix this. The conference may move a week later but I am eternally optimistic that it will be a great event.

It is a sad day when my biggest success was to get to Inbox Zero for the first time this week. It might be a small thing, but that sense of accomplishment really gets the dopamine going. I mean, if I’m going to spend hours each day doing repetitive tasks, I may as well hack it to get some reward. It’s either that or alcohol and I’m one of those rare Australians who can’t stand the taste of beer.

This little satisfaction is overwhelmed by the intense frustration at spending over an hour on the phone to my bank. And that’s not including the time they hung up on me. I’m trying to find out where my last two months salary have been sent because the bank decided to “adjust” them out of my bank account. But, that is a story for another day. Cynically, I can’t help but think that the timing at which they “accidentally” hung up on me looks like the exact point someone might “accidentally” hang up or transfer a call in order to keep their KPIs on target.

Tonight, however, I have the house to myself as Stormy and her Mother are catching a plane to Canberra for the weekend. So that means I can take a couple of hours to myself, catch up on Discovery, and then work until 1 a.m. because there’s no one here to stop me.

-Evan, 21 Feb 2019

I spent more time than reasonable picking this word. Confluence, serendipity, coincidence – this is a concept that just can’t be explained in less than 3 syllables.
It would have been much more convenient had these been the same people. I could have got 30 minutes back in my day.
And expect s’s and u’s in words – we might be an American organisation (see what I did there), but I’m still Australian.
Why do I do these things at 11pm?
Who doesn’t spend the rest of the day frustrated after speaking with their bank?
At home, in my office, wearing my Occupy Mars jumper (thank you SpaceX) because Melbourne has completely random weather.
Yoda was wrong.
That’s a joke – I actually like Opera. I have terrible taste in music.

on Existence was originally published by Evan Leybourn at The Agile Director on February 27, 2019.

My June Reading List

2018-06-12T00:00:00+08:00

Salvation: The Bungsu Story: How Lean and Kanban saved a small hospital in Indonesia. Twice.

by Marcus Hammarberg

I first heard about the Bungsu story from Marcus several years ago. A hospital in literal ruins, unpaid and overworked staff, and a culture of blame. And yet, from that beginning, a combination of hope, enthusiasm, hard work and (yes) Lean, Agile & Business Agility coming together to create something amazing. It was a compelling story.

And now, three years later, I have the full story in my hands. And it’s incredible. Marcus transports you into Bungsu hospital in West Java, Indonesia, with such clarity. From the horror of walking into a flooded hospital (which was already losing money and suffering from poor morale), to catalysing staff and community alike in the clean-up efforts, to navigating a foreign culture - where saving-face and assigning blame is the default behaviour, to instilling a new leadership culture, to the palpable feeling of success at the end. His story of overcoming insurmountable odds and changing lives is not one you can put down.

And the book is more than just a true story. It provides practical examples of Business Agility - applying Lean and Agile practices in both time-critical emergency situations and longer-term strategic planning. I strongly recommended this book for anyone wanted to understand why and how to apply business agility. Especially those operating in mission-critical situations.

The Age of Agile: How Smart Companies Are Transforming the Way Work Gets Done

by Steve Denning

Steve’s latest book is a fantastic read. It takes a simple premise - that we have entered an age of agility - and provides a clear, and seductive, arguement as to why that is true. Every position is backed up by examples from the authors experience and recent case studies from the industry.

On top of this, Steve’s 3 laws are compelling an, I would say, unarguable.

The Law of the Small Team
The Law of the Customer
The Law of the Network

I first heard about these in Steve’s talk at the Business Agility Conference in 2017, but here they are presented in greater depth. This is certainly a must read for anyone wanting to become a business agilist.

My June Reading List was originally published by Evan Leybourn at The Agile Director on June 12, 2018.

So Much To Do - The Characteristics of Effective People

2018-05-16T00:00:00+08:00

I think a lot about motivation these days. What makes someone like me motivate themselves to occupy every waking hour with productive creativity. In my case, whether it’s finding innovative ways to raise my daughter, running the Business Agility Institute, organising the next business agility conference or writing my #noprojects book, I must be creating something.

As I’ve mentioned in earlier articles, I have a hugely supportive family. My wife carries a lot of the mental load (although over the last year, we’ve learnt how to share that more equally) and that support provides a space that enables me to be creative and productive. But it’s the ability to maximise that space that I want to talk about today. I think that there are three characteristics of highly productive and creative people that make this possible. Passion, Time Management and Delegation.

On Passion:

People often say, “do what you love”! But I think that’s the wrong attitude. Doing what you love is no guarantee of a job, financial security or even a sense of purpose. Rather I turn it around. “Love what you do”! That’s more important. Find the passion in your job and in your life. Find those little tweaks that make it amazing. For me that’s surrounding myself with amazing people. You can see that in the hundreds of fantastic people who are working to make the Business Agility Institute a success. It’s also turning conversations and opportunities towards what you love – in my case business agility. A recent example – when I was working with IBM, I was brought into a conversation with the CIO of one of our clients to talk about agile development. I ended up having an entire conversation about supply chain re-engineering (I have strange interests).

Loving what you do means turning a job into a passion. It means remaining true to the business outcomes that the organisation expects of you, but changing the “how” and “what” to those activities that can keep you motivated.

On Time Management:

Being able to manage your time is critical. I spent most of last year raising my daughter in Singapore while my wife worked in Australia. During those months, I had 4 hours to myself each day. 2 hours before my daughter woke up and 2 hours after she went to bed. That’s it. I needed to make sure I used that time effectively. I was laser focused so I did what I needed to do. Sometimes that’s writing. Sometimes that’s reviewing conference papers. And sometimes that’s relaxing - to take the time off and recharge. I try to only do those activities which are important at that point in time. However, I can’t only focus on the interesting and important activities. I still need to take care of the day-to-day hygiene activities. Going through my email (inbox zero FTW), connecting & networking with people, preparing for the day ahead with my daughter. Using a combination of repeating to-do list and a habit tracker, these activities are carefully timed and scheduled so they get done each day (well, most days to be honest). I even have a folder of bookmarks called “New Day” that is one of the first things I open each morning. I go through, do what needs to be done, and close them one-by-one until tomorrow.

On Delegation:

Finally, delegation. Where possible, I delegate anything I don’t want to do. Housework (cleaning & cooking), basic research & scheduling (thank you FancyHands), even complex visual work & prototyping (thank you fiverr). My time (and your time) is valuable. If someone else can do a decent job, let them. It might not be as good as you can do, but is it acceptable? And the more you delegate, the better you get at delegating (it’s a skill that needs to be learned) and the better they get at meeting your expectations.

I hope this makes sense. I believe that there is so much we can accomplish in this life if we just make it happen.

So Much To Do - The Characteristics of Effective People was originally published by Evan Leybourn at The Agile Director on May 16, 2018.

State of Business Agility

2018-04-06T00:00:00+08:00

In the modern economy, companies do not have the luxury of stability. The impact of change, both technological and cultural, is greater and faster than ever before. In this environment, it is only those companies that are agile, innovative and dynamic who thrive.

This interactive presentation will show you who these companies are, how they operate and (more importantly) how you can become one.

Sally Elatta and Evan Leybourn will present key findings from the State of Business Agility report as well as transformational case studies from the industry and our experience. Throughout all this, we’ll make it relevant and actionable for you through a series of hands-on activities designed to show you where to focus your organisational efforts.

OUTLINE

In this workshop, we will explore the domains of Business Agility for an enterprise, with a mix of education and interactive workshops. The survey for the State of Business Agility Report will be released in late February with interim findings published in mid-March and the final report published in April. This presentation will share the findings of this report, though it should be noted that we do not currently know what it will say.

The structure will be as follows:

Introduction – Providing context on business agility, Sally and Evan
Workshop – Theory of Agile Constraints. In this short exercise, participants will create a simple model the full-lifecycle of one key business process within their organisation (including upstream and downstream steps) and use the Theory of Constraints to identify the largest current constraining factor to agility.
State of Business Agility – Sally and Evan will present the key findings from the State of Business Agility report – focusing on any surprises or interesting elements.
Models of Business Agility – Sally and Evan will discuss key elements of business agility transformations. Those aspects, such as Structural Agility, which are often overlooked in traditional transformations. These will then be aligned to the observations from the Theory of Agile Constraints workshop from earlier.
Workshop – Business Agility Self-assessment. In this short exercise, participants will complete the State of Business Agility survey and compare their organisational responses to both the industry and similar companies (by industry and organisation size).
Case Studies – Sally and Evan will share 2-3 case studies from across the industry. They will share what has worked and, more importantly, what hasn’t in organisations across the world. Included case studies are; New Zealand Post Group , Vistaprint and Haier.
Q & A

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Participants at Sally and Evan’s session will come away with a deep understand of business agility; both its context, definition and execution in companies around the globe. Participants will;

Understand what Business Agility really means and why it is an organisational imperative now
Meet new friends and learn from others in the business agility community
Gain new insights from the State of Business Agility report
Be able to apply actionable takeaways for their transformations
Evangelise and champion business agility within their organisation
Engage community around the State of Business Agility

State of Business Agility was originally published by Evan Leybourn at The Agile Director on April 06, 2018.