The Agile DirectorJekyll2023-11-29T06:41:50+08:00https://theagiledirector.com/Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.com/evan@theagiledirector.comhttps://theagiledirector.com/article/2019/12/07/on-inspiration-over-imposition2019-12-07T00:00:00+08:002019-12-07T00:00:00+08:00Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.comevan@theagiledirector.com<p>If you read my <a href="https://businessagility.institute/discover/on-false-dichotomies/">last article</a>, 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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Which brings us to the title of this article: Inspiration over Imposition.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>This tightly aligns with the changes discussed in the <a href="https://businessagility.institute/learn/people-management/">People Management</a> Domain in the <a href="https://businessagility.institute/learn/domains-of-business-agility/">Domains of Business Agility</a>. 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.</p>
<p>In other words, when a leader delegates an outcome, they should <em>step back</em> and watch their teams <em>step up</em>.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>-Evan Leybourn, 7th December, 2019</p>
<p><a href="https://theagiledirector.com/article/2019/12/07/on-inspiration-over-imposition/">on Inspiration over Imposition</a> was originally published by Evan Leybourn at <a href="https://theagiledirector.com">The Agile Director</a> on December 07, 2019.</p>https://theagiledirector.com/article/2019/10/27/on-false-dichotomies2019-10-27T00:00:00+08:002019-10-27T00:00:00+08:00Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.comevan@theagiledirector.com<p>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.</p>
<p>Let’s start with top-down for a moment.</p>
<p><img style="float:right; clear:both;" class="alignright wp-image-4122" src="https://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/on-False-Dichotomies-top-down.gif" alt="" width="300" height="262" />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.</p>
<p>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?</p>
<p>Let’s look at the alternative for a moment; bottom-up.</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" class="alignright wp-image-4120" src="https://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/on-False-Dichotomies-bottom-up.gif" alt="" width="300" height="262" />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.</p>
<p>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?</p>
<p>So why is this a false dichotomy?</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" class="alignright wp-image-4121" src="https://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/on-False-Dichotomies-infusion.gif" alt="" width="300" height="262" />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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>So stop arguing that change should be top-down or bottom-up. Change everything.</p>
<p><a href="https://theagiledirector.com/article/2019/10/27/on-false-dichotomies/">on False Dichotomies</a> was originally published by Evan Leybourn at <a href="https://theagiledirector.com">The Agile Director</a> on October 27, 2019.</p>https://theagiledirector.com/article/2019/06/09/on-principles-over-policies2019-06-09T00:00:00+08:002019-06-09T00:00:00+08:00Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.comevan@theagiledirector.com<p>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…</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><em>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.</em></p>
<p><em>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. </em></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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 <em>be </em>better.</p>
<p><em>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?</em></p>
<p><em>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.</em></p>
<h2>Principle #1: Act in BAI’s best interest**</h2>
<p>Evan: I want you to imagine that you’ve just joined a company like BAI. <em>“Can I fly business class to Europe?”</em>, <em>“Can I take a couple of days off, do some sightseeing, and fly back later?”</em>. 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.</p>
<p>You aren’t stupid. You notice those kind of contradictions. It’s why you left your previous company.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><em>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.</em></p>
<h2>Principle #2: Look after your family and health (work-life integration)</h2>
<p>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.</p>
<p><em>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.</em></p>
<h2>Principle #3: Governance is based on audit not approval (ask for forgiveness, not permission)</h2>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>This is not the same as coming for advice. If you need my help, I will always be available****.</p>
<p><em>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.</em></p>
<h2>Principle #4: Delight our members, volunteers, and community</h2>
<p>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.</p>
<p><em>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. </em></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>* Our overworked and underpaid sole employee<br /> ** With apologies to Netflix <br />*** 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<br />**** Taking timezones into consideration of course</p>
<p>– Evan<br />June 9, 2019</p>
<p><a href="https://theagiledirector.com/article/2019/06/09/on-principles-over-policies/">on Principles over Policies</a> was originally published by Evan Leybourn at <a href="https://theagiledirector.com">The Agile Director</a> on June 09, 2019.</p>https://theagiledirector.com/article/2019/05/04/on-timezones2019-05-04T00:00:00+08:002019-05-04T00:00:00+08:00Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.comevan@theagiledirector.com<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.*</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Alas, there’s no great insight in this article . . . just simply sharing some of the challenges we face running the Institute.</p>
<p>* My only time-machine joke in this article. I’m so proud.</p>
<p>– Evan, 3 May, 2019</p>
<p><a href="https://theagiledirector.com/article/2019/05/04/on-timezones/">on Timezones</a> was originally published by Evan Leybourn at <a href="https://theagiledirector.com">The Agile Director</a> on May 04, 2019.</p>https://theagiledirector.com/article/2019/03/20/on-delegation2019-03-20T00:00:00+08:002019-03-20T00:00:00+08:00Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.comevan@theagiledirector.com<p>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!”</p>
<p><img src="/images/thatll-do-pig-300x157.jpg" /></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>* 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.<br />
** Not actually Irony</p>
<p><a href="https://theagiledirector.com/article/2019/03/20/on-delegation/">on Delegation</a> was originally published by Evan Leybourn at <a href="https://theagiledirector.com">The Agile Director</a> on March 20, 2019.</p>https://theagiledirector.com/article/2019/03/08/on-travel2019-03-08T00:00:00+08:002019-03-08T00:00:00+08:00Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.comevan@theagiledirector.com<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Let me explain why–there are two kinds of outsourcing: tasks and outcomes.</p>
<p><img src="/images/library-screenshot.png" style="width:100%;" /></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>And so, it is two o’clock in the morning and I am painstakingly moving content between systems.</p>
<p>-Evan, 21 Feb 2019</p>
<p><strong>Evan’s status report</strong><br />
<ul><li>Feeling: Inspired to create</li>
<li>Where in the world: On my way to Denver</li>
<li>One big thing: Data migration (a fancy way of saying copy and paste)</li></ul></p>
<p><a href="https://theagiledirector.com/article/2019/03/08/on-travel/">on Travel</a> was originally published by Evan Leybourn at <a href="https://theagiledirector.com">The Agile Director</a> on March 08, 2019.</p>https://theagiledirector.com/article/2019/02/27/on-existence2019-02-27T00:00:00+08:002019-02-27T00:00:00+08:00Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.comevan@theagiledirector.com<p>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”.</p>
<p>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!</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Evan’s status report</strong><br />
<ul><li>Feeling: Tired[4] and frustrated[5]</li>
<li>Where in the world: Melbourne, Australia[6]</li>
<li>One big thing: Start a journal</li></ul></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>-Evan, 21 Feb 2019</p>
<p><ol>
<li>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.</li>
<li>It would have been much more convenient had these been the same people. I could have got 30 minutes back in my day.</li>
<li>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.</li>
<li>Why do I do these things at 11pm?</li>
<li>Who doesn’t spend the rest of the day frustrated after speaking with their bank?</li>
<li>At home, in my office, wearing my Occupy Mars jumper (thank you SpaceX) because Melbourne has completely random weather.</li>
<li>Yoda was wrong.</li>
<li>That’s a joke – I actually like Opera. I have terrible taste in music.</li></ol></p>
<p><a href="https://theagiledirector.com/article/2019/02/27/on-existence/">on Existence</a> was originally published by Evan Leybourn at <a href="https://theagiledirector.com">The Agile Director</a> on February 27, 2019.</p>https://theagiledirector.com/article/2018/06/12/my-reading-list2018-06-12T00:00:00+08:002018-06-12T00:00:00+08:00Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.comevan@theagiledirector.com<h2>Salvation: The Bungsu Story: How Lean and Kanban saved a small hospital in Indonesia. Twice.</h2>
<iframe style="float:left;margin-right:2em;width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=theagidir-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B07DDDFPLS&asins=B07DDDFPLS&linkId=060b151ec8a0b80350541dd3a9512421&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>
<p><strong>by Marcus Hammarberg</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<h2>The Age of Agile: How Smart Companies Are Transforming the Way Work Gets Done</h2>
<iframe style="float:left;margin-right:2em;width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=theagidir-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B072J5XPTP&asins=B072J5XPTP&linkId=6eb70257b0161d11673ea3a78d1cc0a5&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>
<p><strong>by Steve Denning</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>On top of this, Steve’s 3 laws are compelling an, I would say, unarguable.</p>
<ul><li>The Law of the Small Team</li>
<li>The Law of the Customer</li>
<li>The Law of the Network</li></ul>
<p>I first heard about these in Steve’s talk at the <a href="https://www.infoq.com/presentations/3-laws-business-agility">Business Agility Conference in 2017</a>, but here they are presented in greater depth. This is certainly a must read for anyone wanting to become a business agilist.</p>
<p><a href="https://theagiledirector.com/article/2018/06/12/my-reading-list/">My June Reading List</a> was originally published by Evan Leybourn at <a href="https://theagiledirector.com">The Agile Director</a> on June 12, 2018.</p>https://theagiledirector.com/article/2018/05/16/so-much-to-do2018-05-16T00:00:00+08:002018-05-16T00:00:00+08:00Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.comevan@theagiledirector.com<p>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 <a href="https://businessagility.institute/">Business Agility Institute</a>, organising the next <a href="https://businessagility.institute/attend/">business agility conference</a> or writing my <a href="http://theagiledirector.com/noprojects/">#noprojects book</a>, I must be creating something.</p>
<p>As I’ve mentioned in earlier articles, I have a hugely supportive family. My wife carries a lot of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/26/gender-wars-household-chores-comic">mental load</a> (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.</p>
<h2 id="on-passion">On Passion:</h2>
<p>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).</p>
<p>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.</p>
<h2 id="on-time-management">On Time Management:</h2>
<p>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 <a href="https://theagiledirector.com/article/2016/10/23/6-impossible-things-before-breakfast/">day-to-day hygiene activities</a>. 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 <a href="https://www.toodledo.com/">habit tracker</a>, 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.</p>
<h2 id="on-delegation">On Delegation:</h2>
<p><img src="/images/habits.png" alt="Habits screenshot" style="float: right; width: 50%;" />
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.</p>
<p>I hope this makes sense. I believe that there is so much we can accomplish in this life if we just make it happen.</p>
<p><a href="https://theagiledirector.com/article/2018/05/16/so-much-to-do/">So Much To Do - The Characteristics of Effective People</a> was originally published by Evan Leybourn at <a href="https://theagiledirector.com">The Agile Director</a> on May 16, 2018.</p>https://theagiledirector.com/speaking/2018/04/06/state-of-business-agility2018-04-06T00:00:00+08:002018-04-06T00:00:00+08:00Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.comevan@theagiledirector.com<p>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.</p>
<p>This interactive presentation will show you who these companies are, how they operate and (more importantly) how you can become one.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<h2 id="outline">OUTLINE</h2>
<p>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.</p>
<p>The structure will be as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li>Introduction – Providing context on business agility, Sally and Evan</li>
<li>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.</li>
<li>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.</li>
<li>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.</li>
<li>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).</li>
<li>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.</li>
<li>Q & A</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="learning-outcomes">LEARNING OUTCOMES</h2>
<p>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;</p>
<ul>
<li>Understand what Business Agility really means and why it is an organisational imperative now</li>
<li>Meet new friends and learn from others in the business agility community</li>
<li>Gain new insights from the State of Business Agility report</li>
<li>Be able to apply actionable takeaways for their transformations</li>
<li>Evangelise and champion business agility within their organisation</li>
<li>Engage community around the State of Business Agility</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://theagiledirector.com/speaking/2018/04/06/state-of-business-agility/">State of Business Agility</a> was originally published by Evan Leybourn at <a href="https://theagiledirector.com">The Agile Director</a> on April 06, 2018.</p>https://theagiledirector.com/article/2018/03/24/business-agility-2018-wrap2018-03-24T00:00:00+08:002018-03-24T00:00:00+08:00Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.comevan@theagiledirector.com<p>And it’s a wrap. After a year of planning, we’ve pulled off another successful event. And, if I do say so myself, even better than the first. There were certainly hiccups and issues along the way (I’m looking at you NYC weather), but I think it all came together fantastically in the end.</p>
<h1>Interesting Stats</h1>
<p>The event itself was bigger and better than last year. We had nearly 350 delegates; from coaches to executives, from over 20 countries representing almost every industry. Some interesting stats from those people who shared their personal information;</p>
<ul>
<li>Consultancies (27%), Financial Services (17%), IT & Software (16%), Healthcare (5%), and Retail (5%) made up the bulk of the attendees.</li>
<li>We had 15 graduate students from the International School of Management in France. They'll be heading back to school soon and leading the change in their curriculum.</li>
<li>23% of our attendees were senior executives in their organisations, 28% came from the "frozen middle", 17% programme/project managers, 28% were coaches and individual contributors with the last 4% being the aforementioned students.</li>
<li>Nearly 40% of attendees came from overseas. Canada (14%), Australia/New Zealand (5%) and Chile (5%) were the largest single contingents. With more delegates coming from Brazil, Turkey, Russia, South Korea, and nearly a dozen European countries. Perhaps more impressive is that 96% of attendees came from outside New York.</li>
</ul>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-590" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/BACon-2018-stats-1024x422.png" alt="" width="1024" height="422" /></p>
<h1>The Programme</h1>
<p>The number 1 question I get asked is; will you be sharing the slides. The short answer is Yes. The longer answer is, yes and we’re still waiting on slides from some of the speakers. However, instead of making you wait until we have them all, we’re going to be agile and share what we’ve got so far. We’ll share the rest as we get them. The video’s are being processed and edited right now and will come out over the next few weeks.</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-368" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/smart-150x150.png" alt="Jonathan Smart" width="150" height="150" /></p>
<div class="centered"><a href="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Smart-The-Yin-and-Yang-of-Speed-and-Control.pdf"><img class="thumbnail" draggable="false" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Smart-The-Yin-and-Yang-of-Speed-and-Control-pdf-300x169.jpg" alt="" />
</a></div>
<p>Jonathan Smart, Head of Development Services for Barclays, gave his story; “The Yin and Yang of Speed and Control”.</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-362" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/mohan-150x150.jpg" alt="Ashok Mohan" width="150" height="150" /><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-361" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/lustig-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></p>
<div class="centered"><a href="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Mohan-Lustig-From-solo-artists-to-an-orchestra.pdf"><img class="thumbnail" draggable="false" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Mohan-Lustig-From-solo-artists-to-an-orchestra-pdf-300x169.jpg" alt="" /></a></div>
<p>Ashok Mohan (Agile Coach) & Burkhard Lustig (Product Owner) flew in from Ableton AG in Germany to tell their story; “From solo artists to an orchestra; a journey toward playing as an ensemble”</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-349" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/allen-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></p>
<div class="centered"><a href="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Allen-Founder’s-Mentality-and-Micro-battles-Summary.pdf"><img class="thumbnail" draggable="false" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Allen-Founder’s-Mentality-and-Micro-battles-Summary-pdf-300x169.jpg" alt="" /></a></div>
<p>Jimmy Allen, Senior Partner with Bain and Company, shared a perspective almost never heard within our business agility tribe; “Founder’s Mentality and Micro-battles”</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-356" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/eckstein-150x150.jpg" alt="Jutta Eckstein" width="150" height="150" /><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-353" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/buck-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></p>
<div class="centered"><a href="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Eckstein-Buck-Company-wide-Agility-with-Beyond-Budgeting-Open-Space-and-Sociocracy.pdf"><img class="thumbnail" draggable="false" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Eckstein-Buck-Company-wide-Agility-with-Beyond-Budgeting-Open-Space-and-Sociocracy-pdf-212x300.jpg" alt="" /></a></div>
<p>Jutta Eckstein & John Buck shared some insights gained during writing their latest book on “Company-wide Agility with Beyond Budgeting, Open Space, and Sociocracy”</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-359" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/jourdain-150x150.jpg" alt="Laurence Jourdain" width="150" height="150" /></p>
<div class="centered"><a href="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Jourdain-Agile@Scale-our-journey-to-be-more-than-a-bank.pdf"><img class="thumbnail" draggable="false" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Jourdain-Agile@Scale-our-journey-to-be-more-than-a-bank-pdf-300x187.jpg" alt="" /></a></div>
<p>Laurence Jourdain, self described Agile Magician, flew in from Belgium to provide insights in how BNP Paribas Fortis is on a “journey to be more than a bank”</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-352" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/bruns-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-363" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/nelvagal-150x150.jpg" alt="Sudhir Nelvagal" width="150" height="150" /></p>
<div class="centered"><a href="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Bruns-Nelvagal-Business-Agility-2018-_Submitted.pdf"><img class="thumbnail" draggable="false" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Bruns-Nelvagal-Business-Agility-2018-_Submitted-pdf-300x169.jpg" alt="" /></a></div>
<p>Sudhir Nelvagal & K. Lars Bruns Male from GE Global Research shared their stories on business agility in physical engineering domains; “Physical-Digital Transformation at a 125 year-old startup”</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-358" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/horowitz-e1520904876821-150x150.jpg" alt="David Horowitz" width="150" height="150" /><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-364" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/nino-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></p>
<div class="centered"><a href="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Horowitz-Nino-Want-true-agility-Give-employees-a-Voice.pdf"><img class="thumbnail" draggable="false" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Horowitz-Nino-Want-true-agility-Give-employees-a-Voice-pdf-300x225.jpg" alt="" /></a></div>
<p>David Horowitz (CEO @ Retrium) & Matias Nino (Agile Project Manager @ REI Systems) share practical advice on how to “give employees a voice” through the power of retrospectives.</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-367" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/shenk-e1520904931502-150x150.jpg" alt="Marsha Shenk" width="150" height="150" /></p>
<div class="centered"><a href="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Shenk-NeuroPhysiology.pdf"><img class="thumbnail" draggable="false" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Shenk-NeuroPhysiology-pdf-300x225.jpg" alt="" /></a></div>
<p>Marsha Z Shenk, founder of 5Movez Consulting, brings a lighthearted, yet practical view of motivation and engagement through “NeuroPhysiology: a Master Key to Business Agility”</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-129" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/nelson-web.jpg" alt="Bret Nelson" width="72" height="72" /></p>
<div class="centered"><a href="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Nelson-The-Hidden-Variable.pdf"><img class="thumbnail" draggable="false" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Nelson-The-Hidden-Variable-pdf-300x225.jpg" alt="" /></a></div>
<p>Bret Nelson, Director at IHS Markit and ringmaster of the Business Agility Conference, stepped up to tell a highly engaging story on “The Secret Sauce”; how to use culture to drive transformational success.</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-601" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/SC-Photo-150x150.jpg" alt="Susan Courtney" width="150" height="150" /><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-602" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/JW-Photo-150x150.jpg" alt="Joni Wheeler" width="150" height="150" /></p>
<div class="centered"><a href="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Courtney-Wheeler-A-Story-of-Leadership-Transformation.pdf"><img class="thumbnail" draggable="false" src="http://businessagility.institute/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Courtney-Wheeler-A-Story-of-Leadership-Transformation-pdf-300x169.jpg" alt="" /></a></div>
<p>Susan Courtney (EVP Operations, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska) and Joni Wheeler (CEO of CoreLink Administrative Solutions) share an inspiring “Story of Leadership Transformation”</p>
<p><a href="https://theagiledirector.com/article/2018/03/24/business-agility-2018-wrap/">Business Agility Conference 2018 Wrap Up</a> was originally published by Evan Leybourn at <a href="https://theagiledirector.com">The Agile Director</a> on March 24, 2018.</p>https://theagiledirector.com/speaking/2018/02/26/certain-uncertainty2018-02-26T00:00:00+08:002018-02-26T00:00:00+08:00Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.comevan@theagiledirector.com<p>The world is changing more rapidly than ever before and organisations of every size are struggling to remain relevant in the eyes of their customers. The simple fact that the average lifespan of a company has decreased by more than 50 years in the last century demonstrates that not all organisations are prepared for this new reality. It is only high-performing, adaptable and agile organisations that will leverage, lead and thrive in this ambiguous and unpredictable market. We call this business agility.</p>
<p>The problem with a statement like that is that there is no common definition of what business agility means. And that’s actually a good thing. In a dynamic and changing market trying to lock it down will defeat the very advantage it brings. Instead, I want you to start thinking of business agility as the common thread. An adaptable and sustainable narrative that binds & guides, rather than directs, us into the uncertain future.</p>
<p>This talk will share the state of business agility around the world. We’ll look at the Domains of Business Agility, interspersed with case studies from 4 multinational organisations in both the banking and utilities sector.</p>
<h2 id="target-audience">TARGET AUDIENCE</h2>
<p>Anyone, but team leaders, managers and executives will get the most out of it</p>
<h2 id="outline">OUTLINE</h2>
<h2 id="learning-outcomes">LEARNING OUTCOMES</h2>
<ul>
<li>Learn the domains of business agility</li>
<li>Learn how to work with Finance and HR to increase agility in your current organisation</li>
<li>Learn the how Business Agility is being adopted by organisations around the world</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://theagiledirector.com/speaking/2018/02/26/certain-uncertainty/">Certain Uncertainty</a> was originally published by Evan Leybourn at <a href="https://theagiledirector.com">The Agile Director</a> on February 26, 2018.</p>https://theagiledirector.com/speaking/2018/02/25/the-secret-agile-structure-within-your-organisation2018-02-25T00:00:00+08:002018-02-25T00:00:00+08:00Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.comevan@theagiledirector.com<p>There’s a lot of talk around business agility and the structure of an agile organisation these days. Moving beyond the simple pyramid hierarchy but rather moving towards a network model. Hundreds of self-organising, cross-functional teams forming dynamic structures and collaborating towards common goals and outcomes, but ultimately independent in action.</p>
<p>But beyond creating “squads” and “tribes” most organisations don’t have the luxury of building a true network organisation structure.</p>
<p>Except they already have…</p>
<p>The secret truth is that all organisations have a network structure. It may not be visible in the org-chart, but in the more real sense of how the organisation operates.</p>
<p>During this hands-on workshop, you will uncover the agile structure that exists within your organisation today and create a network map of your collaborators, colleagues and customers across all teams and divisions. By understanding your sphere of control and your sphere of influence, you will then learn how to build out and properly engage this network to help you in your business agility transformation. Finally, you will come away from this workshop with a personalised org-chart of your company.</p>
<h2 id="target-audience">TARGET AUDIENCE</h2>
<p>Anyone, but team leaders, managers and executives will get the most out of it</p>
<h2 id="outline">OUTLINE</h2>
<p>The structure will be as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li>10 mins: Introduction – Providing context on structural agility, teal organisations and various other models (e.g. the spotify squad/tribe model)</li>
<li>5 mins: Workshop Introduction – Describe the workshop activities and steps that the attendees will go through over the next hour</li>
<li>5 mins: Hierarchy – Participants start building their network org-chart by looking at their hierarchical structure. Their boss, her boss, their subordinates and so on. Participants will learn why the hierarchical structure is dominant today and the pros and cons of this model.</li>
<li>10 mins: Customers – Business agility creates purpose-driven organisations For most companies, it is their customer who provides this. Participants will map their customer to extend their network org-chart. What are the interface points (and what should they be)?</li>
<li>10 mins: Value-Stream – It takes a tribe to build a product. Participants will extend their network map to encompass the value stream involved in delivering products or services to the customer. How much are they involved? Where else is their attention spread? How do we get their focused engagement?</li>
<li>10 mins: Support Functions – Finance, HR, Marketing - participants will extend their network org-chart to incorporate different elements of the organisation. In many organisations these are the constraining factors to business agility.</li>
<li>10 mins: Sphere of Influence & Sphere of Control – Participants will use this map to identify who they have control over and who they influence. We’ll then talk through strategies on how to expand those sphere’s in order to promote and develop champions for their business agility transformation.</li>
<li>15 mins: Presentation and Q & A - Some of the participants will be invited to share their map with the entire audience and open up for a Q/A</li>
</ul>
<p>I have run this workshop at Scrum Gathering Singapore and Spark the Change India.</p>
<h2 id="learning-outcomes">LEARNING OUTCOMES</h2>
<ul>
<li>Uncover the agile structure that exists within your organisation today</li>
<li>Create a network map of your collaborators, colleagues and customers across all teams and divisions</li>
<li>Understand your sphere of control and your sphere of influence</li>
<li>Learn how to build out and engage your network to help you in your business agility transformation</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://theagiledirector.com/speaking/2018/02/25/the-secret-agile-structure-within-your-organisation/">The secret agile structure within your organisation</a> was originally published by Evan Leybourn at <a href="https://theagiledirector.com">The Agile Director</a> on February 25, 2018.</p>https://theagiledirector.com/article/2018/01/28/dear-companies-your-purpose-is-not-to-make-money2018-01-28T00:00:00+08:002018-01-28T00:00:00+08:00Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.comevan@theagiledirector.com<p>I need you to do three things for me. First, I want you to think about why you’re in business - what your purpose is. Second, look at your corporate scorecard and KPIs. And finally, look at the actual work that you do. I’m going to guess that these three do not align. Most companies do not understand business outcomes and, even when they do, they do not measure them.</p>
<p>Getting to the real business outcomes for an organisation (or even just a team) may seem simple but is actually very difficult. Worse still, there is an easy answer. But it’s wrong. A lot of organisations will define their outcomes around money - either revenue, signings or profit. <em>“We need to increase our quarterly profit by 17%”</em>, or <em>“our target is to sign 20 new clients”</em>, or <em>“we need to make $10 million dollars in revenue this quarter”</em>. While these statements may be true - they are not business outcomes.</p>
<p>You are not in business to make money. I’ll say that again. You are not in business to make money. That is not your purpose. If you’re focusing on making money, you’re not focusing on creating value for your customer. Think of your local doctor - most people don’t become a doctor to make money. They become doctors to save lives. They make money in order to continue saving lives.</p>
<blockquote>“Profit is like the air we breathe. We need air to live, but we don't live to breathe.” - Frederic Laloux</blockquote>
<p>This obsession with financial measures, especially when the global market is performing weakly, is leading to poor behaviour and poor decision making. You get the behaviour that you measure and, when it’s all about money, we tend to forget who’s paying. We become more efficient at the expense of creating customer value. Every week there is a new company making the news.</p>
<blockquote>“If management sets quantitative targets and makes people's job depend on meeting them, they will likely meet the targets – even if they have to destroy the enterprise to do it.” - W. Edwards Deming</blockquote>
<p>So, while remembering that you still need to make money and be profitable, what are your business outcomes? No blog can answer that question for you, however there are some simple practices to help you discover it.</p>
<p>First, start with your customer. We put the customer in the center because they provide us with our purpose. That doesn’t mean that the customer is always right or that employees or shareholders aren’t important. It means that almost everything that we do revolves around them. It means that they are the top of our organisation charts. It means that the work that we do, and the way that we work, is primarily for them.</p>
<p>Now we’re going to use a practice called “5 whys”. A very simple cause-and-effect interrogation technique borrowed from the Toyota Production System and Lean Manufacturing. Start by looking at the work that you do for your customer. Now ask “why”. “Why do we do this?” or “Why do we need this?”. Then, using the answer as the basis for the next question, ask why again. Asking “why” 5 times is, anecdotally, sufficient to get to the root outcome. And there are many cases where you’ll be able to get there in fewer steps.</p>
<p>If you come to “to make money” you’ve gone too deep and abstracted it to the point of meaninglessness. Everyone needs to make money - there’s no differentiation from your competitors in that. Making money is how we show that we are actually solving that need. It’s a measure or an indicator, not the reason. Go back up a level. That’s your outcome.</p>
<p>Repeating the process from different perspectives, and exploring new reasons “why”, can help you discover multiple root outcomes. Likewise, if you come to a looping question/answer series or highly generalised statements (such as money or satisfaction) you should look at rephrasing the “why” question to uncover new lines of inquiry. We also find that external impartial facilitation can help to uncover real root outcomes and avoid confirmation biases and “we’ve always done it this way” syndrome.</p>
<p>Once you know “why” - then you can do the right work.</p>
<p><a href="https://theagiledirector.com/article/2018/01/28/dear-companies-your-purpose-is-not-to-make-money/">Dear company, you are not in business to make money</a> was originally published by Evan Leybourn at <a href="https://theagiledirector.com">The Agile Director</a> on January 28, 2018.</p>https://theagiledirector.com/article/2017/07/27/business-agility-20182017-07-27T00:00:00+08:002017-07-27T00:00:00+08:00Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.comevan@theagiledirector.com<blockquote>2017 was a fantastic event and we are already applying all the feedback to make 2018 even better. New stories, deeper dives, and more interaction with speakers and peers. </blockquote>
<h2>Coming to the Business Agility Conference</h2>
<p>Come along to New York City on March 14-15 for 2 days of authentic short stories and facilitated deep dives on business agility; focusing on organisational design, market disruption & product innovation, agile outside IT and next-gen leadership. Or make a full week of it and stay for the open space on the 16th and workshops on the 12th and 13th.</p>
<p><em><a href="http://businessagilityconf.com/2018/us/" target="_blank">Registration is now open</a> with a special “supporter” offer. Only for the first 50 registrations or until the 15th of August. </em></p>
<p><img src="/images/035.jpg" alt="happy times" style="float:right; width: 30%; " /></p>
<p>The format for the conference continues to be unique. There are no tracks - just a single room for everyone. Each day is broken into three (2.5 hour) sessions; the Executive Panel (for senior leaders to tell their stories about organisation transformation), followed by the Thought-Leader Panel (for academics and thought-leaders to share the latest stories from the industry) and then the Practitioner Panel (for practitioners to share their stories from the trenches). Each session will consist of 3, 20-minute, “art of the possible” stories, a short Q/A with all the speakers and a “deep dive” with your peers into the domain.</p>
<p>Register here: <a href="http://businessagilityconf.com/2018/us/" target="_blank">http://businessagilityconf.com/2018/us/</a></p>
<h2>Call for Proposals</h2>
<p><img src="/images/040.jpg" alt="happy times" style="float:left; width: 30%; " /></p>
<p>We’re also looking for great stories in business agility. We have a preference for unusual or unique stories outside IT. However, they must be authentic. No ideas, models or frameworks that have only been tried once.</p>
<p>To present at Business Agility 2018, please submit your proposal before October 31st via our <a href="https://confengine.com/business-agility-2018" target="_blank">public proposal submission system</a>. To encourage early submissions and iterative improvement of proposals, we’ll start accepting proposals as soon as we find them a good fit. As time passes by, the competition gets tougher. So don’t wait till the last date to submit your proposal.</p>
<p>Submit your “art of the possible” story here: <a href="https://confengine.com/business-agility-2018" target="_blank">https://confengine.com/business-agility-2018</a></p>
<h2>So Why Business Agility</h2>
<p>Traditional models of management and corporate governance are failing to keep up with the needs of the modern economy. Change, both technological and cultural, is occurring at faster rates than ever before. In this climate, modern enterprises will live or die on their ability to adapt. As a result, companies are turning to agile for ideas to innovate, reduce the cost of business and remain relevant in a changing market.</p>
<p>This is where business agility comes in. Business agility embraces change; changing how you think, changing how you work and changing the way you interact. The ability to change is important whether you are a software developer, manager or CEO.</p>
<p>We bring together the greatest speakers and practitioners of business agility to share their experiences and the benefits their organisations have gained from exploring new ways of working. Our goals are to:</p>
<ul>
<li>bring the local and international business agility community together in a friendly, educational and fun environment</li>
<li>increase the density of connections among the community, and</li>
<li>exchange and explore ideas between professionals.</li>
</ul>
<p><img src="/images/024.jpg" alt="happy times" /></p>
<p><a href="https://theagiledirector.com/article/2017/07/27/business-agility-2018/">Business Agility 2018</a> was originally published by Evan Leybourn at <a href="https://theagiledirector.com">The Agile Director</a> on July 27, 2017.</p>https://theagiledirector.com/external/2017/06/03/should-projects-ever-end-podcast2017-06-03T00:00:00+08:002017-06-03T00:00:00+08:00Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.comevan@theagiledirector.com<p>Evan Leybourn pioneered the field of Agile Business Management; applying the successful concepts and practices from the Lean and Agile Evan Leybournmovements to corporate management. He keeps busy as a senior IT executive, business management consultant, non-executive director, conference speaker, internationally published author and father. In this podcast, Evan breaks new ground and challenges the notion that projects should have an ending. You can find our more about Evan on his website, The Agile Director.</p>
<iframe src="https://www.podbean.com/media/player/audio/postId/5678594?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbusiness901.podbean.com%2Fe%2Fshould-projects-ever-end-1434209182%2F" width="100%" height="100" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" data-name="pd-iframe-player"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://theagiledirector.com/external/2017/06/03/should-projects-ever-end-podcast/">Should Projects Ever End with Business901</a> was originally published by Evan Leybourn at <a href="https://theagiledirector.com">The Agile Director</a> on June 03, 2017.</p>https://theagiledirector.com/article/2017/05/25/domains-of-business-agility-v22017-05-25T00:00:00+08:002017-05-25T00:00:00+08:00Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.comevan@theagiledirector.com<p><img src="/images/cc-evan.png" alt="CC-BY-SA" title="CC-BY-SA" style="height:3em; float:left; padding-right: 1em;" />
<em style="font-size:0.9em;">The text and images in this models are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike license. You are free to share the material in any medium or format and adapt / build upo n the material for any purpose, even commercially.</em><br /></p>
<p>The world is changing more rapidly than ever before and organisations of every size are struggling to remain relevant in the eyes of their customers. The simple fact that the average lifespan of a company has decreased by more than <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/business-16611040" target="_new">50 years in the last century</a> demonstrates that not all organisations are prepared for this new reality. It is only high-performing, adaptable and agile organisations that will leverage, lead and thrive in this ambiguous and unpredictable market. We call this business agility.</p>
<p>The problem with a statement like that is that there is no common definition of what business agility means. And that’s actually a good thing. In a dynamic and changing market trying to lock it down will defeat the very advantage it brings. Instead, I want you to start thinking of business agility as the common thread. An adaptable and sustainable narrative that binds & guides, rather than directs, us into the uncertain future.</p>
<p><img src="/images/domains2b.png" alt="Domains of Business Agility" title="Domains of Busines Agility" style="float: right; width: 50%;" /></p>
<p>Therefore, to understand business agility is to understand the Domains of Business Agility. A simple model consisting of 9 interacting domains across 3 dimensions and centered around the customer. Not a pyramid or matrix, but rather a model of agility where each of the domains in each of the dimensions are equal, necessary, interrelated, and dependent on each other. No single domain is “above” or more important than any of the others. Business agility only emerges when your organisation can “be” agile across all the domains across all facets of your organisation.</p>
<p>Business agility creates purpose-driven organisations. For most companies their <em>Customer</em> is their purpose, however in public sector or social-good organisations the definition of the <em>Customer</em> is much broader. Regardless of how it is defined, your <em>Customer</em> is at the heart of the model and shapes your organisation. Surrounding the <em>Customer</em> are the three dimensions: <em>Work</em>, <em>Connections</em> and <em>Mindset</em>:</p>
<ol><li>The three domains under the <em>Work Dimension</em> govern how an agile organisation operates. From <em>Technical Agility</em> at the individual activity level, to <em>Process Agility</em> at the value stream level, and scaling to <em>Enterprise Agility</em> at the organisational level. </li>
<li>The <em>Connections Dimension</em> governs the relationships that form within and outside the organisation. <em>Structural Agility</em> that defines the relationships between individuals, teams & divisions, <em>Leadership Agility</em> that defines the relationship with authority and <em>Market Agility</em> that defines the relationship with our users and the wider market. </li>
<li>Finally, the <em>Mindset Dimension</em> is concerned with governing the key characteristics of an agile organisation; a <em>Learning Mindset</em>, a <em>Collaboration Mindset</em> and an <em>Ownership Mindset</em>. </li></ol>
<p>Successful business agility requires all of the domains in this model to work in concert with each other. Organisations that are seeing diminishing returns from their current agile adoption, need to start looking at agility as a continuous and systemic evolution of culture, people and skills rather than specifically focusing on transforming one or two domains.</p>
<p>What you won’t see in this model is a method or framework like Scrum, Kanban, or Beyond Budgeting - though you will see where they fit and how they work in conjunction to build a high performing organisation. The purpose of this model is to show you what to strive for, rather than what to do.</p>
<p>So, let’s take a look at the domains and dimensions in more detail.</p>
<h2 id="the-customer">THE CUSTOMER</h2>
<p><img src="/images/domains2-customer.png" alt="The Customer" title="The Customer" style="float: left; width: 100px;" /></p>
<p><em>The heart of business agility is no less than the very reason we exist - our Customer.</em></p>
<p><em>Customer</em> is a very broad term. Depending on the organisational context it could mean; a paying client for a private organisation, a citizen for a public sector organisation, or an abstraction (like “the environment” or “the community”) for a NPO (NonProfit Organization). In some contexts, your customer may be a separate division within your organisation. Although in this case you should always consider the total value stream and end customer, instead of just delivering to a division because of the way the reporting lines currently work. Regardless of who your customer is they all have one thing in common.<strong>They provide us with our purpose.</strong></p>
<p>Too many organisations have forgotten that we aren’t in business to make money - we make a profit to continue to achieve our true purpose - to serve our customer. Think of your local doctor - most people don’t become doctors to make money. They become doctors to save lives. They make money in order to continue saving lives.</p>
<blockquote>“Profit is like the air we breathe. We need air to live, but we don't live to breathe.” - <a href="http://www.reinventingorganizations.com/" target="_new">Frederic Laloux</a></blockquote>
<p>We have placed the <em>Customer</em> at the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2015/01/28/more-on-why-managers-hate-agile" target="_new">center of the model</a>, not only because they are the reason we do what we do, but also because they have been invisible for so long. Look at your current org-chart. Where is the customer? Organisations have said for years that customer is their most important asset and yet they are nowhere to be seen.</p>
<p>Having the <em>Customer</em> at the center doesn’t mean that the customer is always right or that employees or shareholders aren’t important. And it’s always remains important that we make a profit. It means that almost everything that we do revolves around them. It means that they are the top of our organisation charts. It means that the work that we do, and the way that we work, is primarily for them.</p>
<h2 id="work">WORK</h2>
<p>The first three domains of business agility are part of the <em>Work Dimension</em>. These three domains operate in concert to define how an agile organisation works. From <em>Technical Agility</em> at the individual activity level, to <em>Process Agility</em> at the value stream level, and scaling to <em>Enterprise Agility</em> at the organisational level.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="/images/domains2-work.png" alt="Work Dimension" title="Work Dimension" style="width: 50%;" /></p>
<h3 id="technical-agility">Technical Agility</h3>
<p><img src="/images/domains2-work-technical.png" alt="Technical Agility" title="Technical Agility" style="float: left; width: 100px;" /></p>
<p><em>The techniques for delivering work, regardless of function or subject matter, in an agile way.</em></p>
<p>For decades, agile teams have promoted strong <em>Technical Agility</em> as the keystone for “being” agile. The purpose being to increase quality & throughput and at the same time embracing uncertainty & change. Many of the agile methods developed over the last 20 years, such as Extreme Programming (XP), Behaviour Driven Development, Test-Driven Development, and DevOps, are almost entirely devoted to <em>Technical Agility</em>. And <em>Technical Agility</em> isn’t limited to just software either. Any domain of work can be technically agile - for example, we’re starting to see agility emerge in marketing and finance work with their own agile practices (e.g. Agile Marketing or <a href="http://bbrt.org/what-is-beyond-budgeting/" target="_new">Beyond Budgeting</a>).</p>
<p>To be technically agile, any work practice or technique needs to be designed for ambiguity, be customer centric, seamlessly respond to change, and promote collaboration. To benefit from <em>Technical Agility</em>, your organisation requires the other 8 domains, but these techniques & practices are generally a good place to start.</p>
<h3 id="process-agility">Process Agility</h3>
<p><img src="/images/domains2-work-process.png" alt="Process Agility" title="Process Agility" style="float: left; width: 100px;" /></p>
<p><em>The form of agility that encompases an individual value stream - the combination of discrete activities that are undertaken by teams and projects.</em></p>
<p>This is the form of agility that most people think of when they hear the term. Agile frameworks and methods to encompass multi-step, and potentially multi-team, value streams; from traditionally agile processes like software delivery or project management to business processes such as marketing campaigns, annual budgets or home loan processing. Methods such as <a href="https://www.scrumalliance.org/why-scrum/scrum-guide" target="_new">Scrum</a>, <a href="http://leankanban.com/" target="_new">Kanban Method</a>, <a href="http://www.scaledagileframework.com/" target="_new">SAFe</a>, <a href="https://less.works/" target="_new">LeSS</a>, <a href="http://www.disciplinedagiledelivery.com/" target="_new">Disciplined Agile</a>, or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_Six_Sigma" target="_new">Lean Six Sigma</a> are all, in large part, operating at this level (although it’s true to say that many of the more complex methods operate in the <em>Enterprise Agility</em> domain as well).</p>
<p>One key element of <em>Process Agility</em> is the focus on outcomes and products over outputs and projects. The governance of all decisions, processes and work, is directed towards ensuring the continuous delivery of value and business outcomes. This relationship could be described thus: work needs to be justified based on the value it could deliver to the organisation in the context of a business outcome. In many cases, this enables the accountability for all decisions relating to the work to be entirely owned by the team.</p>
<h3 id="enterprise-agility">Enterprise Agility</h3>
<p><img src="/images/domains2-work-enterprise.png" alt="Enterprise Agility" title="Enterprise Agility" style="float: left; width: 100px;" /></p>
<p><em>Scaling agility across divisions, departments, the organisation and ultimately between organisations.</em></p>
<p>We are only now starting to think about <em>Enterprise Agility</em> as a discrete domain. Over the last 20 years, as individual teams became agile, the constraining factor for agility to scale was the other teams within the division. Now, as entire divisions and departments scale to become agile, the constraining factor for agility is the rest of the organisation.</p>
<blockquote>"An organisation can only be as agile as it's least agile division!" - Evan Leybourn, <a href="http://theagiledirector.com/article/2017/04/27/evans-theory-of-agile-constraints/" target="_new">Evan’s Theory of Agile Constraints</a></blockquote>
<p><em>Enterprise Agility</em> emerges when there is an agile way of working across multiple teams and divisions. From a systems perspective, it can help to think of work in your organisation as a flow. We have a pipeline of demand on one side and delivery to our users on the other. Somewhere along this flow is the next limiting constraint to business agility. 20 years ago, that was IT and the software teams. Which is why it was logical for Agile to emerge in that domain. But now there are new constraints that require a wider view. It differs across organisations but I have generally found that the PMO, HR, sales or finance departments are the next teams that need to be agile. In most organisations, we have an 18 month budgeting process limiting a development cycle that can deploy every day.</p>
<p>These are not easy problems to solve. You need to help these divisions internalise an agile mindset and culture as well as providing appropriate <em>Technical Agility</em> practices aligned to their work context. This is key to achieving <em>Enterprise Agility</em> and ultimately true business agility.</p>
<h2 id="connections">CONNECTIONS</h2>
<p>The next three domains of business agility are part of the <em>Connections Dimension</em> and govern the relationships that form both within and outside the organisation. From <em>Structural Agility</em> that defines the relationships between individuals, teams & divisions, to <em>Leadership Agility</em> that defines the relationship with authority and <em>Market Agility</em> that defines the relationship with the users and the wider market.</p>
<p>These three domains cut across the previous dimension and so, to be successful, you require elements of <em>Structural</em>, <em>Market</em> and <em>Leadership Agility</em> inside each of <em>Technical</em>, <em>Process</em> and the <em>Enterprise Agility</em>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="/images/domains2-connections.png" alt="Connections Dimension" title="Connections Dimension" style="width: 50%;" /></p>
<h3 id="structural-agility">Structural Agility</h3>
<p><img src="/images/domains2-connections-structural.png" alt="Structural Agility" title="Structural Agility" style="float: left; width: 100px;" /></p>
<p><em>The relationships between individuals, teams & divisions to create an agile organisation.</em></p>
<p>The simple pyramid hierarchy no longer serves us. <a href="http://www.reinventingorganizations.com/" target="_new">Laloux’s Teal Organisation</a> and <a href="https://www.infoq.com/presentations/3-laws-business-agility" target="_new">Steve Denning’s three laws</a> (law of the small team, network and customer) come into play across this domain. Practices such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_thinking" target="_new">Systems Thinking</a> and the <a href="http://amzn.to/2qFUXun" target="_new">Theory of Constraints</a> (including <a href="http://theagiledirector.com/article/2017/04/27/evans-theory-of-agile-constraints/" target="_new">Evan’s Theory of Agile Constraints</a>) are necessary here. At the lowest level of the organisation you might call these teams, <a href="https://labs.spotify.com/2014/03/27/spotify-engineering-culture-part-1/" target="_new">squads</a> or cells. A traditional agilist might call these cross-functional and multidisciplinary teams.</p>
<p>Regardless of what they are called, agile teams have certain common characteristics. In general, they are small, cross-functional, and formed around business outcomes rather than traditional, skill-based, functions. To be successful, team members need to have the “four A’s”: Alignment, Autonomy, Authority, and Accountability. Agile teams in mature organisations are self-organising and have total authority to identify their own membership and decide on the work to be done to achieve the given outcome. This demands a high-level of collaboration within the team and, where appropriate, ultimately develops strong multidisciplinary members.</p>
<p>The connection between teams is the fundamental expression of the organisations’ structure and an indicator of business agility fluency. These connections may form a hierarchical model (sometimes called <a href="https://labs.spotify.com/2014/03/27/spotify-engineering-culture-part-1/" target="_new">tribes</a>) or a flatter, network, model where connections form dynamically to align along the value stream. In either case, these connections group teams to business outcomes rather than functions. Mature agile organisations break down the divisional walls even further. For example, by bringing sales & marketing, finance or operations into the relevant cross-functional teams when needed. Guilds or centers of excellence are formed around uncommon skills (such as architects, infrastructure or coaches) to share this expertise where and when needed.</p>
<h3 id="leadership-agility">Leadership Agility</h3>
<p><img src="/images/domains2-connections-leadership.png" alt="Leadership Agility" title="Leadership Agility" style="float: left; width: 100px;" /></p>
<p><em>The relationship with between individuals and authority within an agile organisation.</em></p>
<p>Start thinking of everyone in the organisation as a leader. Whether they have <a href="http://theagiledirector.com/article/2016/05/27/personal-authority-vs-institutional-authority/" target="_new">institutional authority</a> or not. Leadership models such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_leadership" target="_new">Servant Leadership</a> or “leading from the middle” are part of this. While there are similarities, there is a substantial difference from traditional management as we expect the team (including the <a href="https://www.agilealliance.org/glossary/product-owner/" target="_new">Product Owner</a> if applicable) to decide and self-correct their own “what”. Agile leaders require the ability to inspire purpose, set direction, align teams to business outcomes, remove impediments, and coach & mentor teams.</p>
<p>At the pioneering end of business agility and, in particular, <em>Leadership Agility</em>, there is the concept of self-organisation - teams or divisions with no managers. Though this requires a significant level of fluency across all business agility domains, self-organisation take the position that, as <a href="http://amzn.to/2pKIG3B" target="_new">Drucker</a> puts it: <em>“every man sees himself as a ‘manager’ and accepts for himself the full burden of what is basically managerial responsibility: responsibility for his own job and work group, for his contribution to the performance and results of the entire organization, and for the social tasks of the work community.”</em> Without managers, self-organising teams remain aligned to company strategy and expectations by being accountable for specific, and measurable, business outcomes.</p>
<p>Finally, don’t forget that it is agile leaders (who may not be managers) who orchestrate and guide the organisation towards business agility. Leaders who help align the organisation to a single purpose, enabling individuals and teams and taking corrective action where needed.</p>
<h3 id="market-agility">Market Agility</h3>
<p><img src="/images/domains2-connections-market.png" alt="Market Agility" title="Market Agility" style="float: left; width: 100px;" /></p>
<p><em>The relationship between the organisation and the marketplace.</em></p>
<p>Organisations have always needed to earn the right to exist in the market. However, as both market predictability and the barrier to entry is decreasing, we are now seeing that incumbents no longer enjoy the same commercial advantage as they used to. It is agile organisations, those that frequently inspect, adapt and pivot to meet opportunities, that are more likely to flourish in this ambiguous and uncertain market. Speed and effectiveness of this adaption to competitors, disruptors and new customer demands are key measures of <em>Market Agility</em>.</p>
<p>Once we include the connection to the market in the wider systemic perspective of business agility, our view of the product lifecycle extends to include the entire value chain - from your suppliers upstream to your distributors downstream. The partnerships that this systemic perspective grants enables the creation of superior offerings that delight your customers. Methods and frameworks like <a href="http://theleanstartup.com/" target="_new">Lean Startup</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_enterprise" target="_new">Lean Enterprise</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_thinking" target="_new">Design Thinking</a> as well as many of the traditional agile practices fall under this domain.</p>
<h2 id="mindset">MINDSET</h2>
<p>The third and final dimension is concerned with addressing the cultural domains. These are the key characteristics of an agile organisation; a <em>Learning Mindset</em>, a <em>Collaboration Mindset</em> and an <em>Ownership Mindset</em>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="/images/domains2-mindset.png" alt="Mindset Dimension" title="Mindset Dimension" style="width: 50%;" /></p>
<h3 id="learning-mindset">Learning Mindset</h3>
<p><img src="/images/domains2-mindset-learning.png" alt="Learning Agility" title="Learning Agility" style="float: left; width: 100px;" /></p>
<p><em>Organisations that experiment, learn faster than others are those that succeed.</em></p>
<p>Agile organisations are fundamentally learning organisations at all levels; whether small & specific (e.g. this feature didn’t sell well, so let’s change it) or large & systemic (we need to change our governance model based on this new information). Learning is more than just observing. It’s taking the observations, determining its worth, then internalising & making it the new reality for the organisation.</p>
<p>The application of a <em>Learning Mindset</em> results in continuous improvement. Feedback loops, such as “inspect and adapt”, and practices, such as the retrospective, enable teams, divisions and organisations to improve both what they do and (more importantly) how they do it. Like the woodcutter who refuses to sharpen his axe because he has too many trees to cut down, organisations that do not improve both the way they work and their products themselves will ultimately be out-competed in the market.</p>
<p>Central to the <em>Learning Mindset</em> is the ability to experiment, fail fast (with a small “blast radius”) and recover faster. Failure should not be seen as making a mistake, but rather as an opportunity to learn. Organisations can make is “safe to fail” by recognising that failure is part of daily work and not something you blame or judge people for. Some organisations go further by introducing formal or informal support mechanisms like <a href="http://theagiledirector.com/article/2015/12/31/failure-kpis/" target="_new">Failure KPI’s</a>, parallel experiments (and selecting the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_options_valuation" target="_new">highest performing option</a>) or simply providing an environment where failure is easily identified, recognised and rewarded.</p>
<h3 id="collaboration-mindset">Collaboration Mindset</h3>
<p><img src="/images/domains2-mindset-collaboration.png" alt="Collaboration Agility" title="Collaboration Agility" style="float: left; width: 100px;" /></p>
<p><em>A culture of collaboration underpinned by communication and transparency across individuals, teams, divisions and organisations.</em></p>
<p>An agile organisation is one that is designed to collaborate. The very construct of the organisation - from the organisational structure, to the work processes and even the way the market is engaged - promotes collaboration and cooperation.</p>
<p>The complexity of collaboration is one of the fundamental reasons teams in an agile organisation are kept small. <a href="http://theagiledirector.com/article/2013/12/09/the-mathematics-of-agile-communication/" target="_new">O(n2)</a> [read: order n squared] to be precise. 7±2 is a commonly accepted size. Decision making is localised to reduce the lines of communication and subsequent delays incurred. However, don’t let the goal of collaboration impact your ability to be productive. Sitting in meetings and talking is not collaboration whereas sitting quietly in a room by yourself can be.</p>
<p>Critical to effective collaboration is transparency of information, decisions, and relationships by default to provide a solid grounding for trust & respect between customers, peers and leaders. All individuals have the ability to know what is going on so that they can make appropriate decisions. This doesn’t mean that everyone knows everything but that individuals have the choice of knowing anything. And, of course, the ability to be opaque to the competition while being transparent internally is the real art of a <em>Collaboration Mindset</em>.</p>
<p>There are many tools and practices that you can adopt to improve how your teams collaborate. For example, social contracts, pair programming (or pair work outside IT), and visualisation tools (like Kanban Boards, Burndown Charts or Cumulative Flow Diagrams).</p>
<h3 id="ownership-mindset">Ownership Mindset</h3>
<p><img src="/images/domains2-mindset-ownership.png" alt="Ownership Agility" title="Ownership Agility" style="float: left; width: 100px;" /></p>
<p><em>Individuals and teams taking pride and accountability in their work.</em></p>
<p>An <em>Ownership Mindset</em> means, as an individual or team, taking accountability for the quality and success of both the output and outcomes of your work. Both of these are important as ownership doesn’t mean perfection. It means knowing why you are doing the work (the outcome) and making sure that what you produce (the output) is fit-for-purpose. It means understanding, learning, and challenging rather than following instructions.</p>
<p>Teams who own their work generally take pride in what they produce. However, being agile means to take pride without arrogance. Ownership means being willing to collaborate with other; to learn from them, ask for help, even potentially reverse engineering their work, to achieve the outcome.</p>
<p>An <em>Ownership Mindset</em> isn’t unidirectional. Individuals and teams need to be given the authority, as well as the accountability, for an outcome. Organisations and leaders need to be transparent about the strategic decisions that are being made. For an individual or team to be held accountable for their decisions they need to have the appropriate information so as to not make a predictably incorrect decision. This has specific implications in publicly traded organisations relating to insider trading regulations (e.g. knowledge of share price triggers) but many organisation have solved this conundrum.</p>
<h2 id="the-agile-manifesto">The Agile Manifesto</h2>
<p>If, and until such time as, there is a Business Agility manifesto, the values and principles of the <a href="http://agilemanifesto.org/" target="_new">Agile Manifesto</a> apply across all areas of the organisation with one minor modification.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are uncovering better ways of delivering value by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:</p>
<p>Individuals and interactions over processes and tools<br />
[Value creation] over comprehensive documentation<br />
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation<br />
Responding to change over following a plan</p>
<p>That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.</p></blockquote>
<h2 id="practices-methods-and-frameworks">Practices, Methods and Frameworks</h2>
<p>Across all domains of business agility, “doing” agile (using the practices and methods) and “being” agile (the expression of an agile mindset) are intertwined. You need both to be successful and either on their own will lead to failure. So we’ll take a moment to look at “doing” agile in a business agility context. Luckily agile has been around for quite a while so there are hundreds of practices, methods and frameworks for you to choose from.</p>
<p>While developing this model, I ran an open survey to determine the focus of many of the popular agile frameworks, methods, techniques and systems. While this is by no means a complete or comprehensive list, based on the results, I’ve mapped some of these against the domains as either a major or minor focus.</p>
<p><strong>Frameworks</strong></p>
<table><tr>
<td style="width:25%;">
<img src="/images/domains2-agile-scrum.png" alt="Domains for Scrum" title="Domains for Scrum" style="width: 98%;" />
<em><a href="https://www.scrumalliance.org/why-scrum/scrum-guide" target="_new">Scrum</a>:</em><br />
Major: Process & Learning <br />
Minor: Leadership & Ownership<br />
</td>
<td style="width:25%;">
<img src="/images/domains2-agile-safeless.png" alt="Domains for SAFe & LeSS" title="Domains for SAFe & LeSS" style="width: 98%;" />
<em><a href="http://www.scaledagileframework.com/" target="_new">SAFe</a> & <a href="https://less.works/" target="_new">LeSS</a>:</em><br />
Major: Process <br />
Minor: Enterprise, Structural, Learning, Collaboration & Ownership<br />
</td>
<td style="width:25%;">
<img src="/images/domains2-agile-da.png" alt="Domains for Disciplined Agile" title="Domains for Disciplined Agile" style="width: 98%;" />
<em><a href="http://www.disciplinedagiledelivery.com/" target="_new">Disciplined Agile</a>:</em><br />
Minor: Enterprise, Process, Technical & Learning<br />
</td>
<td style="width:25%;">
<img src="/images/domains2-agile-cynefin.png" alt="Domains for Cynefin" title="Domains for Cynefin" style="width: 98%;" />
<em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin_framework" target="_new">Cynefin</a>:</em><br />
Minor: Leadership & Learning<br />
</td>
</tr></table>
<p><strong>Methods</strong></p>
<table><tr>
<td style="width:25%;">
<img src="/images/domains2-agile-kanban.png" alt="Domains for Kanban Method" title="Domains for Kanban Method" style="width: 98%;" />
<em><a href="http://leankanban.com/" target="_new">Kanban Method</a>:</em><br />
Major: Process & Collaboration <br />
Minor: Enterprise, Structural, Market & Learning<br />
</td>
<td style="width:25%;">
<img src="/images/domains2-agile-toc.png" alt="Domains for Theory of Constraints" title="Domains for Theory of Constraints" style="width: 98%;" />
<em><a href="http://amzn.to/2qFUXun" target="_new">Theory of Constraints</a>:</em><br />
Major: Process <br />
Minor: Enterprise & Learning<br />
</td>
<td style="width:25%;">
<img src="/images/domains2-agile-lss.png" alt="Domains for Lean Six Sigma" title="Domains for Lean Six Sigma" style="width: 98%;" />
<em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_Six_Sigma" target="_new">Lean Six Sigma</a>:</em><br />
Minor: Process & Learning<br />
</td>
<td style="width:25%;">
<img src="/images/domains2-agile-xp.png" alt="Domains for Extreme Programming" title="Domains for Extreme Programming" style="width: 98%;" />
<em>Extreme Programming:</em><br />
Major: Technical <br />
Minor: Process, Learning & Collaboration<br />
</td>
</tr></table>
<p><strong>Techniques</strong></p>
<table><tr>
<td style="width:25%;">
<img src="/images/domains2-agile-leanstartup.png" alt="Domains for Lean Startup" title="Domains for Lean Startup" style="width: 98%;" />
<em><a href="http://theleanstartup.com/" target="_new">Lean Startup</a>:</em><br />
Major: Market & Learning<br />
Minor: Enterprise, Collaboration & Ownership<br />
</td>
<td style="width:25%;">
<img src="/images/domains2-agile-pairprogramming.png" alt="Domains for Pair Programming" title="Domains for Pair Programming" style="width: 98%;" />
<em>Pair Programming:</em><br />
Major: Technical <br />
Minor: Learning & Collaboration<br />
</td>
<td style="width:25%;">
<img src="/images/domains2-agile-retrospectives.png" alt="Domains for Retrospectives" title="Domains for Retrospectives" style="width: 98%;" />
<em>Retrospectives:</em><br />
Major: Learning<br />
Minor: Process & Collaboration<br />
</td>
<td style="width:25%;">
<img src="/images/domains2-agile-servantleadership.png" alt="Domains for Servant Leadership" title="Domains for Servant Leadership" style="width: 98%;" />
<em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_leadership" target="_new">Servant Leadership:</a></em><br />
Major: Leadership & Ownership <br />
Minor:Learning<br />
</td>
</tr></table>
<p><strong>Systems</strong></p>
<table><tr>
<td style="width:25%;">
<img src="/images/domains2-agile-bb.png" alt="Domains for Beyond Budgeting" title="Domains for Beyond Budgeting" style="width: 98%;" />
<em><a href="http://bbrt.org/what-is-beyond-budgeting/" target="_new">Beyond Budgeting</a>:</em><br />
Major: Enterprise<br />
Minor: Process & Technical<br />
</td>
<td style="width:25%;">
<img src="/images/domains2-agile-holacracy.png" alt="Domains for Holacracy" title="Domains for Holacracy" style="width: 98%;" />
<em><a href="http://www.holacracy.org/how-it-works/" target="_new">Holacracy</a>:</em><br />
Major: Leadership & Structural<br />
Minor: Enterprise, Learning, Collaboration & Ownership<br />
</td>
<td style="width:25%;">
<img src="/images/domains2-agile-teal.png" alt="Domains for Lalouxs Teal Organisations" title="Domains for Lalouxs Teal Organisations" style="width: 98%;" />
<em><a href="http://www.reinventingorganizations.com/" target="_new">Laloux's Teal Organisations</a>:</em><br />
Major: Structural<br />
Minor: Enterprise, Leadership, Learning, Collaboration & Ownership<br />
</td>
<td style="width:25%;">
<img src="/images/domains2-agile-learning.png" alt="Domains for Learning Organisations & Double Loop Learning" title="Domains for Learning Organisations & Double Loop Learning" style="width: 98%;" />
<em>Learning Organisations & Double Loop Learning:</em><br />
Major: Learning<br />
Minor: Collaboration<br />
</td>
</tr></table>
<p>When selecting complementary frameworks and practices, try to avoid those that major in the same domain. With the exception of those in <em>Technical Agility</em>, overlapping frameworks tend to conflict rather than compliment.</p>
<p>Business agility remains an emerging model, so there isn’t the same level of formal practices and frameworks that you find in other domains. <a href="http://bbrt.org/what-is-beyond-budgeting/" target="_new">Beyond Budgeting</a>, <a href="http://www.holacracy.org/how-it-works/" target="_new">Holacracy</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_leadership" target="_new">Servant Leadership</a> are probably three of the most recognisable concepts. It is my belief that over the next 5-10 years we’ll see an explosion, then consolidation, of business agility frameworks and methods addressing these domains.</p>
<h2 id="the-journey">The Journey</h2>
<p>Keep in mind the purpose of this model - to guide you along your business agility journey without being prescriptive as to “how”. This means that your business strategy needs to align to all nine domains and that the practices, frameworks and values of your organisation must address the systemic nature of agility.</p>
<p>While the journey never ends, the first step is to understand “why”. What defines your company and it’s purpose? In many ways, this will define the way you work together, cooperate and create value for your customers. At every point along this journey, each domain will have a different level of <a href="http://www.agilefluency.org/" target="_new">fluency</a>. Focus on those which are currently the most constraining or disruptive to your overall business agility.</p>
<p>And it’s not an easy journey. The systemic nature of transitioning to business agility can have a profound impact on individuals. Across the entire organisation there must be inspiring leadership, clear communication and a common purpose to create champions out of everyone. And there will be people in your organisation who do not wish to work in this way and will leave. There’s no value judgement in this, simply needing a different way to work. Respect and understanding must be shown to everyone, even those leaving.</p>
<p>However, despite the complexity of the transition, the benefits to business agility are manifest. Starting with the ability to rapidly respond to competitive challenges, disruption and changes in demand. In fact, an agile organisation can do more than just respond, you can be the challenger and disrupter in an uncertain and unpredictable market. Staff satisfaction and retention is higher and, with a general reduction in management overheads, operating costs are lower. Finally, because agile organisations are purpose driven, you are able to be more responsive to your customers or wider purpose.</p>
<h2 id="final-thoughts">Final Thoughts</h2>
<p>These nine domains and their common characteristics are the key to business agility. None of these are more important than another. Rather they are complementary and mutually necessary in order to achieve agility. There is a natural progression over time - as organisations move from less agile to more agile - where focus will be on specific domains to address specific demands or issues. However, mature agile organisations are ones where all nine domains are present.</p>
<h2 id="acknowledgements">Acknowledgements</h2>
<p>This has been a joint effort by numerous Business Agility practitioners and experts around the world. I’d like to take the time to thank AfriKA M. Ndoto, Andrew Boyd, Asshok Singh, Ben Hogan, Boryana Manolova, Chris Chan, Chris Edwards, Dan Chesterman, David Luke, Dawna Jones, Derek Winter, Diego Espejo, Drew P., Ewan O’Leary, Frederic Ducros, Gopal Katragadda, Hamish Taylor, Harry Nieboer, Henrico Dolfing, Jeff Kosciejew, Jeremy Pullen, Johan Tuulse, Kashif Heyat, Krishna Kumar, Larry Cooper, Malcolm Anderson, Marc-Andre Langlais, Marcelo Espejo, Mia Horrigan, Mitul Ghosh, Nat Tanner, Nick Argall, Peta Guy, Pete Morris, Scott Ambler, Sebastian Voss, Sergey Rogachev, Shane Hastie, ShriKant Vashishtha, Sofia Woloschin, Stelio Verzera, Steve Pruneau, Steve Tendon, Steven Mak, Sunish Chabba, Tahlia Oliver, and Thomas Walenta.</p>
<p>I’d like to especially thank Bret Nelson, Helen Snitkovsky and Renee Troughton for taking my calls at odd hours of the night and Yura Malishenko for his amazing visual design.</p>
<p><a href="https://theagiledirector.com/article/2017/05/25/domains-of-business-agility-v2/">Domains of Business Agility</a> was originally published by Evan Leybourn at <a href="https://theagiledirector.com">The Agile Director</a> on May 25, 2017.</p>https://theagiledirector.com/article/2017/04/27/evans-theory-of-agile-constraints2017-04-27T00:00:00+08:002017-04-27T00:00:00+08:00Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.comevan@theagiledirector.com<p>When it comes to conveying why business agility is important, and with apologies to Eliyahu Goldratt, I often talk about “Evan’s Theory of Agile Constraints”.</p>
<blockquote>"An organisation can only be as agile as it's least agile division!"</blockquote>
<p>Very basically, the Theory of Constraints is that there is a constraining factor in any process. More importantly, that there will <em>always</em> be a constraining factor. The Theory of Agile Constraints is that, in an organisation, there will <em>always</em> be a constraint to business agility. 20 years ago, that was IT. That was your software team. And that’s why it was logical for Agile, capital “A” Agile, to emerge in that domain. Today the constraint to agility isn’t IT, but rather it’s the PMO, HR, finance, or legal department.</p>
<p>It can help to think of work in an organisation as a flow. Let’s take a software organisation. We have user or business demand on one side and the production environment on the other. Somewhere along this flow is the limiting constraint. Maybe it’s taking too long for our developers to deliver products. So we introduce Scrum.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="/images/toac1.jpg" style="width: 50%;" /></p>
<p>That opens up the flow in our development teams. Great. Except that Agile hasn’t been as effective as we hoped. It’s still taking too long. The sad fact is that many organisations stop here and say “well Agile didn’t work”, but fail to look at the next constraint in the system. Maybe now it’s deployment. So let’s bring in DevOps. Great - that opens up the flow further.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="/images/toac2.jpg" style="width: 50%;" /></p>
<p>But now there’s a new constraint. We need a wider view. We need to bring in business agility. Where’s the next constraint? Maybe it’s Finance, our budgeting process. We have an 18 month budgeting process limiting a development cycle that can deploy every day. Fix that. Then it’s HR or the PMO.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="/images/toac3.jpg" style="width: 50%;" /></p>
<p>In today’s economy, these are the areas that are constraining the agility of an organisation. In many ways, this is the definition of business agility. Taking the mindset of agility, and the practice of Agile, and applying it across the organisation. But it goes beyond that as well. It goes into the very culture and structure of the organisation. Is the organisation designed in such a way to be competitive in an ambiguous and unpredictable market?</p>
<p>These are not easy problems to solve. It’s not just a matter of asking Finance and HR to adopt Scrum or Kanban (I don’t think that’s ever worked, even for software teams). These teams can introduce significant cultural and experience barriers. These are teams who look at their current ways of working and say; “we have always worked this way”. And in many cases quite successfully. Therefore, if we want to introduce agility to these divisions, we need to communicate that this isn’t about fixing a problem. We’re fundamentally changing the way the organisation operates in the market. To put another way, we are improving the outcomes for the entire organisation, not just a single division.</p>
<p>The point is that there is always a constraint to your organisational agility which, in turn, limits your ability to adapt to an unpredictable and ambiguous market.</p>
<p>So, if there’s always a limitation to how agile you can be, where is it in your organisations? Is it IT or software? You may not be doing capital “A” Agile perfectly, but is that really your constraining factor to agility? Let me know below.</p>
<p><a href="https://theagiledirector.com/article/2017/04/27/evans-theory-of-agile-constraints/">Evan's Theory of Agile Constraints</a> was originally published by Evan Leybourn at <a href="https://theagiledirector.com">The Agile Director</a> on April 27, 2017.</p>https://theagiledirector.com/article/2017/04/01/stop-using-the-word-transformation2017-04-01T00:00:00+08:002017-04-01T00:00:00+08:00Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.comevan@theagiledirector.com<p>I had the opportunity to attend leadership training earlier this week. One of the key topics was that of leading transformations and during the course of the discussion I came to a realisation. We, in the agile community, need to stop using the word transformation.</p>
<p><em>It’s not a transformation!</em></p>
<p>The implication is that we’re going from A to B. That B is a specific and clear destination. It also assumes it will stop. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever heard of a Google transformation or a Netflix transformation? No…</p>
<p>They don’t transform, but they do change. They change continuously.</p>
<p><em>There is no single “B”.</em></p>
<p>So why do we talk about transformation? I think there are two reasons. The first is about perception. Change is hard. It also never stops. So when business results invariably suffer in the short-term as a result (or in spite of) a change talking about it as a transformation - with an end - gives hope that outcomes will rise. But the truth is that they will usually rise because you’re changing, not because you’ve changed. The second reason relates to the cost of change. We can show ROI on “transformation” whereas continuous change isn’t as simple. I can point to a line on a chart and say - after <em>t</em> the ROI will <em>$x</em></p>
<p><img src="/images/transformation-chart1.jpg" alt="Chart 1" /></p>
<p>Whereas ROI of continuous change doesn’t have a clearly defined t. And yet, over time, the return will continue to rise.</p>
<p><img src="/images/transformation-chart2.jpg" alt="Chart 2" /></p>
<p>So, unless you’re actually describing a transformation, please stop using the word. It is misleading and does a disservice to the continuous improvement that we lead.</p>
<p><a href="https://theagiledirector.com/article/2017/04/01/stop-using-the-word-transformation/">Stop using the word "Transformation"</a> was originally published by Evan Leybourn at <a href="https://theagiledirector.com">The Agile Director</a> on April 01, 2017.</p>https://theagiledirector.com/external/2017/03/04/business-agility-2017-podcast2017-03-04T00:00:00+08:002017-03-04T00:00:00+08:00Evan Leybournhttps://theagiledirector.comevan@theagiledirector.com<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_F8bjrScuNU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<p><a href="https://theagiledirector.com/external/2017/03/04/business-agility-2017-podcast/">Agile Amped podcast at Business Agility 2017</a> was originally published by Evan Leybourn at <a href="https://theagiledirector.com">The Agile Director</a> on March 04, 2017.</p>