
The Journey is the Destination
What do User Stories, Story Points, and Objective & Key-Results (OKR) have in common? The obvious answer that all three have something to do with Agile is too simple…
What do User Stories, Story Points, and Objective & Key-Results (OKR) have in common? The obvious answer that all three have something to do with Agile is too simple…
When agile methods encounter encrusted structures of traditional organizations, one cannot automatically expect a sustainable transformation. It is much more likely that the new practices will be integrated into the existing structures as smoothly as possible through assimilation. As an Agile coach, you might feel as secure and effective as Jean-Luc Picard in the captivity of the Borg.
Longing for simple solutions on the individual level in the face of complex problems may be understandable and seem optimistic. Still, it is just cruel because the likely failure will also be attributed to the individuals and their “mindset.”
The often heated discussion about the proper agile method or the right framework for scaling obscures the view of what is essential: the empowerment of employees to organize themselves.
Agile frameworks are collections of generalized solutions to typical problems in agile organizations. Applying these solutions works best when the pain of the problem is felt instead of just understood theoretically. An agile transformation is not an introduction of a framework but a joint journey on which obstacles are discovered and solved with the help of the known frameworks.
In retrospect, I consider it one of my biggest mistakes to have always categorically rejected metrics for the agile transformation. Although I still see the danger of an explosion of cargo cult if phenomena of agility are measured and rewarded instead of the essence, I would consciously take the risk today. For sooner or later, in every transformation, there comes a time when the question is raised very insistently as to what all this is meant to achieve and what it brings. And then you have to beat the system with its own weapons.
COVID-19 is a touchstone for agility and new work. The crisis reveals the true culture of the organization unvarnished. Quite a few beanbags and foosball tables now turn out to be “lipstick on the pig”, a naive cargo cult at best and the deliberate deception of a Potemkin village at worst.
Agile transformation is not a change project designed by consultants and ordered by top management, however much some people selling panaceas may propagate it. Agile transformation is a joint learning…
How can we become (more) agile? Many of my conversations begin with this question. So someone wants to work differently, wants to become agile or more agile. The…
Transformation is what everyone is talking about, because digitalization demands adaptable and customer-oriented organizations. Apparently steadfast organizational principles and behaviors that have been successful for many years must…
Not everything that has transformation in neon letters on its cover actually is a transformation. It all starts with the erroneous assumption that agility can boost employee performance just…
Much can be learned from Lean Management: Understanding the value for the customer, then identifying the value stream and optimizing the flow to avoid unnecessary effort and last…
We live in times in which “many things have changed and change faster and faster”, as the time researcher Karl-Heinz Geißler so aptly put it. 2018 was an…
Genuine authority is not a question of rank, but of exemplary behavior, for leadership is based more on imitation than on subordination. We could save ourselves a lot of resistance,…
There are all sorts of ideas. And those who have visions should consult a physician, as Helmut Schmidt once said. After all, the most important thing is that the…
Scrum is a deceptively simple framework for agile product development. Besides the development team there are only the roles Product Owner and Scrum Master. The process is lean and…
Copying Spotify or simply implementing any other blueprint of an agile organization is a fundamental mistake. Not because the models themselves were poor, but because implementing a model of an…
Change and change management was yesterday. Today we are doing transformations. A digital transformation for business models, because data is the new oil. An agile transformation for the organization…
How do people cope with change? Family therapist Virginia Satir has provided an interesting model that can also be applied to organizational changes. A stable status quo is challenged…
As a manager today, it is necessary to have more abilities than just to climb the career ladder as far as possible. The hierarchy is without question an appropriate…
At a time when it is “normal that many things are changing and are changing more quickly than ever” (Karl-Heinz Geißler), the role of leadership must at least be…
In our predominantly tayloristic working world, there is always a strict separation between thinking and acting. The management defines goals, organization and processes and the simple employees are working…
Dear decision-makers, who wish to make your organizations more agile, do not long for heroes and saviors for your agile transformation. And please stop copying blueprints and using…
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