Organizational Agility: The Hidden Goal (And Often Missed Opportunity) of Agile Transformation

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Copyright © 2012 Big Visible Solutions © 2012 BigVisible Solu1ons

Michael Hamman

Bob Fischer Jim Elvidge

Organiza1onal Agility: The Hidden Goal (and

OHen-‐Missed Opportunity) of Agile

Transforma1on

Copyright © 2012 Big Visible Solutions 2

Why Organizational Agility?

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Most Agile adoptions focus on the delivery capacity of teams or

aggregates of teams.

Copyright © 2012 Big Visible Solutions

A Common PaPern of Agile Teams Over Time...

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Time

Perf

orm

ance

Teams start off great guns.

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5

Time

Perf

orm

ance

Then, at some point performance and enthusiasm begin to plateau



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Time

Perf

orm

ance

Without substantial intervention, those teams can plateau or even begin to decline.

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What is Happening?


We can fix this ourselves

Time

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We can influence others to fix this

Time



We can influence others to fix this

This is beyond our control

Over time, the team confronts things that appear more challenging to improve.

Time

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Managers that haven’t changed to enable self-organization still attempt to control and coordinate

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Staff Caught Between Conflic1ng Goals

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Department Goals

Product or Team Goals

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Exis1ng processes have not been reviewed and updated to support agility


In other words, your teams have hit an ins1tu1onal ceiling.

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Time

Perf

orm

ance

Institutional Ceiling

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Merely trying to resolve these challenges tac1cally is not sustainable.

There are simply too many holes to plug.


In the end, we need to think about agility holis1cally.

(Moving from a team delivery focus toward an organiza1onal learning orienta1on.)

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In this session we share some tools for thinking and managing holistically.


What is Organizational Agility?

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Working Defini1on

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Organiza1onal agility is being able to rapidly sense and effec1vely respond to arising opportuni1es and challenges.


Sense and Respond

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Fostering organiza1onal agility requires first that we have a way of sensing the whole.


MODEL: Spectrum of Agility Capabili1es

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•  Leadership and management styles and beliefs about what constitutes effective leadership and management

•  Structures, processes and systems by which work gets done and is organized

•  Collective beliefs, perspectives and habits by which people make sense of things

•  Product Management/Strategy •  Lean, continuous planning

•  Product Development/Delivery •  Multiple Team/Programs •  Kanban •  Scrum

•  Automated Testing •  Test-driven Development •  Continuous Integration

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Spectrum of Agility Capabili1es

© 2010 BigVisible Solu1ons, Inc.. All Rights Reserved 23

Broader organizational agility can be achieved to the degree that agile capability

is realized across all five parts of organizational array.


To get bePer at seeing this, we’ll want to first re-‐orient the way we think about the nature of organiza1ons.

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To do this, we start by considering the no1on of mental models.


Our Mental Models Color Our Op1ons For Working Within Organiza1ons

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Experience Preferences

Culture

Training

Mood

Photograph provided under Creative Commons License by Veni Markovski

Models

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•  These mental models determine the decisions we make, the plans we administer, the management structures we put in place, and the styles of leadership we believe to be effec1ve.

•  And these mental models are largely invisible to us

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Mental Models Shape Ac1on

Mental Models And Context Actions Results

Shapes Affects


The Cynefin Framework From: Snowden and Boone

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"Cynefin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin (accessed October 4, 2011).

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The Cynefin Framework Provides a Useful Perspec1ve for Viewing Organiza1on and Leadership

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Cynefin model provides a set of explicitly defined mental models—or ‘filters’-‐-‐through which we might produc1vely observe and think about organiza1onal phenomena.

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•  Stability, liPle change •  Clear cause and effect rela1onships

•  The right answer is self-‐evident, and usually there is a single right answer

•  “Known knowns”

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•  Rela1onship between cause and effect is there, but not everyone can see it

•  Requires high degrees of exper1se and analysis

•  Mul1ple right answers •  “Known unknowns”

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Copyright © 2012 Big Visible Solutions Photo provided under Creative Commons by David Villarreal Fernández

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Copyright © 2012 Big Visible Solutions Photo provided under Creative Commons by David Villarreal Fernández

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An expert engineer can dissemble it and re-assemble it and be able to drive out of the garage.

Over and over, again.


•  Large number of interac1ng parts

•  Interac1ons are not always predictable

•  Behavior of the system cannot be predicted based on behavior of the parts

•  The history of the system effects current performance

•  Cause and effect can only be perceived in retrospect

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Copyright © 2012 Big Visible Solutions 37 Photo provided under Creative Commons by wka


Implica1ons of Complex Systems

•  You cannot determinis1cally predict how the system will react to a given s1mulus

•  You can only understand the system in retrospect –  But the understanding is illusory

•  Solu1ons cannot be imposed because there are simply too many unknowns

•  Therefore, complex organiza1ons are best led through a probe-‐sense-‐respond loop

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Though most modern organiza1onal semngs are complex, most managers and leaders view organiza1ons as complicated.


This is a big problem.

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You now have the wrong filter. With the wrong filter, anything you do to improve things will actually make them worse.

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In trea1ng organiza1onal situa1ons as complex: •  Experts dominate the

discovery process •  This leads to

–  Entrenched thinking

–  Analysis paralysis

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This, in turn, leads to the Treadmill of Compounding Complica7on

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New Processes

and Structure

Difficult for People to Follow

Process Not

Followed

Perceived Lack of Control

Start Here


You are now buried in complica1on that needs to be that much more ‘managed.’

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Many organiza1onal situa1ons are inherently complex.

They cannot be regulated by tradi1onal management approaches.


Complex organizational situations call for a different approach to leadership and management…

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A Well Designed Environment

Photo provided under Creative Commons by Eugene Chan

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…from managing for control


…to designing for emergence

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In an agile organiza1on, the job of leadership and management shiHs from managing individuals and teams to managing, and con1nuously improving, the organiza1onal environments in which individuals and teams operate.

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Agile Teams

Organizational Environment


There is a sensing, and there is responding aspect to this.

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Sensing


The Sensing Elements

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Organiza1on Structures

Organiza1on Culture

Leadership Styles

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The organizational structures, rules and policies which facilitate how work gets done and how results get produced.



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Collectively held beliefs, values and assumptions which determine how people think and how they behave.

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How leaders and managers lead, inspire, direct and motivate others.


Improvement in All Three Areas is the Job of Leadership and Management

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Organiza1on Culture

Leadership Styles

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Agile Team

EXAMPLE: Agile Team Sensing: Start with the team…


Agile Team

What challenges and blocks does it run into? What behaviors do they exhibit?

Blocks, impediments, bad behaviors, inefficiencies

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Agile Team

These are the ques1ons posed by a Management Team.


Management Team


Rather than simply making the problem go away, we want to engage in a form of systemic inquiry.

Systemic Inquiry:

Agile Teams


Management Team

How can we better understand, not just the presenting problem or challenge, but the underlying dynamics which that problem or challenge manifests?

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A Sensing Elements frame helps us conduct such a systemic inquiry by helping us frame deeper ques1ons

about the organiza1on.

Systemic Inquiry:

Agile Teams


Agile Enablement

Team

How might our thinking and leadership styles be impeding the capacity for effec=ve agile delivery, product development, and organiza=onal agility?

What assump=ons, collec=vely held beliefs, or percep=ons of our values are blocking our ability to imagine new ways of working?

What org. structures, rules, or policies, which once may have been needed, have now become boClenecks to effec=ve agile delivery?


This constitutes a form of deep organizational sensing.

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Responding


A shiH from managing through direc1ng, mo1va1ng and coordina1ng people…

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People

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Organizational Environment

… to managing through design of environments.

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People


It can be helpful to use our organiza1onal sensing lens to orient our design thinking.

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Organiza1on Culture

Leadership Styles

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A Simple Example:

We Reflect On and Improve How we Work through Retrospec1ves

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Photo provided under Creative Commons by Improve IT


How might the design of the organizational environment facilitate the emergence of this capability?

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•  Organiza1onal support people gathering to reflect: •  Team spaces •  Collabora1ve technology




Organiza1on Culture

•  It is safe to admit failures •  There is a constant drive for improvement

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Organiza1on Culture

•  It is safe to admit failures •  There is a constant drive for improvement

Leadership Style •  Leaders publicly reflect on their own successes and failures – and improving

•  Leaders demonstrate ac1ve learning


Notice how little management (in the traditional, control sense of the term) there is.

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Environment Design is a management methodology that facilitates emergence of particular, desired organizational capabilities.


Environment Design as a Methodology for Building Organiza1onal Capability

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Outmaneuver the compe11on by implemen1ng high-‐value product features faster than they do

Goal

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Goal

We are able to experiment with new product ideas, quickly iden1fying what is worth inves1ng in and what is not

Capability



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Goal

We are able to experiment with new product ideas, quickly iden1fying what is worth inves1ng in and what is not

Capability

•  Leaders support experimenta1on <L> •  Fast failures are celebrated <C> •  Org structures facilitate

experimenta1on <S> •  Lean startup prac1ces are used <C>

Environment Design

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Environment Design recognizes that an important dimension of organizational life is complex, and therefore cannot be regulated in the usual manner.


Such an approach to organizational management calls for something more than just tactical or strategic leadership.

It calls for what Bill Joiner and Stephen Josephs call catalytic leadership.

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Complicated vs. Complex

Complex The relationship between cause and

effect can only be perceived in retrospect (most organizational situations)

-> Catalytic, experimental methods work best (allow the path forward to reveal itself)

-> Follow emergent practices: 1. Probe 2. Sense 3. Respond

- But watch for command/control, imposing order

MODEL: Cataly1c Leadership From: Joyner & Josephs


•  Each level reflects a greater capacity to deal with complexity and rapid change.

•  Each level builds upon, but expands the range of mental and leadership capability over the levels below

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Three Levels of Leadership Agility*

Expert Achiever Catalyst

* Bill Joiner, Stephen Josephs, Leadership Agility: Five Levels of Mastery for Anticipating and Initiating Change.

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Expert

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View of Leadership Agility in Pivotal Conversa=ons

Agility in Leading Teams

Agility in Leading Organiza=onal

Change

Tactical, problem solving orientation

Believes that leaders are respected and followed by others because of their Authority and Expertise.

Style is either to strongly assert opinions or to hold back to accommodate others. May swing back from one style to the other, particularly for different relationships. Tends to avoid giving or requesting feedback.

More of a supervisor than a manager. Creates a group of individuals rather than a team. Work with direct reports is primarily one-on-one. Too caught up in the details of own work to lead in a strategic manner.

Organizational initiatives focus primarily on incremental improvements inside unit boundaries with little attention to stakeholders.

Bill Joiner, Stephen Josephs, Leadership Agility: Five Levels of Mastery for Anticipating and Initiating Change


Achiever

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Change

Strategic, outcome orientation

Believes that leaders motivate others by making it challenging and satisfying to contribute to larger objectives.

Primarily Assertive or accommodating with some ability to compensate with the less preferred style. Will accept or even initiate feedback, if helpful in achieving desired outcomes.

Operates like a full-fledged manager. Meetings to discuss important strategic or organizational issues are often orchestrated to gain buy-in to own views.

Organizational initiatives include analysis of external environment. Strategies to gain stakeholder buy-in range from one-way communication to soliciting input.

Bill Joiner, Stephen Josephs, Leadership Agility: Five Levels of Mastery for Anticipating and Initiating Change

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Catalyst

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Change

Visionary, facilitative orientation

Believes that leaders articulate an innovative, inspiring vision and bring together the right people to transform the vision into reality. Leaders empower others and actively facilitate their development.

Adept at balancing assertive and accommodating styles as needed in particular situations. Likely to articulate and question underlying assumptions. Genuinely interested in learning from divers viewpoints. Proactive in seeking and utilizing feedback.

Intent upon creating a highly participative team. Acts as team leader and facilitator. Models and seeks open exchange of views on difficult issues. Empowers direct reports. Uses team development as a vehicle for leadership development.

Organizational initiatives often include development of a culture that promotes teamwork, participation, and empowerment. Proactive engagement with diverse stakeholders reflects a belief that input increases the quality of decisions, not just buy-in.

From Bill Joiner, Stephen Josephs, Leadership Agility: Five Levels of Mastery for Anticipating and Initiating Change, p. 8.


“During the early 1980s, a series of academic studies produced statistically significant correlations, showing that the capacities managers develop at the more advanced stages carry over into the way they exercise leadership. These studies also found that, in the great majority of cases, catalytic managers are more effective than conventional managers.

Why? Because they are more strategic in their thinking, more collaborative, more proactive in seeking feedback, more effective in resolving conflicts, more active in developing subordinates, and more likely to redefine problems to capitalize on the connections between them.”

Correlation of Stages to Managerial Styles

Source: Bill Joiner, Stephen Josephs, Leadership Agility: Five Levels of Mastery for Anticipating and Initiating Change, pp. viii-ix

Correla1on of Stages to Management Styles

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Copyright © 2012 Big Visible Solutions Agile Leadership Principles

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Why Do We Care?

•  There is a rela1vely low level of cataly1c behavior demonstrated by managers –  45% Expert –  35% Achiever –  5-‐10% Catalyst

•  And yet there is an increasing need for catalyst leadership in modern organiza1ons

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Conclusions

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•  Leaders and managers need to think beyond the team and facilitate the emergence of a broader capacity for organiza7onal agility.

•  Such a capacity cannot be managed or regulated into existence; such a capacity can only really be catalyzed.

•  By focusing on the broader organiza1onal environment, managers find important design points of leverage.

•  Managing through the design of environments creates condi1ons that favor the emergence of par1cular, desired organiza1onal capabili1es and, therefore, behaviors.

•  Managing for the emergence of organiza1onal agility is an inherently complex task, calling for a cataly7c approach to leadership and management.

Business

Organizational Agility: The Hidden Goal (And Often Missed Opportunity) of Agile Transformation