Hi! I'm Mark. I help development teams create software more efficiently using
principles from Agile, Lean, some Common Sense, and a bunch of hard work.
If you do much of anything in the Agile space, you are going to hear about Agile transformations.
Agile transformations are a popular way for organizations to try to become Agile. The
idea sounds great. You hire a consultant to come in and
then spend a few months helping “transform” your
organization to be Agile. Almost sounds like magic right? You simply pay a big chunk
of money and at the end of that your organization can now say that they have
been transformed into powerhouse of Agile activities.
So do “transformations” like this make any sense? Well maybe if the way you
achieve Agility is to “transform” but maybe not if the path to Agility actually
involves something else. So it is worth reminding ourselves what Agile actually
means. Agile is a set of 4 values and 12 principles. The values are things like:
* We value working software more than we value comprehensive documentation.
* We value responding to change more than we value following a plan.
The principles are things like:
* The most efficient way to communicate is face-to-face.
* Teams need to take time to reflect and adjust the way they work to be more
effective.
* Progress is primarily measured in terms of working software.
You can watch my “What is Agile?” video if you want to see a discussion of all
the Agile Values and Agile Principles, but lets consider these in terms of
trying to do a transformation. Let’s say that right now your organization is
really heavy on creating tons of documentation. To become Agile you need to make
a shift toward placing more emphasis on working software. Does that sound like
something you can do by “transforming?”
In most of the organizations where I’ve worked, shifting what the organization
values is difficult. It isn’t something that happens overnight it takes a lot of
time because it isn’t a matter of changing what people do—it requires changing
how they think.
What about the principle that says the most efficient way to communicate is
face-to-face? Can an organization suddenly “transform” to follow that
principle? Probably not. Sure, the CEO could dictate that no one is allowed to
talk to anyone else unless it is face to face, but that is going to be counter
productive. There is a big difference between following a dictate to have
face-to-face meetings, and an overarching principle followed by an organization
because everyone believes in it.
My point is that most of the things that define an organization as being Agile
are fairly ineffective if they are simply mandated from the top down. They have
to become part of the culture and the DNA of the organization. You can make
people change, but you can’t make them value change simply by sending a memo.
Agile is something organizations grow into. They don’t just become Agile, they
develop maturity in following Agile principles and making decisions according to
Agile values. If Agile is about growth, then maybe thinking in terms of
transformation isn’t helpful…worse, maybe it is damaging.
Imagine you meet someone who claims to be able to “transform” your toddler into
an adult. Would you want them to do that? No? Why not? Wouldn’t you prefer they
just be transformed into an adult without all the hard work of growing up?
Of course not, the process of growing up is how they mature and even if you
could somehow “transform” a kid into an adult you wouldn’t want to. It would
miss the entire point of becoming an adult which is growing into that level of
maturity. The step by step process of growing up every day is what makes a
successful adult.
The same thing is true for Agile. Agile is about continually getting better at
following the Agile Values and Principles. You don’t just transform. You evolve
and grow and improve. If you try to skip the process, you end up with the
organizational equivalent of a child running around in a full grown adult body.
By the way this isn’t hypothetical. There is a gene mutation that can make boys
grow up extremely quickly which is Raymond Burleigh became the youngest US
soldier in World War I by saying he was 20. After being poisoned by mustard gas
they discovered his age and sent him home. He had enlisted when he was 11.
Bringing Agility to an organization is not a matter of flipping a switch. Just
like growing into a mature adult, achieving Agility is a process of evolving step by step.
Good leadership can help make sure the process
stays on track, but it isn’t a super-man style transformation from non-Agile
to Agile. You can’t skip the maturation process and you shouldn’t try
to.
Thanks for watching this video. If you found it useful, please checkout some of my other
videos and subscribe to be notified when we release
new cartoons to help your team on their path to Agility