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Take a moment and look around you. Everything that you interact within a given day was designed by a person. While it may be obvious that the device you’re reading this email on was designed by someone, the less obvious moments of design could be how you experienced getting lunch or coffee recently. Did you order first then pay? Did someone wait on you? Once you start to think about every way in which someone interacts with an object or an experience, you’re beginning to think like a designer.
Thinking like a designer can transform the way organizations develop products, services, processes, and strategy. Design thinking, brings together what is desirable from a human point of view with what is technologically feasible and economically viable. It also allows people who aren’t trained as designers to use creative tools to address a vast range of challenges.
The students at the Stanford d. school were challenged to find a solution for saving the lives of babies born prematurely in Nepal and rural parts of India. They were initially challenged to re-design an incubator and make it cost-effective to keep the baby’s warm and thus save their lives. The cost of such incubators was as high as $20,000. People living in rural parts of the country did not have access to such incubators; thus millions of these tiny lives were lost annually. Download the case study to read More
To learn about Design thinking, upcoming open workshops and how Design Thinking can help transform your organisation, reach out to us at [email protected]m
Being the latest player in the ever-changing environment of software development practices, Agile has become the focus of many a heated discussion. Is it benefiting or redundant? Is it good for managerial practices or just a fad to be glossed over with time?
Agile has its fair share of fan following, but still faces ire of many developers. The primary reason being that it’s often forced on developers in the company or team without their consent or understanding of Agile practices. Preferred by project managers, it is sprung upon team members. Since Agile involves short scrums or sprints, it is often found to be unnecessarily bothersome by some developers. On the other hand, its iterative runs and close connection with clients provide for a more customer-centric approach. This implies a higher acceptance level for Agile amongst stakeholders, clients, and team leaders.
No wonder there are so many extreme views about it. Some swear by it with all their might. Others reject it for Waterfall techniques. But the truth is, reality lies in between.
Let’s have a look at the various arguments for and against Agile:
REASONS FOR DISLIKE:
It’s still young
IT industry has seen its fair share of ‘fads’ coming and going. So it’s natural if service engineers are reluctant to accept a technique before seeing all its facets fully. So Agile being the new guy in town, is still in the doubtful category.
But the truth is: Agile is nearly 2 decades old now. Way back in 2001, the Agile Manifesto was published for the first time. The Scrum Pattern language came into being even earlier, as a concept presented in the Object-Oriented Programming, Systems, and Languages (OOPSLA) conference in 1995. The seeds of Extreme Programming were sowed in PLoP 1995, through its predecessor the Episodes pattern language. So Agile cannot exactly be called new.
Instead, Agile techniques reinforce adaptation in the dynamic environments where much variability is expected, for instance, in evolutionary theory. It works as a way of interacting with others on a team daily. In a world where communication is the key, it is the only way of established interaction in a complicated world.
Easy come easy go, not:
Agile sounds like it’s easy to implement. Simply divide the project into smaller tasks taken up by different members of the team. Followed by periodic meetings with managers/scrum leaders for progress status. Sounds simple? But in reality, many believe it’s hard to transition from one complex system and delivery lifecycle to a simpler one. Some assume it makes the development process all that much more difficult. And even if some companies have adapted to Agile, they are often pondering, can agile be scaled when a new technology comes into existence? It is worth the hassle of being accepted?
Without proper knowledge on the 12 guiding principles of Agile, some try to implement the Agile operating model or a single Agile based framework by the textbook. But Agile is known for its flexibility. So without proper knowledge on the transformational complexity of Agile, one is bound to flounder. There are so many Agile frameworks in the works, each suited to one style of operation. The key is to not implement an Agile framework simply because it’s popular. Instead, one has to understand the strengths weaknesses of the company along with the consequences of assimilating a framework. Subsequently, failure to do so leads to disappointment on the Agile practice itself. Or even if they manage successfully implement it, it incurs greater expenditure due to lack of effective transformation.
To experience the benefits of Agile completely, one needs to develop a particular, relevant mindset first. Only then, it is possible to incorporate it fully with all team members understanding and accepting the framework.
Planning is non-existent
Or so the traditional Waterfall supporters like to claim. True, compared to Waterfall where the planning process is charted out at the beginning of the development cycle, Agile may seem lax. However, detailed planning is essential for Agile to be effective too. The difference lies in how the two approaches differ in planning timing. While waterfall likes it at the outset, Agile planning is an ongoing process.
This kind of incremental planning approach has its benefits. It puts a cap on large scale upfront investments on uncertainty. It also leads to the adapting of projects and assignments to rapidly changing demands and priorities as the project progresses.
Usually, there are sprints preceded by a planning meeting. It addresses requirement, tasks and the exact time it will take to complete the tasks with all necessities. Different tasks are collaboratively prioritized by the team members. The meetings during each sprint determine the work for the day at in depth. The scrum master must ensure retrospection at the end of iterations among the team members.
With incremental planning approach, there is the challenge of technical debt management. However, most of them are solvable due to openness to reworking on modules as information and kind of requirements desired to become clearer with project progress.
Lack of project documentation
Documentation is like a blueprint an application development project. It details the objectives, end goals of the client and the company, system description and working.
However, Agile calls for less need for documentation because of the involvement of client and owners at every level and iterative run, so the project makes more sense to every party at the end of the sprints.
But Agile does produce documentation, only quite different from Waterfall’s style of documentation. Instead of making a single, lengthy document with all project requirements, Agile brings forward the concept of user stories. Team managers compile them such that they are easy to update and maintain automatically with software help. They are built on the go and ensure real-time transparency and visibility.
Not good with centralized software solutions
It is unheard of to use Agile with federal software development, no matter what the requirements are. The only challenge is that some specific federal practice demands may be challenging with developers using Agile. Primarily, the challenges lie with acquisition, accreditation, architecture and security certifications.
Most companies make a list of requirements with a detailed description of the end product before contracting a software development company. The aim is to obtain a specific kind of end result from a particular vendor. But if this result changes with each iteration, some believe that the federal software requisition falls flat.
But Agile isn’t only about being fast, it’s about being flexible. If the project requirements are all detailed in the contracts from the start as is the case with federal software, then there is a shift in dynamics. The number of sprints, user stories and the overall time become set and similar to Waterfall framework.
REASONS FOR LOVING IT:
Stakeholder first
Agile puts the stakeholder above all, including the clients, project manager, development and testing team. With clear visibility of the project from every side, success is guaranteed. Agile principles dictate the participation of the end ‘user’ in the product’s development cycle and encourage a cooperative collaborative approach. This generates a high amount of visibility for key stakeholders in the progress `of the product or project, leading to efficient management.
Highly productive
In the Agile framework, teams are self-organized. This gives developers the authority and responsibility to agree to work with each other and the client or product owner. This is a stark contrast from the Waterfall framework where the team leader or project manager assigns works to teams and makes all the critical decisions. This induces a sense of belonging and ownership to the team while increasing overall morale. All these factors culminate into increased productivity.
Faster
Since the delivery style is incremental, the time take to reach the market is faster, meaning higher revenues. This is a guaranteed way to ensure customer satisfaction with a greater return on investments.
Better Quality
Quality determines the fate of any project. In the Waterfall model, the testing and debugging phase starts after the development phase. This style has its limits and leads to greater time for testing. In an Agile framework, testing is a continuous part of sprints. With testing integrated throughout the product development lifecycle, regular inspection is facilitated. This means the client can recommend adjustments if necessary, at an early phase. The development team gets early access to any quality issues.
satisfaction for developers
If implemented correctly, Agile provides the best kind of flexibility. It makes work enjoyable for the team with provisions to select tasks in some Agile frameworks. With active involvement from all, the team members can suggest changes to other members stuck on a task. The task can be estimated through games and recreational activities that provide rest to overworked mind as the sprints are fast and short term. Creative task boards, new styles of conducting boring meetings, etc, make it up for a rewarding experience
To conclude, transitioning to Agile framework for an agency used to non-agile frameworks is painful admittedly. While managers may feel they have lost a lot of authority or tools in their bag, it is not necessarily the case. Instead, Agile calls for a harmonic division of workload for faster productivity. What is necessary is to work out the kinks by going over and understanding Agile principles before implementing them. A thorough study of which framework suits the company best and an enlightening the employees involved is necessary for the right transition to Agile. There are so many misconceptions and myths surrounding Agile, so developers need to be explained how it’s for the better instead of worse. And Leadership Tribe conducts courses that can teach both managers and their subordinate developers the core concepts of Agile ensuring that misconceptions and myth never plague their actions and decisions.
When it comes to selling, the common perception is that one needs to get into a transaction; a space of ‘give and take’ for remuneration. While this concept can be easily formalised in a business that sells products but it comes to a service, one needs to examine other aspects of the spectrum as well.
Marketing is a skill in effecting a sale. The potency of a marketing strategy or campaign is as powerful as the volume of sales it generates. If the process does not generate a return on the investment (ROI), it is simply a facet of idle creativity of no value. It is like a beautiful painting which people will appreciate but not venture to buy, and even if they did, will pay a price that will be far below its potential value.
Fortunately, Agile enables a mindset that goes beyond the realms of creative thinking and innovation. It focuses on building capacities in earning revenue. Everything you do in an Agile environment, if done right, will generate an ROI.
So how does that work? Here are some quick tips for better prospects at marketing:
Tip #1
Make a Promise to your Customer: It’s all about people in Agile. And customers are just that. Good people! Keeping a client-centric approach in your marketing strategy is the first step towards a smart plan. Get to know what the customer wants, and if he isn’t sure of what he wants…great…. create a want that he will benefit from! Make him aware of his wants and show him access to realise it. Making a promise to your clients and clearly defining it in words signifies the intent with which you are approaching the sale.
Tip #2
Be Interested, Not Interesting: Your marketing pitch should not be about how good or competent you are, but should be more on how involved are you in benefiting the customer in getting what he needs. A smart team will always have an approach of ‘being interested’ in a customer than being ‘interesting to them’. It’s all about collaborating at the human level.
Tip #3
Listen with Intention: Essence of Agile is in the power of Listening. Listen to what the customer is asking for not from assumptions and prevailing perceptions but his world. Listen from his stance, do not allow your views colour what he is seeking. When engaging with a client, be intentional in the listening department!
Tip #4
Keep the Agenda out of the Context: Good teams rehearse a pitch before the client meeting, effective teams, create one right at that moment. Preconceived sales pitches and ideas are generated from a single dimension, which becomes the defacto agenda. The customer’s perception is not factored in and hence the sales are driven by the agenda. Keep the agenda out of the Context, let it be in content though. The context should be to give a great customer experience which he will want to engage in more and more. That should be the Genesis of the pitch, not the agenda to ‘make a sale’.
Tip #5
Do not look at the Score Board: Players in a game never look at the scoreboard. We all know what happens to a player who is more bothered looking at the score than his performance in the field. Keep playing the game unmindful of what the score is. Marketing is not about achieving sales figures and targets, it is about taking actions commensurate to the overall strategy of the business.
We at Leadership Tribe are purely customer-driven. We place ourselves last when it comes to offering our product and in the marketing pipeline. We know, our success is when our customers succeed, and that is our promise. We do not sell a service, instead, we are in the business of enabling technology. A technology to achieve high performance and excellence, which when effectively implemented, shall result in outcomes best suited to our customers. Join us in our Business Agility Program to understand the complete spectrum of Agile Marketing and Implementation and in the process make new connections and collaborations with like-minded individuals and organisations.
Organisations are vibrant systems. Systems dependent on human relationships and resources. These systems need to be supported by clearly articulated intentions, working structures and adaptive strategies. The most common method to fix the success of a business is to declare goals and then deploy resources to achieve them. Goals help teams and individuals set clear targets and a sense of direction. A direction towards which they hope to fulfil objectives and derive mission outcomes. However, the question that arises is, are goals significant in the overall growth of the company? Do they support business needs?
To answer this, let us examine why goals are set. The common intentions for goal setting are:
Derive a clear ‘score’ that needs to be achieved within a definite timeline.
To enable effective communication of intended output for the business
To facilitate various systems, converge on a common value outcome
To ensure the business thrives on a clear metric of measurement
Another approach to achieve business objectives is to be purpose-driven. A purpose can be defined as the reason why an entity exists or activity is done. Organisations should clearly articulate the purpose for which the business exists and more importantly, what does that purpose fulfil. Stating a clear purpose may not be that simple for most enterprises have no clarity on the ‘Why’ of their existence. As complex as it may seem, being purposeful is actually a simple and effective way of being successful.
A purpose-driven organization will endure more than a goal-oriented one due to the following attributes:
A purpose demands a foundation based on belief and values. Unlike goals, which are only directional and ‘action-centric’, a purpose serves as a moral compass that calls for self-introspection and needs to be calibrated regularly.
The purpose is complimentary with commitment. If an organization has a clear purpose of its intentions, commitment automatically gets generated. Purpose begets commitment as a by-product. Goals, on the other hand, need the commitment to be created and sought for. When one strives for a goal, one needs to work on commitment also.
Purpose-driven actions are more overarching. They encompass the bigger picture of the systemic process. Purpose also instils a sense of intrinsic responsibility and accountability. Goals are often more narrowed down. They serve to achieve specific, defined and clear outcomes, however, ownership for achieving them are often blurred and left to translation.
In the market today, it is important for companies to be purpose-driven. They need to clearly define WHY they need to exist. To get this, the most suitable and effective medium to adopt is an Agile mindset.
Agile inherently sows the seeds of purpose in each of the activities that occur in the organization. Agile, in its very design, encourages purpose-driven activities. In an Agile environment, goals are not important, the purpose of working is. Goals, if at all are set only to serve as a means to fulfil the committed purpose. The Agile mindset does not get influenced by keeping individual scores but focuses more on encouraging common purposes. Purpose orientation defines the WHY of the business, and this is central to a well-designed Agile program.
Understanding Agile and implementation of a well-designed Agile transformation process create purpose-driven values outcome. Instead of just being goal-driven, the enterprise exists with a purpose. A purpose which fosters human relationships and encourages inclusivity. At Leadership Tribe, our Agile implementation strategy are purpose-driven than goal-driven. We strive to find a purpose for the organization. A purpose on which the organization can enunciate its operational strategies. We believe, that mere goal setting limits us in the transformation process. Goals just create expectations and actions that get directional. We believe in Purpose. The reason to exist. We serve to support organizations to be fulfilled in their success. A fulfilment that comes from a deep sense of purpose.
The fundamental objective of any business is to earn revenue. Business can only exist when there is a transaction for money. If money isn’t being transacted, then it is charity. However, Business is also NOT about making money. Technically no business can ‘make’ money. Making money is the responsibility of the government mint! Businesses, or organisations, can only ‘create’ money.
Creation of money simply means to channelize the money that exists in the market into the organisation system. Anything and everything that ensures an uninterrupted flow in this channel may be considered ‘doing business’. In fact, the efficiency of the business is directly proportional to the flow of money into the system. The more seamless the flow is, the more efficient is the business.
The flow of money, or revenue, is dependent on transactions. A give and take. Give something in return for its money value. This ‘Give’ can be either a product or a service or both. There is, however, a caveat. Business is not about a ‘give and take’. Business is more to do about human perception towards the ‘given and take’. Money is a creation of mankind. It has an unnatural existence on this planet, hence is governed more by the forces of the human system than laws of nature.
The Intent
If money is the key for a business and money is a creation of human beings, then logically: Business is not about money, but more about the Human Being. It isn’t really about focusing on the channel which generates the money in the business. It is more to do with the channel(s) that are governed by human influences. Businesses, therefore, to thrive need to be sensitive to the ‘human factor’ at all times.
The world today is bombarded with technological innovation. Innovation fulfils instant gratification. Not only does a person want a choice in ‘what’ to consume, but he also exercises a choice in the ‘why’, ‘how’ and ‘where’ of the consumption. Businesses today can no longer enjoy the luxury of creating its own strategy on the might of its product or services. The product or service isn’t the locus anymore, the ‘human element’ associated in each of its business processes is. Companies that failed to keep this in mind, failing to continuously monitor the ‘pulse’ of the human element, have perished. Markets of today are seamless and heavily influenced by the flow of information and human perception. Businesses, therefore, cannot be reactive. They cannot afford to be predictive either since human consumption patterns are not stable and enduring. What if the need of the hour is to adapt and respond? Adapt to the fast-changing consumption landscape and respond to environmental realities. Both these are dependent on the ability to be quick and flexible. Hence, businesses have to be agile. Imbibe the agility of quickly responding and adapting to its internal and external work environments.
A systemic transformation to Agile is one such opportunity that is available for businesses (irrespective of size or nature) to not only survive but also prosper in the market. Business Agility is one such methodology that encapsulates the essence of Agile fundamentals with sound business practices.
Business Agility, therefore, is the ability of an enterprise to operate efficiently in an environment of chaos and disruption. This ability is not confined to management alone. It has to permeate into four fundamental spaces that exist in the organisation. Business Agility is about being responsive to People, Processes, Product and Environment. All actions directed in meeting the emergent requirements of these four aspects of business is the scope in which Business Agility is pitched at.
The Scope
The fundamentals of Business Agility fulfil the undermentioned purposes of a Business. Some of the undermentioned are from the learning outcomes of the ICP-BAF course and have been highlighted to fit the context:
Operating in Chaos: Understanding an environment of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA) and successfully operating in it.
Identifying the North Star: Organisations need an enduring foundation of new values and principles in order to be persistent and maintain direction.
Tactical Agility: Competition is all about creating self-organised teams with the right mix of cognitively diverse people who are closest to the customer experience and empowered to make decisions to achieve customer delight.
Customer Delight: Need to collaborate with customers, to solve problems they might not even know they have.
Creating a Common Purpose: Why a strong sense of purpose is essential to enable high-performance. How they become a key source of inspiration, engagement, commitment and organisational cohesion.
Strategic Thinking: Focus on the big picture and generating a vision of what the future will look like can help an organisation plan backwards to identify the steps to make it happen.
Focus on the Human Element: Understand how to identify and empathise with customers in order to deliver differentiating value and customer experiences.
The emphasis of Being Agile: Adopting a growth mindset (the belief that talents and abilities are not static, but can be developed and improved).
Key Performance Indicators: Results need to be empirically measured to determine actual vs. planned benefits to inform pivot vs. persevere decisions
Business Agility is all about the Human Element in Business. How we focus, address and strategize on achieving strong and enduring human relationships in each function of the business is the essence of the talk. At Leadership-Tribe, we approach this topic from an ontological perspective (Science of Being) and use empiricism (knowledge derived from the senses) to enable greater understanding, so that it can be implemented as an effective methodology for deriving business outcomes. Get in touch with us to know more about how you can profit from this subject, both as an enterprise stakeholder or an Agile proponent.
A forest once experienced a flood. The swollen river had breached its banks and water inundated the forest floor. It was not a good time for the animals, more specifically those that lived off the land. Fortunately, in the middle of the forest was a rocky outcrop, an elevated table that rose from the ground. It was here that all the animals were safe.
The situation was precarious. Hunter and hunted were now together. Resources were limited. The time now hinged on when the water level receded in the river. It looked like it would take a couple of months. Then something strange happened. The animals started to exist in harmony. They did not pounce on one another, they did not push the other away to make space, instead, they started to look for innovative ways of nourishment. Living with what was present for them, by existing and innovating within given conditions. That was now the new normal!
Agile Teams we have worked with during the lockdown, are akin to these animals. They have adapted and persevered. The Scrum values of Commitment, Focus, Openness, Respect, and Courage took a new meaning for all of us. Suddenly, they were just not words, they became the new normal of working in these disruptive times! They literally became the rallying points on which we built a whole new way of working. Disruptive times only means that existing patterns have been altered. It does not mean opportunities no longer exist. The same opportunities exist, just that one needs to create new patterns and achieve them in altered conditions.
So what is that we at Leadership Tribe do, to create new ways of working, such that we never lost the essence of working as Agile Teams in spite of the challenges that we faced?
We innovated five new patterns or new ways of working.
Increasing Number of Rituals:
Teams were now abruptly distributed. We had to work remotely. That meant spending more time working online. Instead of engaging in unscheduled and open-ended zoom meetings, we created two Stand Up meetings a day. This gave us the space to communicate not only what we are committing for the day, but also to freely express the impediments or blockers that each of us faced. Two Stand Up’s a day clearly communicating and addressing just blockers (personal and professional) became the most important issue for us on a daily basis. We also increased the number of times we did our Sprint Planning & Sprint Reviews in a week. All the while, ensuring the meetings were strictly time-boxed and the safety of people respected.
Modifying Retrospectives:
We modified our Retrospectives by changing the format. What we started to discuss on were; Mistakes We Made, Mistakes We Can Repeat, Mistakes We Cannot Repeat. By allowing for this psychological shift in making mistakes as something natural and a given, we quickly started to transform as a learning organization. Our team members were now ok to deal with the uncertainties of the conditions they faced and were able to deal with rapidly shifting mindsets more effectively.
Use of Online Tools:
We started to experiment with various online tools. We exploited all the free ones that existed! We used multiple online tools to create a better visualization of the work we did. If a tool became too cumbersome or complex, we simply abandoned it and simplified our processes, till we homed into just three primary tools to collaborate from. The aim was to convert most of what we used to do earlier in a near realistic fashion. Mural and Miro, for example, gave us the liberty to use the ubiquitous Post IT notes, while Trello got us back to the feel of Kanban.
Leadership Conversations:
The first Agile Value was paramount in our working philosophy; “Individuals and interactions over processes and tools”. While we adapted and meshed in with various new online processes and tools, we could not lose focus of the essence of the human element and human interaction, irrespective of the fact that we were all forced to be separated by distance and time. We initiated leadership conversations with all our stakeholders, sponsors, and clients. A one-hour interaction just to converse on the realities of our respective worlds and how we are dealing with the consequences of this unprecedented global occurrence. We didn’t engage in coaching, facilitation, or mentoring. We just decided to listen, to just be ’there’. These conversations were an opportunity to build and strengthen human relationships, the business was not on the agenda. This was an opportunity for us to make friends!
Redesigning OKRs:
We went and redrew all our existing OKRs. Most of the proposed outcomes had lost their significance due to the fluctuating markets and economic uncertainties. Our clients were on a rethink in engaging with us, and we had to be proactive. We conducted a webinar to educate our clients on this issue and went onto reconsider almost 80% of our existing Key Results. We made new ones. Market sentiments, reduced business valuation, and apprehensive strategic thinking demanded we look at our existing Key Results and redefine them to the new normal. Our Objectives didn’t change, they still remain valid irrespective of the given circumstances. They are very much achievable.
Forests are sensitive habitats. They are at the peril of nature’s wrath. Be it a fire, flood, or drought, the animals who co-exist in it are at her mercy. Yet, nature has a marvelous way of persevering through the odds. Animals, over years of evolutionary change, adapt, and survive. While individual entities may perish, the species doesn’t. Nature only creates a mass extinction, it isn’t selective. We humans, too are masters at adaptation. It is our ability to stay connected that has got us to the very top of the living order. Agile teams are an epitome of human efficiency and perseverance. It is built on Values and Principles that are agnostic to external circumstances and disruptions. In fact, the very existence of Agile is to effectively and efficiently navigate through a VUCA world.
