The inexorable rise of Agile 1 Steve Denning Forbes blog: http ://blogs.forbes.com/stevedenning/ Email: [email protected]
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
The inexorable rise of Agile
1
Steve Denning
Forbes blog: http://blogs.forbes.com/stevedenning/Email: [email protected]
I learnt about
management at the
World Bank
The very same issues
are very much alive
in 2015
The World Bank (or Volkswagen)
A family resemblance?
Castle Neuschwanstein of Bavaria: Image Wikipedia
6
“Traditional, MBA-style thinking, dictates that you build up a sustainable competitive advantage over rivals and then close the fortress and defend it with boiling oil and flaming arrows.”
How Google Works, by Eric Schmidt et al
Is this structure agile?
Where is the customer?
Can this organization collaborate?
Can this organization communicate?
Top-down communications
Managers are controllers
of individuals
Bureaucracy:rules, plans, reports
Top down commands
Produceoutputs,money,
shareholder value)
Goal
Role
CoordinationValues
Communications
Control of things
The five elements are interlocking
Hierarchical bureaucracy fits together as a system
Efficiency, predictability
12
This way of managing was highly successful
In the 20th Century, these management practices
• Met the demand for mass market products and services
• Generated unprecedented material prosperity for many.
• Were the most important economic event since the invention of agriculture.
• Were a good fit for the marketplace at the time.
The problems didn’t matter in a stable world!
Not good at collaboration!
Not agile!
Where is the customer!
Bad at communications!
Then the world changed!
• Globalization
• Deregulation
• Knowledge workers
• New technology,especially the Internet
Then the world changed
• Globalization
• Deregulation
• Knowledge workers
• New technology,especially the Internet
Greater competition
Faster pace
Workers know as much as the managers
The customer becomesthe boss
Then the world changed
First reaction: double down
More control and top down communications
Many management fixes were tried
• downsizing. • reorganizations. • delayering• empowering staff. • innovation initiatives. • reengineering • sales and marketing. • mergers and acquisitions. • shed businesses that weren’t doing well. • stock-based compensation for executives
The fixes didn’t stick
Bad news:
Self-organizing teams!
Bureaucracy:rules, plans, reports
Top down commands
Produceoutputs,money,
shareholder value)
Goal
Role
CoordinationValues
Communications
Control of things
The five elements are interlocking
Partial changes would be introduced
Efficiency, predictability
Managers are controllers
of individuals
Bureaucracy:rules, plans, reports
Top down commands
Produceoutputs,money,
shareholder value)
Goal
Role
CoordinationValues
Communications
Control of things
Hierarchical bureaucracy is the default model
The firm would revert to hierarchical bureaucracy
Efficiency, predictability
The fixes didn’t work
Even worse news:
Overall, the management fixes didn’t work!
Rates of return on assets steadily declined
The system stopped generating jobs!
Firms > 5 years: net destroyers of jobs
From the Kauffman Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Policy Digest, reproduced with permission.
Productivity gains went to owners/managers
Workers’ compensation remained flat
Productivity gains went to owners/managers
Workers’ compensation remained flat
1940-1980
Gains are shared!
Productivity gains went to owners/managers
Workers’ compensation remained flat
1940-1980
Gains are shared!
1980-2010
Gains are not shared!
“Management itself is
obsolete”
Gary Hamel, Moonshots for Management, HBR January 2009
A different way of managing emerged
29
What is this new way of managing?
The new way of managing has various names:
Agile & ScrumDevOps
Radical managementConscious capitalismInclusive capitalism
Design thinking
Delighting customers
Goal
RoleCommunications
From controller to enabler
From bureaucracy to Agile, Scrum, Lean
From command to conversations
From value to values
CoordinationValues
The elements are interlocking
TransparencyImprovementSustainability
The Creative Economy
Delighting customers
Goal
RoleCommunications
From controller to enabler
From bureaucracy to Agile, Scrum, Lean
From command to conversations
From value to values
CoordinationValues
The elements are interlocking
TransparencyImprovementSustainability
The Creative Economy
Managers are controllers
of individuals
Bureaucracy:rules, plans, reports
Top down commands
Efficiency, cost cutting
Make money for shareholders
Goal
Role
Coordination
Communications
Traditional Management
Values
The change is happening inexorably
This isn’t a little fix, like
“adding a new management process”
34
Earth
Sun
It’s like the Copernican Revolution in astronomy
Sun
35
Earth
Sun
Sun
Earth
The Copernican Revolution in astronomy
The shift led to vast economic, social and political change36
The firm
The Copernican Revolution in Management
Customer
37
38
The firm
The customer
Firm
The Copernican Revolution in management
User/ Customer
WL Gore & Associates
Where is the customer?
WL Gore & Associates
The main focus is internal
WL Gore & Associates
People
Things
External focus
Internalfocus
How Agile emerged
People
Things
External focus
Internalfocus
Hierarchical bureaucracy
How Agile emerged
People
Things
External focus
Internalfocus
Hierarchical bureaucracy
LeanToyota
WL Gore
How Agile emerged
People
Things
External focus
Internalfocus
AgileRadical management
Design thinking
LeanToyota
WL Gore
Hierarchical bureaucracy
How Agile emerged
A new mental picture
of the organization is emerging
A new mental model of the firm is emerging
From this….
Management
Workers-employees-contractors
-suppliers
Customers
A new mental model of the firm is emerging
From this…. …. to this
A new mental model of the firm is emerging
Customer invisible Customer is part of firm
Management
Workers-employees-contractors
-suppliers
Customers
A new mental model of the firm is emerging
Static Dynamic
Management
Workers-employees-contractors
-suppliers
Customers
A new mental model of the firm is emerging
One-way communications Interactive communications
Management
Workers-employees-contractors
-suppliers
Customers
The shift is happening on a large scale
• Tens of thousands of Agile implementations globally
• Most big firms doing something in Agile
• Now spreading to all parts of the firm and to all sectors
• Also a lot of fake Agile
Agile & ScrumRadical managementConscious capitalismInclusive capitalism
Design thinking
The new way of managing has various names:
It’s not just Agile!
Agile solves a fundamental management conundrum
How to get continuous with disciplined
execution?
Disciplined execution vs continuous innovation
Disciplinedexecution
Innovation
Disciplined execution vs continuous innovation
Bureaucracy
Team
Disciplinedexecution
Innovation
Disciplined execution vs continuous innovation
Bureaucracy
Team
Disciplinedexecution
Innovation
Agile
In general management circles and business schools
Agile is the best-kept management secret
on the planet
In general management circles and business schools:
• “Agile is only for software”
• “Agile doesn’t scale”
• “Agile can’t handle complexity”
• “Agile isn’t reliable”
• “Agile is short-lived”
60
We established a Learning Consortium to find out
In April 2015, nine firms agreed to go on mutual site visits :
Agile42BrillioCH Robinson Ericsson Magna InternationalMicrosoftMenlo InnovationsRiot GamesSolutionsIQ
EuropeIndiaUSEuropeEuropeUSUSUSUS
Agile coaching/trainingTechnology consultantTransportation brokerageNetworks/telecomAuto partsSoftware/electronicsSoftware designGamingAgile enterprise solutions
The Learning Consortium is sponsored by Scrum Alliance
Findings of the Learning Consortium:
• “Agile is only for software”
• “Agile doesn’t scale”
• “Agile can’t handle complexity”
• “Agile isn’t reliable”
• “Agile doesn’t last”
We investigated:
Findings of the Learning Consortium:
• “Agile is only for software”
• “Agile doesn’t scale”
• “Agile can’t handle complexity”
• “Agile isn’t reliable”
• “Agile doesn’t endure”
Agile is spreading to everything
Agile scales without sclerosis
Agile handles complexity
Agile can be fail-safe
Some examples: 10-15 years
Main findings of the Learning Consortium
• Agile is a mindset, not a methodology
• Without the management mindset of enablement, Agile practices achieve nothing.
• Agile practices with a control mindset are a disaster.
Rome wasn’t built in a day
Developing and embodying the Agile mindset takes time.
Creating a culture of agility takes even longer.
Agile can’t be mastered in a two-day training course.
Firms with just a few Agile practices are not truly Agile
Managers ask: how can I give up control?
Managers are giving up a semblance of control
Hierarchical bureaucracyLack of transparencyWritten reports Reports go up and down the chainEveryone in a CYA modeProblems festerMassive technical & brand debt
A semblance of control
Managers are giving up a semblance of control
Hierarchical bureaucracyLack of transparencyWritten reports Reports go up and down the chainEveryone in a CYA modeProblems festerMassive technical & brand debt
A semblance of control
Agile is about having actual control
AgileRadical transparencyFinished work each iteration“Information radiators”Nowhere to hideProblems identified earlyNo technical or brand debt
Actual control
Management
Workers-employees-contractors
-suppliers
Customers
Many big firms look like this
Delighting customers
Goal
RoleCommunications
From controller to enabler
From bureaucracy to Agile, Scrum, Lean
From command to conversations
From value to values
CoordinationValues
The elements are interlocking
TransparencyImprovementSustainability
The Creative Economy
The choice is stark:
Change or die!
71
The inexorable rise of Agile
72
Steve Denning
Forbes blog: http://blogs.forbes.com/stevedenning/Email: [email protected]
Related Documents
