Unlocking Agility: An Insider's Guide to Agile Enterprise Transformation

by Jorgen Hesselberg

Overview

Today’s enterprises see smaller, more nimble competitors devouring their businesses and obsoleting their markets at an ever-accelerating pace. “Sustainable” competitive advantages continue to shrink and disappear, as the average age of Fortune® 500 companies keeps declining. Smart executives know they must move from plan-driven, fixed-scope thinking to a discovery-driven approach characterized by learning, continuous improvement, and value delivery. They know they must learn how to capitalize on uncertainty, since it’s now utterly impossible to prevent it. Yet, very few large enterprises have truly succeeded in this agile transformation. Unlocking Agility: An Insider’s Guide to Agile Enterprise Transformation focuses on overcoming the real challenges that stand in their way.

Author Jorgen Hesselberg has spent 15+ years leading successful enterprise transformation initiatives: this book brings together all he’s learned about what works (and what doesn’t). Hesselberg answers crucial questions like:

• What’s the best way to start organizational change in large organizations?
• How can you sustain momentum beyond the initial “honeymoon”?
• How do you create an environment of continuous learning, employee empowerment, and product discovery — while still executing superbly in day-to-day customer commitments?
• What’s the best role for external consultants and consulting firms?
• How do you lead coherent organizational change across multiple geographies, locations, and cultures?
• What organizational structures are likeliest to unlock lasting change, and how should these evolve over time?
• What type of organizational impact is realistic to expect?
• How can you measure success?

Replete with first-hand accounts from transformation leaders at companies including Cisco, HP, Spotify, Yahoo!, John Deere, Salesforce and Wal-Mart, the book provides indispensable practical insights for everyone seeking to build a truly agile enterprise.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780134542843
Publisher:	Pearson Education
Publication date:	11/07/2018
Series:	Addison-Wesley Signature Series (Cohn)
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Jorgen Hesselberg is cofounder of Comparative Agility, a leading agile assessment and continuous improvement platform. A proven thought leader of numerous successful enterprise transformation efforts since 2009, Jorgen provides strategic guidance, executive counsel, and coaching to some of the world’s most respected companies both as an internal change agent and an external consultant. He has trained thousands of people on agile and Scrum, disruptive innovation, and enterprise transformation strategy.

Passionate about making the world a better place to work, Jorgen is the former director and an active member of Supporting Agile Adoption, an Agile Alliance program dedicated to supporting those who apply agile principles and practices for agile transformation. Jorgen is a frequent speaker at international industry conferences. He earned his bachelor degree in journalism at the University of Missouri, his MBA at Iowa State University, and an MS in information technology at Northwestern University. He completed postgraduate coursework in finance and disruptive innovation at Harvard Business School.

Table of Contents

Forewords by Bjarte Bogsnes and Rich Sheridan xix
Preface xxv
Acknowledgments xxxi
About the Author xxxiii

PART I: THE CASE FOR AGILITY 1
Chapter 1 The Agile Imperative 3
Athens Beats Microsoft 4
Origins of Modern Management 6
Scientific Management: Building More Efficient Machines 7
The Rise of the Knowledge Worker: Unlocking the Creative Potential 8
Software Eats the World: Embracing Uncertainty and Becoming Agile 10
VUCA and Cynefin: Orienting Businesses in a Brave New World 16
The Cynefin Framework 18
Leadership in a Complex World 21
Business Agility: Accelerating Organizational Learning 22
Summary 24
Q&A 24
Further Resources 26
Footnotes 27
Chapter 2 Enterprise Agility 29
Defining Enterprise Agility 29
Designing Business Agility: Balancing Three Critical Levers 32
Building the Right Thing (Value) 33
Building the Thing Right (Quality) 40
Building at the Right Speed (Optimizing for Flow) 43
Unlocking Agility in the Enterprise 50
Performance Multipliers: Five Critical Dimensions of Agility 51
Summary 53
Q&A 54
Further Resources 56
Footnotes 57

PART II: FIVE DIMENSIONS OF AGILITY 59
Chapter 3 Technology 61
Building the Right Thing: Creating Products Customers Love 62
Business Model Canvas: An Interactive Tool for Instant Alignment 62
Lean Startup: A Method for Validating That You’re Building a Product Worth Building 65
Cost of Delay: Understanding the Impact of Time to Life Cycle Profits 68
Building the Thing Right 74
Scrum: Building Value Incrementally and Iteratively 74
Kanban: Taming Chaotic Environments Through Visualization 79
Building at the Right Speed: Optimizing for Flow 81
XP 82
Value Stream Mapping 86
Summary 89
Q&A 90
Further Resources 93
Footnotes 95
Chapter 4 Organizational Design 97
Physical Workplace Design 97
Designing for Great Teams 98
The Science Behind High-Performing Teams 99
Case Study: More Effective Collaboration Spaces at NAVTEQ 100
Organizational Structure 107
Functional Structure 108
Divisional Structure 110
Matrix Structure 111
Emergent Organizational Structures: Sociocracy and Holacracy 113
An Agile Organizational Structure? 116
Heuristics of Agile Organizational Designs 120
Summary 121
Q&A 122
Further Resources 124
Footnotes 125
Chapter 5 People 127
Never Underestimate the Importance of People 130
Characteristics of People in Agile Organizations 132
Fostering a Growth Mind-Set 132
Developing an Enterprise Growth Mind-Set 134
Embracing Diversity 135
Strategies for Building an Environment Supportive of Agile People 137
Implications for HR in an Agile Organization 138
Partner with Teams to Improve Recruiting 138
Design Meaningful Compensation, Rewards, and Recognition Plans 140
Create More Relevant Roles and Define a More Flexible Career Path 141
Empower People by Moving Authority Closer to the Team 142
HR: From Controlling Function to Unlocking Enterprise Agility 143
Summary 144
Q&A 144
Further Resources 146
Footnotes 147
Chapter 6 Leadership 149
Impact of Leadership 150
Level 5 Leadership 152
Level 5 Leadership = Agile Leadership? 153
Teal Leadership 154
Red: Lead Through Force 156
Amber: Lead Through Fiat 157
Orange: Lead Through Efficiency 157
Green: Lead Through Responsibility 158
The Organization: An Organic Ecosystem of Interrelated Parts 158
Teal: The Organization as a Living Entity 159
The Teal Organization: A Blueprint for the Organization of the Future? 160
Beyond Budgeting: An Agile Management Model 161
Origins of Beyond Budgeting 162
Beyond Budgeting: Less Top-Down Control, More Trust and Empowerment 162
The Death of the Traditional CEO? 165
Three Essential Themes of Agile Leadership 167
Summary 168
Q&A 169
Further Resources 171
Footnotes 172
Chapter 7 Culture 173
The Profound Impact of Culture 175
How We Experience Culture 176
The Schneider Culture Model 177
Collaboration—“We Succeed by Working Together” 178
Control—“We Succeed by Getting and Keeping Control” 179
Competence—“We Succeed by Being the Best” 181
Cultivation—“We Succeed by Growing People Who Fulfill Our Vision” 182
Culture’s Impact to Sustaining Change 183
Changing Organizational Culture 185
Characteristics of Business Agility Metrics 191
Actionable 191
Accessible 191
Auditable 192
Additional Heuristics 192
Examples of Meaningful Business Agility Metrics 194
Metrics That Help Support Building the Right Thing 195
Metrics That Help Support Building the Thing Right 197
Metrics That Help Support Building at the Right Speed (Flow) 199
Performance System Changes -> Behavior Changes -> Culture
Changes 202
Summary 202
Q&A 203
Further Resources 205
Footnotes 206

PART III: UNLOCKING AGILITY 209
Chapter 8 Building Your Organization’s Agile Working Group 211
The AWG: Mission and Purpose 211
Characteristics of the AWG 216
Complementary 216
Dedicated 217
Knowledgeable 218
Credible 219
Humble 219
Champion 220
Role of External Consultants 221
Organizational Structure and the AWG 222
Whole System View 222
Temporary Lifespan 223
Dual-Boot Operating System 224
Recruiting for the AWG 225
Resistance from Managers 225
Hesitation from Potential Candidates 226
The AWG: What’s in It for You? 228
Summary 228
Q&A 229
Further Resources 230
Footnotes 231
Chapter 9 An Operating Model for Business Agility 233
Unlocking Agility: Embrace Change, Execute with Purpose 235
Exploration: An Engine for Embracing Change 237
1. Establish Partnerships with External Innovation Hubs 241
2. Take Ownership Interest in Potential Disruptors 242
3. Acquire Disruptive Competitors—and Let Their Culture and People Flourish 243
4. Create an Internal Culture of Disruptive Innovation 244
Exploitation: Executing Proven Strategies with Purpose 246
Lost in Translation: How Product Strategy Turns from Vision to Hallucination 247
Executing with Purpose Through Progressive Refinement 249
Executing with Purpose Through Fast Organizational Feedback Loops 263
Creating a Balance: Embracing Change and Executing with Purpose in the Right Proportions 266
On Scaling Frameworks 267
Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) 267
Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS) 267
Disciplined Agile Framework 268
Benefits of Scaling Frameworks 268
Drawbacks of Leveraging Scaling Frameworks 269
Summary 270
Q&A 271
Further Resources 273
Footnotes 274
Chapter 10 Unlocking Agility: A Strategic Roadmap 277
Unlocking Enterprise Agility: A High-Level Strategic Roadmap 278
Partnered Transition (Wave 1) 279
Self-Guided (Wave 2) 280
Innate (Wave 3) 281
What Agility Looks Like in Action: Applying the Five Dimensions of Organizational Agility 283
Technology 284
Organizational Design 285
People 285
Leadership 287
Culture 288
Identifying and Driving Change Through an Organizational Improvement Backlog 289
Unlocking Agility in an Agile Manner 289
Step 1: Define and Communicate a Clear Purpose for the Transformation 290
Step 2: Identify Key Impediments Preventing Us from Reaching the Goal 290
Step 3: Build and Execute the Transformation Backlog 294
Step 4: Maintain Momentum: Continuously Monitor Progress, Communicate Results, Seek Feedback, and Celebrate Failures 300
Top 10 Items Leading to Transformation Failure 303
Seven Signs You’re on Your Way to Unlocking Agility 308
The Road Ahead: Now What? 311
Summary 312
Q&A 313
Further Resources 314
Footnotes 315
Index 317