Okay, We're Agile. What Now?

 

I occasionally hear things that give me the impression that some people believe that adopting a flavor of Agile makes that company agile.  I'd like to disabuse people of this notion.  While a company is affected by its development practices, if all you do is adopt a flavor of Agile, it's not enough.  The Agile Manifesto and the twelve guiding principles, which essentially represent agile values, must be shared by the whole company, not just IT.

I would also argue that being agile is not the end goal; that it is merely an aspect of being responsive and, ultimately, resilient.  Let's look at a few definitions.

Agile

• Google - Able to move quickly & easily
• Dictionary.com - Quick and well-coordinated in movement

Responsive

• Macmillan
  • Quick to react in the way that is needed, appropriate, or right for a particular situation
  • Showing interest or emotion in reaction to someone or something
  • Willing to reply to a question or talk about something

Resilient

• Merriam Webster - The capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress.

Being able to move, or respond to change quickly is the promise of Agile, and it needs to be coupled with Responsiveness to be successful.  What good is it to be able to respond to change quickly if IT and the Business are going in different directions?  You risk ending up with frustrated leaders who are unwilling to collaborate.  I've seen shadow IT evolve and PMOs fail when organizations refuse to be Responsive and work together.

Just looking at the definitions, it might not be clear how being Agile and Responsive are part of being Resilient.  Try recovering from a negative impact to the business without being Agile and Responsive and see how you fare.  Recovering quickly involves moving quickly, having good communication, and common goals, among other things.  An organization might not return to its original size and shape as it recovers, but if the negative impact resulted in a change of priorities, that is not unexpected; the company may not have had the correct size and shape, in the first place.

There are companies that work with other companies to help them become Resilient.  I'm not going to advertise for them; I just want to promote the following:

• Whether or not your company adopts a flavor of Agile, adopt agile values and principles.
• Build an organization that is communicative and collaborative; willing to engage in dialog about change.
• Develop the capacity to learn, adapt, and change quickly, from the top down.  Everyone must be committed to this.

I can't tell you exactly how to do this; it will be different for each company.  Even if your company is already Agile and agile, it will probably take time; culture and process change are not usually quick.  My point is that you shouldn't stop once your company becomes Agile; it's just a step toward becoming a more Responsive and Resilient organization.