Successful Enterprise Transformation, the agile Way

What makes a successful enterprise transformation? The traditional answer could read like this: A clear vision, what we want to achieve, a “why?”, which is understood by everyone, management commitment and measurable goals. On the other hand a strategy on how to achieve the goals, any finally the “make it happen” part. Is this sufficient on today’s times?

In a complex and fast changing world with many uncertainities and a new generation of employees, which find satisfaction in autonomy and empowerment, this traditional receipt works less and less:

• The plan, outlining how to achieve the goals, are in fact hypotheses, based on assumptions
• No one can tell you, of they lead to the desired impact, even if they are based on “best practices”. These hypotheses should be validated early, e.g. in form of pilots to identify whats working for you and which allows you the adapt the plan or goals into the right direction
• Transformation is not a one off thing. It’s a capability of the company to continuously adapt to new challenges. This requires a culture of continuous improvement, coming from inside out
• “Fails fast” is vital in this context. The later you get insights, the more expensive
• The traditional way of change is usually not well accepted by the employees, because “People don’t resist change. They resist being changed. People don’t resist their own change”

An agile approach is vital for success and a capability which has to be built up

Agile Business Transformation, the agile way – How do I build up the necessary Culture and Capabilities?

“Unicorns” like Amazon, Netflix and Co. disrupt currently the markets by being fast and adaptive. In terms in reflecting/changing own behaviours and in terms of launching new products. They often start as “Minimal Viable Product”, which are continuously validated and improved.  How to build up this capability?

1. Vision and “why?”: What do we want to achieve, why is Agility important in our concrete context?
2. Assessment of status quo. Where do we stand? Where do we need to improve in terms of Agility. We offer the Organizational Scan also as standalone service.
3. Definition of a strategy and definition of a first roadmap, including safe-to-fail pilots, e.g. establishment of agile teams, which take responsibility of a product or service and work in an agile way (e.g. Scrum or Kanban)
4. Implementation of pilots and reassessment or rollout: Does this work for us? What have we learned? Do we need to adapt the strategy?

Assessment, strategy und pilot (steps 2-4) are a repeating cycle of continuous improvement. Agility is a journey that never ends, but it can show an impact already tomorrow.