ORGANIC agility is a meta-process or framework that you can apply to any organization in order to make it more self-organizing, agile and resilient. With this 4th principle, we propose that organizational change should be addressed in an agile way. We create transparency, then inspect and adapt our way by the use of small safe-to-fail experiments — small changes that people propose themselves. We reduce the risks and side-effects by leveraging something called “the adjacent possible" and the predispositions of the organization.

1. Validate Change in Small Increments
Or: How to handle organizational change using empiricism and complex management methods.
Webinar
17 Feb 2021

2. ORGANIC agility webinars
Part 1: Why your company will fail in 2020
Part 2: Building blocks for a resilient organization
Part 3: Leadership in complex environments
Part 4: Archetypes: mapping organization, culture and leadership
Part 5: Cultural Awareness & Coherence (Principle #1)
Part 6: A decision making approach for resilience (Principle #2)
Part 7: Focus on Value Creation (Principle #3)
Part 8: Validate changes in small increments (Principle #4)
Q2/2021 - Part 9: Optimize the value flow (Principle #5)
Find all our past webinars here:
https://www.agile42.com/en/webinar/

3. How to use Zoom
Feel free to use the chat - please set the setting to chat with all of us!
Please ask questions in the Q&A, we will answer them after the
presentation
The webinar will be recorded and published on Youtube and on Social
Media channels
You will receive an e-mail with links to recordings and slides

4. Martin von Weissenberg
Agile Coach and Trainer
agile42 Finland
+358 400 314 159
martin.von.weissenberg@agile42.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinvonweissenberg
www.agile42.com - www.organic-agility.com

5. Change... what is change?
Change is an ongoing process that creates possibilities but
also uncertainty. The established approach is to enforce
stability and suppress change. On the other hand, we have
learned that this doesn't work, and that it's better to
embrace change. In organizational development, we can use
complex management methods to reach better results.

6. Cynefin
Organizations are complex adaptive
systems: defined by their connections
rather than their structures.
Our established tools for organizational
change...
Organizational charts
Process descriptions
Role descriptions
Change programs
... how well do they actually cope with
complex systems?
Cynefin Framework by Dave Snowden

7. A Different Paradigm
Complex systems have
unanticipated side effects
Complex systems are not
causal, they are
dispositional
Connections are important
Connections can be
modulated
Nudging towards
adjacent possibles
"More of this, less of that!"

8. ORGANIC agility
ORGANIC agility is not a process. It's a
framework that you apply to your
organization.
It consists of:
An Agile Leadership approach
5 principles
A large number of tools and models
The practices you choose to
implement

9. ORGANIC agility Principles
Leaders are
attention magnets,
and will focus
people's attention
on what they think
is important.
A coherent and cohesive
culture is easier to change.
Different contexts require different
approaches to decision-making.
1. Increase Cultural
Awareness and Coherence
2. Decide Based on Context
3. Focus on Value Creation
4. Validate Change in
Small Increments
5. Optimise the Value Flow
Agile
Leadership
Understand what value means to
your customers — then (re)organize
yourselves to produce it effectively.
Probe, sense, respond. Use
agile methods and empirical
process control to manage
organizational change.
Move from ad hoc, to
processes, to automation.

10. Principle #4:
Validate Change in Small Increments
"We need to start doing small things in the present rather
than promising massive things in the future..."
— Dave Snowden, TEDx, 2018
"[Agility is...] to rapidly or inherently create change,
proactively or reactively embrace change, and learn from
change [...]"
— Kieran Conboy, 2009

11. Establish a Continuous Learning Culture
Assess the
Organization
Define a Goal
Adapt the Strategy
Experiment
Roll Out
Experiment
Inspect the Strategy

12. Assessing the Organization
Lean analysis methods
Agile assessments
Organizational Culture Assessment
Instruments (OCAI)
OrgScan
Competing Values Framework
Discovery workshops with leaders and
operative personnel
Interviews with a representative cross-
organizational sample
Unbiased observation (ethnography)
Micro-narratives
SenseMaker
...

13. Agile Strategy Map
By connecting developers with
customers, we expect them to gain a
deeper understanding of customer
needs, which will help us build the
right things.
Experiment:
If we ask actual customers to
join a sprint review meeting,
developers might find the
feedback useful.
By training our people, we've learned
that they picked up the agile concepts
better, which helped us become more
agile much faster.
Confirmed Success Factor
We expect to [KEY ACHIEVEMENT]
and [SECONDARY ACHIEVEMENT]
within [A FEW YEARS].
Strategic Goal
Potential Success Factor
We must invite a few customers,
otherwise nothing will happen.
Necessary Condition
We must schedule multiple
trainings, otherwise people may
not be able to join.
Necessary Condition
We must find a good trainer,
otherwise we may pay too much
for too little.
Necessary Condition
By [DOING SOMETHING]
We learned [RESULTS]
Which helped [IMPROVEMENT]
Confirmed Success Factor
By [DOING SOMETHING]
We expect [RESULTS]
Which will [IMPROVEMENT]
Potential Success Factor
We must manage the customer
expectations, otherwise it might go
badly wrong.
Necessary Condition
Experiment:
If we arrange a customer excursion for
our developers, they might learn how
the software is used IRL.
We must keep a list of participants,
otherwise we can't track the
progress.
Necessary Condition
We must find 1-3 companies in the
same city willing to host us.
Necessary Condition
We must set a date 4-6 weeks
ahead, to give enough lead time.
Necessary Condition
We must explain to our hosts what
we expect, and what they can
expect.
Necessary Condition

14. Sponsor
Champion
Improvement
squad
Experiment team

15. Safe to Fail Experiments
Description
Learning objectives
Context and background
Success conditions
Failure conditions
Amplification actions
Dampening actions
Experiment name
What is it that you are trying to
learn with this experiment? What
advantages would it provide to
your organization?
What is the background? Why is
this experiment motivated,
coherent and relevant? Which
Success Factor on the Strategy
Map are you addressing with this
experiment?
Describe what the experiment
would look like when carried out.
Focus on content, actions,
behavioral changes. Describe the
organizational impact in terms of
people, teams, shared resources
and infrastructure.
Before the experiment can start,
the relevant people must be
invited and included in the
discussions. Provide names and
dates here.
How do you know that the
experiment has succeeded? What
would indicate that you are going
to succeed?
What are the possible signs of
impending failure? What would
help you make an early decision
on whether to terminate the
experiment or not?
What is your roll-out plan? If
successful, how are you going
to embed the changes in the
organization?
What is your roll-back plan? if the
pilot fails, how are you going to
revert to what worked for you
previously?

16. Summary
Organizations
are complex
Our old OD
management methods
are no longer sufficient
We need to use agile
methods to develop
agile organizations
Empirical
process control
Continuous
improvement,
low WIP

17. Q&A
Why is it not enough, that the
company defines a goal. Why
is it necessary to assess the
Organization first?
Have you ever tested Wardley
maps (simplified) to model such
strategies? Is a dynamic element
not missing from the strategy
maps notation you are using?
How has the learning curve
been in the prod team and
outside the prod team with
using these strategy maps?
Frame with improve/experiment
squads,- is the thinking behnid this
similar to red team thinking? if not, what
are the differences? how much % of total
Sprint effort (just ranges, and just from
experience) can be assigned to these
squads?
Could you please make it
little clear in your Organic
Model : What is what in an
Organization ? like Branches,
Roots, Fruits, Leaves etc
- Using methods the team has a
learning curve
- If the prod team according to the
agile philosophy really owns its prod
strategy, it has its own learning
curve
--> So my question could be
rephrased as: what are the
learning curves for people
both inside and outside the
product team
if the organization is already
overburdened with their projects and
other originations activities, how will it
take a time to do experiments and how
will people voluntarily come forward and
take additional work load ?

18. References
https://shop.agile42.com/
catalogue/organic-agility-
foundations_263/
https://www.agile42.com/en/organic-
leadership/agile-strategy-map/
Strategy Mapping
or
OrgScan Decision Capturing
& Strategy Mapping
+
Strategy Map workshop
The ORGANIC agility Handbook
The Agile Strategy Map
ORGANIC agility website
https://www.organic-
agility.com/

19. ORGANIC agility Foundation
valid for Certified Agile Leadership - Essentials, Teams & Organizations
Training schedule with dates coming up....