Values and Practices of Agile Leadership
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In order to succeed in today’s fast-moving business environment, we need to "build our organisations into engines of possibility". This relies on attaining high levels of alignment AND autonomy so that everybody in the organisation knows what they need to achieve and why, is free to decide how best to do it, and genuinely cares that it gets done. I call this "the agility challenge". Rising to this challenge requires a new type of leadership characterised by 4 Cs: Curiosity, Clarity, Courage and Care. In this talk, I explore leadership values and practices essential for the agile enterprise.
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Values and Practices of Agile Leadership
- 1. Rising to the Agility Challenge: Values & Practices of Agile Leadership KCE - 6th October 2016 Dragan Jojic part of the BeLiminal network Dragan@Capagility.com Dragan@BeLiminal.com @DrJojic
- 2. 2 Reflection and adaptation “Hansei is really much deeper than reflection. It is really being honest about your own weaknesses.” Jeffery Liker
- 3. 3 Where does this talk come from? • My article published in InfoQ in February 2016 • That often referenced Swedish streaming service • Following a link from a tweet to a blog to a book • A chance meeting with a popular public speaker at an event many years ago • Feedback from my Agile on the Beach 2016 talk
- 4. 4 Let’s start with a story… “Any obstacles arise due to the low professionalism of people… Account Managers and Project Managers are often the weakest link in the chain […] rather than a driving force of the project” “…several planning techniques can minimize the obstacles / challenges” The assumption: We can plan for what we don’t know “Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future” Neils Bohr "The afternoon knows what the morning never suspected“ Robert Frost
- 5. 5 “Build your organization into an engine of possibility“ Dave Gray
- 6. 6 Balancing alignment with autonomy “Loosely coupled, tightly aligned” Spotify Autonomy (what to do & how) Alignment (what to achieve & why)
- 8. 8 The Agility Challenge Everybody in the ‘agile enterprise’: • Knows what they need to achieve and why • Can decide by themselves how best to do it • Genuinely cares that it gets done
- 9. 9 In the meantime on Planet Earth… “…getting simple things to happen is very difficult and getting difficult things to happen is impossible” Carl von Clausewitz
- 10. 10 Three gaps that cause ‘friction’ Knowledge gapEffects gap Alignment gap Actions Outcome s Plans
- 11. 11 Actions The usual approach: more detail/control Outcome s Knowledge gap more detailed info Effects gap more detailed controls Alignment gap more detailed instructions Plans
- 12. 12 Actions The alternative: ‘directed opportunism’ Outcome s Knowledge gap limit direction to defining intent Effects gap give freedom to adjust actions in line with intent Alignment gap communicate intent & allow ‘each level’ to define how they will achieve it Plans
- 13. 13 Segue to leadership “Agile makes organisations work; Leadership makes Agile work” Michael Short & Guy McDonnell
- 14. 14 But what kind of leadership? Leadership at all levels in the organisation “Leadership is about taking initiative and influencing those around you” John Kotter “…being a leader from the position you are in” David Marquet “We can’t just have one leader, we need a team of leaders” Gareth Southgate
- 15. 15 Three Cs of success • Commitment • Confidence • Communication Tony Ball MBE
- 16. 16 Three gaps & three Cs – spooky!!! Commitment Confidence Communication ?
- 17. 17 Actions Three gaps & 4 Cs Outcome s CuriosityConfidence Commitment Communication Plans Clarity Courage Care
- 18. 18 Four Cs of Agile Leadership CuriosityCourage Care Clarity Actions Outcome s Plans
- 19. 19 1. Curiosity Actions Outcome s CuriosityCourage Care Clarity Plans How do we identify what we need to know and speed up learning? Practices • Look out for signals, patterns and opportunities What should we do? • Recognise existing delivery capability What can we do? • Explore options (value & ‘last responsible moment’) What options do we have? • Assess achievements against desired outcomes Have we achieved what we set out to achieve?
- 20. 20 Actions Outcome s Curiosity Care Clarity Plans Courage 2. Clarity Practices • “Do less” – convert ‘push’ to ‘pull’: what is possible with the means we have at our disposal? • Clarify desired outcomes (‘what’ and ‘why’) • Set constraints: e.g. articulate norms / delineate authority • Identify useful metrics that show we are/aren’t successful • Keep it all visible (work, process, progress, outcomes) How do we build ‘shared understanding’?
- 21. 22 Actions Outcome s Curiosity Care Clarity Plans Courage 3. Courage Practices • Take responsibility (or step back and let go) • Seek advice: Is it good enough for now? Is it safe enough to try? • Run experiments, learn from failure, pivot “When you lose, don’t lose the lesson” • Speak your mind, challenge from the heart How do we amplify reflection and adaptation?
- 22. 23 Actions Outcome s Curiosity Care Clarity Plans Courage 4. Care Practices • Try to be useful, not to be right • Contribute – Seek help: show you’re not perfect – Offer help: teach, mentor & coach • Recognise contributions • Show respect for differences How do we best help one another?
- 23. 24 Actions Outcome s Curiosity Care Clarity Plans Courage Four Cs of Agile Leadership What am I missing?
- 24. 25 Where next? • Keep using, reflecting and adapting • Are these leadership values or my personal ones? • ‘Leadership’ or ‘Citizenship’?
- 25. 26 References • Jeffery Liker, “The Toyota Way” (McGraw-Hill, 2004) • Ralph Topping (LinkedIn, 2 October 2016) https://www.linkedin.com/nhome/updates?activity=6188324931734900736 • Dave Gray, “Experimentation Is The New Planning” (FastCompany.com, 2012) • Henrik Kniberg, “Spotify – the unproject culture”, Crisp blog at http://blog.crisp.se/ • Stephen Bungay, “The Art of Action” (Nicholas Brealey, 2011) • John Kotter, “Leadership Tip: It's How You Act, Not Your Position” (Forbes, 6 June 2012) http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2012/06/06/leadership-tip-its-about-how-you-act-not-your- position/?feed=rss_home#3829a1293e8c • David Marquet, “Turn the Ship Around!” (Greenleaf Book Group Press, 2012) • Olav Maassen, Chris Matts & Chris Geary, “Commitment” (Hathaway te Brake Publications, 2013) • Jim Highsmith, “Do Less” (http://jimhighsmith.com/, 22 November 2010) • Dalai Lama, “Dalai Lama’s 18 Rules for Living” (http://highexistence.com/rules-for-living/) • Chris Collison & Geoff Parcell, “Learning to Fly” (Capstone Publishing, 2001) • Dragan Jojic, “The Agility Challenge” (InfoQ, February 2016) htpps://www.infoq.com/articles/agility-challenge
- 26. 27 Think big, start small, move fast Thank you!
- 27. Rising to the Agility Challenge: Values & Practices of Agile Leadership Questions / Comments? Dragan@Capagility.com Dragan@BeLiminal.com @DrJojic
Editor's Notes
- “Let’s be honest: you have no idea what’s going to happen to your industry. That’s why you build your organisation into an engine of possibility.”