Xebia Articles

To meet the digital demand of the 21st century, an increasing number of companies have chosen the Agile business model. Cloud-native systems, embracing social media, mobile platforms, continuous feedback, the predictive capabilities of (big) data, and other technologies all are extensions of this organizational transformation.

For the last twenty-five years, I’ve enjoyed working with teams to improve them.
I've worked with all kinds of teams, from those that barely make progress to those that turn everything they touch into a success. What sets these teams at opposite ends of the spectrum? What makes a team a winning one?

Organizational agility requires a cultural transition. Too often, transformations get stuck in the blueprints of pre-planned waves of change. In large, top-down transition projects, change implementation is mandated across the organization. This method is rarely effective and often merely establishes a limited, temporary effect. The new way of change consists of many micro-interventions from leadership that bring about a mega-change. The micro-interventions are small, powerful, and applicable at any time. These bring about a more effective organization with a culture to match.

This article is published in . Agile NXT is the magazine full of inspiration for professionals on the emerging Agile journey. Theme of #2: New Insights for Agile Performance Management.

Have you ever gone to the gym in January? If so, you’ve seen just how difficult it is to change behavior. Everyone has a New Year’s resolution to get into better shape or lose those extra holiday season pounds, so at first, the gym is very crowded. But within a few weeks, everyone gives up on trying to change, stops going, and the gym turns quiet again. Why? What does it take to actually change behavior in the long term, and why is it so important in business?

When leading change in an organization, what guides and influences new behavior? What makes it stick? Judo offers a gentle way of approaching change. Based on principles like seiryoku zenyo, which means “maximum efficient use of energy,” it poses questions such as, “What if everyone did just this one thing? Would the rest fall into place?” Change doesn’t happen overnight, but by conducting mini-experiments, and adjusting along the way, great, and lasting change can occur. Here are six levers of influence from the path to the Judo black belt that could make you a better leader in business.

Scrum drives us toward enacting the first principle of the Agile Manifesto,“Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.” We are invited to look for ways to actually deliver “value.” Although “value” in itself is hard to quantify, we can absolutely measure to improve how we effectively deliver it.

You may be at the top of your game today, but with the industry changing so quickly, will your current skill set keep you at the same level a year from now? Embracing Instruqt’s six-point philosophy will empower to keep winning from a new way of “being.” 

There are many different Agile methods, frameworks, and coaches—and all claim to add value. But how can you know if one is working or not? How can you evaluate its value? If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. So, it’s no wonder that fifty-eight percent of Agile projects don’t succeed.¹ Measurements and metrics are at the core of making informed, good decisions. Otherwise, the lack of data forces people into relying on beliefs. The Diamond Agile model provides a comprehensive perspective on agility and a set of meaningful metrics by which to measure it.

This article is published in. Agile NXT is the magazine full of inspiration for professionals on the emerging Agile journey. Theme of #2: New Insights for Agile Performance Management.

What is Agility?
Some companies quickly react to changing circumstances in the market. They are fast, flexible, and able to create products and services that are exactly what the world desires. This ability is called “agility.”

Increasing agility has a strong, positive, measurable impact on your ability to create great products and services that delight your customers. That is the core tenet of Diamond Agile. It breaks agility down into five facets:

Multi Products Scrum teams are in reality observed often. One team serving different stakeholders and customer segments. Both would like to use the same people to work on their improvements.