This is the second post in the series on the Nine Principles of Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) from the ICAgile article. Now I delve into nuances behind the second principle. At Kintsugi Training Institute (KTI) in our LPM course we use these principles in training on the whole Lean Portfolio Management system.
This blog is based on the seven basic questions for good reporting: what, why, who, when, where, how, and which. You can read more about this question strategy at my blog: Simpler Agile.
What is the topic?
#2 - Communicate an adaptive strategy with transparency
This second LPM Principle is presented in the ICAgile article as follows. Organizations need a flexible strategy that supports a guiding vision so that they can effectively respond to changing environments while keeping on-track towards that vision. The specific track forward is fundamentally unforeseeable—making feedback, learning, and adaptation core organizational competencies for successful progress. An adaptive strategy embodies this flexible approach and enables rapid response to changing environments. Furthermore, for such an adoptive strategy to be effective, it needs to be articulated and communicated across the whole organization to enable local decision-making that aligns with and is constrained by the organization’s vision and goals.
Why is this important?
Communication, adaptation, and transparency trace back well to the agile manifesto values and principles.
Having strong traceable principles lays a strong foundation for enabling the construction of further elements like building a house. There too a strong foundation enables the construction of a strong, resilient building. Therefore, strong well-defined principles become the guiding light not only for the construction of LPM, they also guide the behavior of people in LPM roles.
Who is involved?
This principle has at least two potential contexts relating to 'strategy'. First, there is the organization-wide strategy, aka. enterprise strategy. Second, there is the specific portfolio strategy. At the organization-level, the organization leaders, aka. executives, are responsible for initiating the definition, and later updates, of the strategy. At the portfolio level, the Lean Portfolio Management Office (LPMO) has that responsibility. However, in an agile culture these leaders should be involving other participants. For a portfolio strategy, these would be all the people working within the portfolio. That is difficult. For the enterprise strategy, that is almost impossible. See the 'how' section below for ideas.
The second level of involvement is from all the group members. As stated, they need to participate in it's creation and all revisions. Some novel approaches may need to be attempted. For example, survey about content and revision mechanics; online canvas for all to visit and share their inputs; online wiki pages, etc.
Secondly, all need to embrace the strategy, align their work with it, and in essence, live it. This is true for both the portfolio and the enterprise.
How is this to be performed?
In enacting this principle, there are at least 5 steps to expand.
• The strategy has to be created
• It must be made adaptable
• It must be updated when necessitated by situational changes
• It must be communicated when created and changed
• And all the steps need to be transparent
Creating the strategy should be facilitated by the appropriate leaders and all effected people should be involved. Any Strategy Canvas can be used as a good visual facilitation vehicle. The Seven Question Canvas is a simple example of this. [Please leave a comment or chat if you are interested.]
The defined strategy must be made adoptable. Therefore, as part of strategy implementation, it must be clear how often it will be reviewed, and that it can be easily changed. The review and updating should be both on a periodic cadence (e.g. quarterly) and on-demand given some threshold criteria (e.g. major event, request by someone, etc.)
Communication needs to be periodic and ongoing. The periodic form us used when the strategy initially is announced and when it changes. The ongoing is enacted by making is transparent. Transparency necessitates a central and generally viewable location (e.g. lunchroom/s) and online (e.g. intranet wiki, newsletter, etc.) It is critical that there is a single central repository for the strategy so that the whole latest version is the one viewed, not a copy or derivative.
When is it best to do?
An adoptive strategy needs to be prepared before some significant event. A good example would be for the kickoff of an agile journey. For example, the adoptive strategy could encapsulate the approach to the agile journey. The least impressive time would be to unveil the adoptive strategy at a new year boundary, because it would propagate the notion of 'business as usual', since new year is the traditional time for new strategies.
Where do we track progress?
As mentioned above, it is critical that there is a single central repository for the strategy so that the whole latest version is the one viewed, not a copy or derivative. Also, as with any important document, proper configuration and change management needs to be established and maintained for the strategy. That includes: change tracking, versioning, editor access controls, etc. Along with theses, it is critical that these practices be fully automated and easy to use. For example, for change control use continuous integration.
Which items are critical?
An enterprise level strategy should consider such components as: customer-centricity, marketing approach, financial flow, employee-centricity, and operational flow. For each component a sub-strategy may be appropriate. Each such sub-strategy should be adaptive just like the whole.
Above the strategy, there should be an enterprise mission or purpose statement, answering the question: why do we exists as an organization?
Below the strategy, there should be subordinate outcomes targeted by the organization. If a desired outcome is identified that does not fit anywhere under the strategy, then alignment need to be sought, either by modifying the desired outcome or modifying the strategy.
References
Kintsugi Training Institute - LPM Classes - https://kintsugitraininginstitute.com/icp-lpm
ICAgile - LPM Principles - https://www.icagile.com/resources/the-principles-of-lean-portfolio-management-for-business-agility
Simpler Agile blog - https://simpleragile.blogspot.com/
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