Shifting Culture to Enable Business Agility

With the desire to better understand Agile Culture, my friend Dave and I started researching the details of what characterizes culture (Hofstede: Culture & Organizations), which are the typical organizational culture models (Laloux: Reinventing Organizations), and how to orchestrate a step by step culture shift within an organization (Our own: Culture Shift ABC Model.  We started sharing initial findings at Meetups in short Webinars.  

Our first one "Culture Shift 101: Enabling a Culture of Business Agility" can be viewed online at: https://youtu.be/hT2oKfmvHnI)0 

The second is comin up on 4/13 and you can join.

RSVP: https://www.meetup.com/AgileAustin/events/276968323/

ABSTRACT: Culture Shift 102: Shifting Culture to Enable Business Agility

Culture always wins.  We all understand the impact culture can have on an Agile transformation and the ability to achieve the desired outcomes from moving towards Agile ways of working.  The challenge is how to shift your organization’s culture to better align with Agile values and principles and enable business agility.  In this interactive session, we’ll explore the Culture Shift ABC Model, an approach to help you discover the path for your organization to shift their culture to one that better supports agility.  We’ll discuss the steps needed to intentionally shape your organization’s culture and review some useful tools to help you on your journey.

By attending this session, you will be able to:

1. Understand the overall culture shift paradigm

2. Describe the major steps to shift your culture toward enabling agility

3. Recognize some of the tools and techniques you can use to shift your culture

Please join us on the continuing journey of Agile Culture Shift!

Example group event within Pandemic guardrails

While the Pandemic is in force, we still may enjoy safe group fun by following simple rules.   This is only one example of how to proceed.   Please share your approach and comments.

Couples' Yard Party within Pandemic Guardrails 

1. Maximum of only 10 people.
2. Masks always on faces, except for eating and drinking

3. Always sit and stand with 2+ meter distance

4. Only use own designated utensils, which you have cleaned with a septic wipe.

5. Only drink from single use cans and bottles, which you have cleaned with a septic wipe.
6. Only eat food from the grill, which you get with your utensils yourself.
7. Only use your designated washroom, one per couple.

Couples are not obligated to follow rules among themselves.

One Vision for Pandemic

During this pandemic, we find we are all vulnerable.  Every place on earth is affected.  No one is completely safe.  Many people find this unnerving due to massive change and uncertainty.  Sometimes having a possible vision of the future may settle the nerves for some people.  It is my intent to share one such possible vision based on personal observations and knowledge.  Please note, this is only my educated opinion, not a professional road-map for action.  Therefore, please read this with that perspective in mind, and attach to it no more value than that of settling your nerves.  And as always, please share you comments.

What will this pandemic bring - one vision of the near future.

1. As individuals:

   a. We should follow the rules, conscientiously and responsively,

       to minimize the risk to us and others

   b. We need to stay at home, unless an emergency necessitates otherwise

   c. In public - wear masks & gloves, maintaining social-distance...

   d. We may consider everything worn among people as potentially contaminated

   e. Upon returning home - we may strip, wash everything, take a shower...

   f. In general - we wash hands and face often, disinfect common spaces daily,

       keep hands down (away from face)...

   g. We should notify others when we see risk

       - i.e. see something, say something

2. At work:

   a. We need to re-envision business models to maximize work from home,

   b. We need to convert work into these new work from home business models

       - some things may seem impossible, but we will solve those eventually

   c. We need to convert shopping models to maximize online, minimize physical stores

   d. We need to convert shopping experiences into these online models

3. As a country/state:

   a. We should follow best practices found in the global community (#4 below)

   b. We should find new leaders to best lead us through this crises

   c. We may need to impose severe restrictions in areas where outbreaks are severe,

       but people don't follow the rules

   d. We need to expand internet infrastructure to accept all the new online traffic

       - e.g. fiber-optic lines, satellite internet, faster/compressed signaling...

4. The world at large:

   a. We may need to become a more coordinated and responsive global-village

   b. We should collect best practices from the countries that are beating the odds

       - e.g. South Korea; BTW - our daughter lives there and shares her insights

   c. We need to develop a vaccine - under way, but may take another 3 to 12 months

   d. We need to find/develop an effective anti-viral inhibitor

       - there are candidates that need testing, approval, production, distribution...

   e. We need to re-define boarder protocols to inhibit the spread of the virus

       - see 1.b South Korea

   f. We need to assist poor countries where the infection/death rates are the worse,

       both to help them and ourselves

What - What is published?

I published an ultra short free book on LeanPub - Agile Quest 
Please take a look and share your constructive comments.

You may also be interested to join me in co-publishing: Agile Journey Guide
A free open-source Wikibook.

What – What is Chunking

Chunking is a simplification strategy.   We can chunk down or chunk up.

Chunking down decomposes complex things into simpler things; big into small; whole into parts; components into sub-components; assemblies into sub-assemblies; systems into sub-systems; etc.

Chunking up works in the reverse direction by combining smaller parts into bigger ones, and so forth.

Chunking is reiterative, recursive, and incremental.  But at each stage the chunks are different, so it is like a fractal.

DONE.

Which – Which Zen Practices to Avoid in Agile

If you apply Zen to Agile go easy.  Avoid the Zen Koens. 

They are difficult, confusing, and intended to lead to analysis-paralysis.

Agile is about action; Zen … not so much.

So use Zen where it is needed (see Were above); not beyond.

And always true-up to the Agile Manifesto.  It is our fundamental guide.

DONE.

Where- Where is Zen Useful to Agile

Zen is most applicable to Agile in situations and places where there is conflict, contention, strife, friction, discord, and lack of cooperation.

There, Zen is effective.  It can bring peace, calm, and harmony.

Therefore, if you walk into a contentious situation be prepared to be the calming element.  Center yourself.  Speak in a level, calm, slow, metered voice.  Ask everyone to take a couple deep calming breaths, and then assist the group in finding their center – where is it?  Typically, the center of the group is the vision that brings them together.  Remind them and review that vision.  That is their common ground for rebuilding positive relationships.

If that fails to calm the situation, try reviewing the Agile Manifesto.  If that fails, try reviewing the reasons they work in the first place.  If that does not work, ask everyone to take a time-out and reconvene the “after lunch” – food is great at making piece.

I will cover actual conflict resolution and management in a later post.

DONE.

When – When is Agile NOT like Zen

Much of Zen is about meditation, contemplation, and mindfulness.

But Agile is mostly focused on immediate action.

For new Agile activities we say “fail-fast, then learn”, “try it before you decide”, “inspect and adopt”, etc.

The Agile approach is to avoid procrastination at all costs by jumping into immediate action, then based on the results of the action (feedback), learning and adjusting the next iteration.

While in Zen, it is paramount to understand the current situation, environment, impacts, and future state, results, outcomes ... all to avoid any possibility of harm.

From this perspective, Agile and Zen are at the opposite ends of the spectrum.

DONE.

Who – Who Needs to Understand the Zen of Agile

If you are reading this blog, you need to understand the Zen of Agile 
- the Agile Manifesto (http://agilemanifesto.org/). 

Please read it.  Please understand it and its history. 

Please add yourself to the list of signatories. 

And please share it with everyone who works with you.

DONE.