Executives want Agility: Here’s how to better your odds

by Renata Lerch

Scrum Alliance recently teamed up with the Forbes Insights group to uncover the, often elusive, characteristics intrinsic to successful Agile organizations. The study compared those organizations that reported they were well on their way to an “Agile Transformation” with those who lagged in this modern approach to business.

The aim of the report was to bring the topic of Agile up to a level appropriate to C-Level organizational leaders. Agile, Scrum, Kanban — these are not terms most executives know well. However, that’s not to say they don’t value the broader concept. Four out of five executives surveyed agreed that agility was the most important characteristic of successful organizations.

A gap exists then between vision and execution for many hopeful Agile organizations. In fact, we found that while 69 percent of executives are very satisfied with strategy, only 55 percent are satisfied with its execution.

While 69% of executives are very satisfied with strategy, only 55% are satisfied with its execution.

Also, when it comes to execution, we found that many organizations have taken an ad-hoc approach to Agile: 21 percent use Agile “when and where needed” and 23 percent use it within specific functions. Additionally, many organizations are eliminating hierarchy in attempts to increase agility. But Agile is about creating the right team dynamics that allow for collaboration and quick iterations — not just flattening out organizational charts.

Scaling from a single department to a complete organizational overhaul takes new skills and different levels of buy-in. As Joerg Erlemeier, chief operating officer of Nokia, told the researchers, a true Agile Transformation means employees must learn new behaviors, such as thinking independently, taking risks and collaborating across interdepartmental borders: “Being Agile enables us to respond faster and better meet our customers’ requests [but] Agility requires a huge organizational culture shift,” said Erlemeier.

A true Agile Transformation means employees must learn new behaviors, such as thinking independently, taking risks and collaborating across interdepartmental borders.

Culture is key to supporting an Agile enterprise and it must start from the top — 87 percent view the CEO as the biggest proponent of organizational agility.

“Top management encourages our teams by asking, ‘What assumptions are we making for an idea to work?” said Terri Bresenham, chief innovation officer, GE Healthcare. “How can we test these ideas across different cultures, different continents, different sophistication levels of healthcare?”

Agile transformations are not easy. As the Forbes Insights report notes, “It’s easier to design an Agile strategy than implement it.” This is the reason why two-thirds of respondents are enlisting third-party support in the form of outside coaches, trainers and consultants.

It’s easier to design an Agile strategy than implement it.

The report further outlines three data-backed steps executives can take to successfully foster agility in their organizations:

1) Create a C-suite with an Agile mindset
2) Hire and develop the right mix of talent, and
3) Foster an Agile-friendly culture and organizational structure.

Download the report to learn about each of these and read more about how executives are understanding Agile today: scrumalliance.org/forbes.

Figures are from “The Elusive Agile Enterprise” report by Forbes Insights.