Does agile at scale need to be cookie cutter?

Recently, my wife and I (and our two little dogs) made a road trip across Kansas, Colorado, parts of Wyoming, South Dakota, a portion of Iowa and back through Missouri. We had an immensely enjoyable time stopping at National Parks and State Parks as well as kitschy roadside attractions. And while I was driving all those miles, it struck me that the diverse topography of these states had a lesson to teach us about agility.

The United States shows remarkable environmental diversity, even within a relatively small radius. Take, as an example the 3 photos below: All of these photos were taken within a 30 min drive of each other, and all in South Dakota

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota 

Custer State Park, South Dakota

All three of these photos were taken within a 30 min drive of each other, and all in South Dakota. The top is in Badlands National Park all stark and dry, and looks like a scene from an alien planet. The second is in the Black Hills National Forest -Lush and rocky, mountainous with tall trees and clear streams. The third photo is within Custer State Park - a high plains meadow that supports huge herds of native buffalo and other wild game.  All three of these regions play an integral part in the ecosystems of our country. I think you'll agree it would be boring if all of the United States looked exactly the same. 

Sadly - many organizations want cookie cutter "sameness" of agility across the entire company.  

If you look at many efforts to "scale agility" across an organization, it seems to be a bit more about making sure everyone is using the same terminology, normalizing story points ( ugh), and falling in line. Scaling tends to be more in the form of compliance than about agility.  

Scaling agility isn't about conformity. So let's just stop it - ok?

Creating an environment for agile to thrive throughout an organization starts with three key activities: encourage unity, celebrate differences, and establish guard rails

Encourage Unity 

Agile teams do need to be united both in how they work together and in how they align to organizational strategy. But that doesn't mean they have to be the same. Strategic goals should drive deliverables, yet allow flexibility for discovery along the way. Each agile team will likely discover something new to delight the customer in the process of delivering towards those strategic goals

Celebrate Differences

The way one team works will be different from another–and this can be a powerful tool for learning in your organization. Good agile leaders highlight and celebrate these differences so that the whole organization can grow. Creating a learning organization depends upon these differences becoming shared openly, without fear of reprisal.

Establish Guardrails

Encouraging agile teams to "uncover better ways of working" isn't without risk.  As an organization you should have clear guardrails of what is in bounds and out of bounds for a team.  Without guard rails, teams could feel "anything goes"which can lead to disastrous results.  Co-creating these guardrails can be a powerful exercise where teams learn the bounds within which they can play, and can free up their collective creativity to deliver amazing value. 

Scaling Doesn’t Require Conformance

Turning agile teams loose to meet customers’ needs is powerful. At the same time, though, to quote Uncle Ben in the Spiderman comic series, "With great power comes great responsibility." 

Leaders can feel confident in giving teams freedom to make decisions by creating clear organizational goals that ensure teams are rowing in the same direction, allowing different approaches room to grow and learn, and setting clear boundaries where teams can uncover better ways of working. 

None of this is easy.

None of this is without risk.

But ultimately, empowering differences within a unified ecosystem not only brings humanity to the workplace, it also produces better products.

4 Factors to help you select an agile consultancy

 I get this question all the time: 

"Hey Howard, you've been plugged into the business of agility for quite some time, and know almost every significant player in the space. Our organization needs help in our agile transformation, who do you recommend?" 

It won't surprise many of you that the answer is " It depends " because each organization is facing different constraints, different goals, and different needs. I usually spend some time with each request trying to determine the real needs and objectives. I ask a ton of questions, but in general they fall under a few topics.  

In short, selecting a consultant or consultancy, comes down to these three factors that apply to both the  organization and the consultant, and one requirement I have for every consultancy I recommend.

1. Capacity:   Depending upon how large your organization might be, the depth and breadth of the consultancy's staff matters.  Smaller organizations can fair well with independent or small consultancy's, while larger organizations will likely need a much larger team. If you are a large organization and are wanting to start small, it's ok to start with a smaller group and have them scale up with your needs. This shouldn't mean you always hire a large consultancy, because many times thats a poor experience as a small/mid sized organization. With some consultancy's having in excess of 600,000 employees, you simply wouldn't command their attention unless you are a key revenue producer for them. As an example, in order to be a diamond client with Accenture, you will need to generate in excess of $100 million in revenue for them annually. According to this source, they have in excess of 200 Diamond clients as of the end of 2020.  I recommend finding a consultancy that has " slightly more" breadth and depth than you think you need. This way, as your needs increase they can help you and grow with you. 

2. Location:  The world is getting to be a smaller and smaller place, and almost any consultancy will tell you they service clients globally. The truth is, that it likely isn't in your best financial interest if you need the consultants onsite at your physical location. If the predominant amount of your operations are in one city/region, choose a consultancy based in that region.  Long term, you will save lots of expenses on travel costs and will allow the maximum contact time between your staff and the coach/consultant.  Also, for that individual consultant, being local means they aren't away from their families all the time. Choosing local can also help reduce carbon footprint by reducing travel.  In some instances, a remote or hybrid approach is acceptable but for that consultant to really provide value, nothing beats being "in the room". IEven if you are looking at a remote or hybrid approach, you benefit from people being more regional to your employees. 

3. Expectations:  Whether you are at the first days of an agile transformation, or you are on year 5, will matter in who you hire. Some service providers may come with pre-packaged solutions, while others will take a far more "sense and respond" approach. Are you looking for a provider to help solve your issues or are you seeking someone to bounce your ideas off of? These are far different ends of the spectrum because one has the consultancy carrying the burden of selecting the right approach, while the other puts that responsibility on the organization. Speed and urgency are other expectations you will need to articulate, as your situation is unique. Clearly articulating what you are seeking from the engagement will set your organization and the consultancy both up for success. 

And this one is a big one for me in order to recommend someone, and applies only to coaches/consultants/consultancies:

4. Credibility:  The Agile Manifesto for Software Development was signed in 2001, and the rise in the numbers of providers of services in the business of agility have skyrocketed. There are some consultancy's that have added " agile" as a service to the plethora of other things they can do ( Project management, Staff augmentation, Windows 95, and more) Re-sellers also abound, which are really no more than marketing and sales organizations that many times don't even have a clue what they are selling. Let's face it, the business of agility is profitable, and this attracts companies seeking to capitalize.  While some of these might actually have some good people working for them, I'm not a fan of recommending this as an add-on service. I look for companies that are or are trying to be truly agile companies themselves - that this is what they do. They need to live and breathe agility from the products they offer, to their leadership, and to their internal HR policies. You can't determine this from reading an ad slick - it's best to actually know the company and ask a LOT of questions. 

Finding the right alignment of Capacity, Location, Expectation with a consultancy with high Credibility can set you and your organization up for success.  After all, you are going to invest quite a bit of money and time in this effort. The investment of alignment time, is worth it. 

This article addressed 4 factors to consider when selecting your agile consultant or consultancy : Capacity, Location, Expectations and Credibility. 

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If you are seeking an agile coach or consultancy and would like a referral - reach out. I don't charge for this.  It's my way of helping agile transformations be more successful and sustainable by matching clients needs to the best providers.