7 Things Agile Executives Should Do Differently
One of the keys to a successful enterprise agile transformation is the support of Executive Leadership, which is more than simply providing approval. The Agile Executive enables, empowers and engages rather than controls.
According to one recent survey, more than one in three organisations claim that the lack of Executive Leadership engagement within their businesses is plaguing current journey towards sustainable organisational Agility.
With a special focus on Executive teams, Dipesh will be drawing upon more than a decade of Agile transformation experiences across multiple organisations, and share real-life case studies and insights to illustrate the following key things that Agile Executives need to do differently:
- Stop Starting, Start Finishing
- Slow Down to Go Faster
- One Team, One Dream
- Foster Fully Capable Teams
- Fail Early & Fail Small
- Deliver Business Value, not just Projects
- Servant Leadership
Awareness of the above principles is important and may sound simple; however turning the awareness of these elements into the inner workings of our daily routine takes discipline. With that in mind, all attendees will also be given ‘The Agile Leaders Checklist' that will assist them in making such behaviours habitual.
If you are an Executive or a Leader of an Agile team, this session will provide clear implications for where to focus your efforts in order to unleash the full potential of Agile methods to gain a competitive edge. You will be inspired by knowing what serves to catalyze and nourish progress – and what does the opposite.
Outline/Structure of the Talk
This talk is conducted in a fast paced, highly-interactive style to keep the audience engaged throughout.
- What is so different for Executives in the Agile ways of working?
First up, light-hearted humour is used to highlight the difference in Leadership styles required in traditional environments and that in Agile environments. This interactive exercise with the audience sets the scene and the themes that rest of the talk builds up on. (Exercise outline can be provided upon request.)
- What are the secret ingredients for Organisational Agility?
When it comes to broader organisational changes, telling others what to do doesn’t work. In fact, the more we try to convince people of something, the more they push back. As leaders, we must be patient and know that achieving a mindset shift in our people requires clearing the path and creating a safe environment that allows a shift to take place.
On the basis of more than a decade of Agile Enterprise Transformation experiences across multiple project teams and companies all across the globe, I will share with the audience the key ingredients that are crucial for any organisation to achieve Organisational Agility.
- What Executive Leaders should do differently?
Enterprise Agility is most successful when Executives lead the way and embrace the transformation. I will share real-life case studies and insights to illustrate the following key things that Agile Executives need to do differently to be more effective:
1. Stop Starting, Start Finishing
2. Slow Down to Go Faster
3. One Team, One Dream
4. Foster Fully Capable Teams
5. Fail Early & Fail Small
6. Deliver Business Value, not just Projects
7. Servant Leadership
The above will be the basis of this talk where I will be sharing how I have worked with executives of many organisations to incorporate these guiding principles to help them gain a competitive edge. I will also share how I have assisted leaders to achieve success by changing their Leadership styles to be more conducive to these principles. This includes stories and learnings from one of the largest Agile transformations ever – the Agile@IBM journey.
- Introduce ‘The Agile Leader’s Checklist’
Awareness of the above seven key elements is important, however turning the awareness of these elements into the inner workings of our daily routine takes discipline. With that in mind, we gradually introduce 'The Agile Leader’s Checklist' that will assist the Leaders and Executives in making such behaviours habitual.
'The Agile Leader’s Checklist' was inspired by the work done by Amabile and Kramer, and I have designed this version of the checklist specifically for Agile Executive Leaders.
- Conclusion
Call to action for all Agile Executive Leaders to start using the ‘The Agile Leader’s Checklist’ – this will at least make them aware of all the key elements that need addressing to help them unleash the full potential of their Agile transformation efforts.
- Q & O (Questions and Opinions – I may not have all the answers but I have a lot of opinions to share!)
In addition to the key learning outcomes mentioned in my submission, all participants will also get to hear a lot of little 'gems' (exciting new tips and techniques they need as Agile Executive Leaders) that are based on my hands-on experience with working with people in these roles. These novel ‘gems’ peppered throughout this talk ensures that participants of all experience levels are inspired!
Learning Outcome
The attendees will learn:
- The difference between the Leadership styles required in Traditional and Agile environments.
- The secret ingredients to achieving Organisational Agility.
- The seven things that Agile Executive Leaders should differently to achieve Organisational Agility.
- And also receive a checklist for Agile Executive Leaders to assist them to adopt the new perspectives and behaviours required to promote Organisational Agility.
Target Audience
While this presentation is suitable for Agile practitioners of all experience levels, Executives or Leaders of Agile teams will benefit most from this session.
Links
- Below is a sample of some of my recent community and speaking engagements in the last couple of years:
Agile Australia 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2016 - Agile Australia Conference - Stream Chair
Agile Australia 2015 - 10 Easy ways to break up... User Stories!
Agile New Zealand 2015 - 10 Easy ways to break up... User Stories!
Agile India 2015 – Unleashing the Full Potential of your Agile Teams
Agile New Zealand 2014 – Unleashing the Full Potential of your Agile Teams
Agile Australia 2014 Melbourne – Unleashing the Full Potential of your Agile Teams
Agile Encore 2014 Sydney – Unleashing the Full Potential of your Agile Teams
Agile Australia 2013 Sydney - Guide to achieving the full potential of your distributed Agile team - workshop
Scrum Australia 2013 Sydney - Scrum Masters are from Mars, Product Owners are from Venus
PMI Conference 2012 QLD - Collaboration, Innovation, Passion … the key ingredients for delivering great business outcomes
Agile Australia 2012 Melbourne – Easy ways to break up
Australian Computer Society – Agile SIG 2012 - Future Speaking Engagements:*
PMI Sydney - Mar 2015
Agile India 2015 - March 2015
Agile Coaching Circles Melbourne - April 2015 - Note to reviewers:*
This talk titled Unleashing the Full Potential of Your Agile Teams was voted in most popular session (of all sessions) at this year's Agile Australia conference attended by over 1000 delegates. This talk was also voted one of the most popular sessions at the recent Agile New Zealand 2014 conference in Wellington. As a result, Dipesh is invited to present this talk again at numerous events and conferences, including the Agile Encore event at Hilton Sydney last year. - Agile Community Highlights:*
Global DevOps Community - Leadership team
Featured in book (1st edition) - Who is Agile in Australia and New Zealand
Profiled in AgileTODAY magazine – Meet Dipesh Pala
Video Links:
Video - Agile India 2015 - Unleashing the Full Potential of your Agile Teams
Video - AgileNZ 2015 - 10 Easy Ways to Break Up... User Stories!
Presentation Slides: