Yes, I can’t help my age, or my Entertainment DNA… 🤷🏻😂

So, when looking for a good title for this article, I couldn’t help but hear in my brain “Staying Alive” by Bee Gees… 🪩

Yes, I love music…

But let’s talk about why you need to keep Agile Methodology as one of your steady, trusted set of tools, to always lead your industry and stay relevant to your consumers.

They say that common sense is the least common of senses.

The agile method precisely was born as a common-sense response to solve problems created by the growing complexity and matrix behavior in growing organizations.

There are seven deadly sins that afflict most growing or mature organizations in any industry

1. Rigid Organization

Complex hierarchy holds back quick response to changing market environments.

2. Slow adaptation to clients’ needs

Slow and extensive cycles of development that make products already obsolete by the time of launch into the market.

Lack of alignment between the product (often developed by experts in an isolated environment), out of touch with clients’ demands.

3. The infamous silos some hate, some others seem to love.

Too many teams with too many senior leaders, working with department agendas instead of the COMPANY’s agenda (remember One Mission, One Vision?).

Creating internal competition and distrust, instead of focusing on beating the real enemy: external competition. 

And some other inefficiencies, such as duplication and/or overlapping of efforts; therefore, wasting budget and time.

I might add: trying to outsmart each other by excessive use of specific areas lingo, as opposed to operating as agents of knowledge dissemination/leveling and building cooperation & understanding.

4. Projects managed under traditional rigid concepts

“Because I know something you don’t” – “We always did it like this”

Flexibility? Adaptation? What is that!?!?

5. Those Silos create lack of sharing and lack of transparency

Both combined with distrust, bring the company to late decisions, taken with insufficient data. Therefore: solutions unfitting to problems.

6. Lack of commitment and motivation

Rigid structures + poor communication + no collaboration + no empowerment = no team ownership + no accountability = failure

7. Too much emphasis on bureaucracy to the point of inefficiency.

Origins of excess of bureaucracy can be many: 

Tradition, archeological accumulative layers of controls, bad design of touch points and checkpoints, over-sized teams, lack of overall company consistency, etc.

Throughout my career I didn’t witness just a couple of these organizational sins, but all of them — and sometimes mixed in an organic (bad) way, as if it was devised by a devious mastermind.

The response by the creators of the Agile Method was to apply 3 simple laws:

1. Small Team Law

You have big problems? Dissect them into smaller parts, and assign each of them to different cross-functional teams, with iterations in short cycles.

2. The Client Law

Your consumer is the center, and you need to think like her/him, to solve their concrete needs and problems.

3. The Network Law

Organizations must operate as a network of fluent teams, sharing info, efforts (including budget and resources collaboration), and fostering and seeking active cooperation, for a quick response.

I’m sorry to be a pest, stressing this out, one more time …

But, for Agile Method and task force practices to work, you need an organizational culture in place that prioritizes collaboration and adaptability, aligned with the Vision and Mission of your company.

This comes with a warning, though:

Not every single issue or project can be tackled with the Agile method, or with the whole set of its tools.

But certainly, having teams trained in Agile will provide them with more mindful tools to combine with other practices, and to approach and solve other issues as well.

Not only that, but its practice will also create unexpected bridges and friendships across teams and LOB's that will surprise managers.

As I used to joke with heads of the different teams I’ve led: “I love that you ‘plot’ together against me, to bring this solution, or to prove me wrong with some theory.”

In other words, I ultimately encouraged them to feel and operate just as ONE GRAND TEAM — willingly, honestly, sharing resources and ideas, to achieve their best.

When a team achieves their best, they feel the best. And your company becomes the best. 💪🥇

And that it will turn into your company’s living tissue of networking that will make your organization — and your products — stand out among competitors. 💎🤩🏆

That “Je ne sais quoi”, “what they have that we don’t?” 🤔🤯😭

Remember: Train your talent. 

Your best investment. 💪💵📈

Let’s be GREAT and GOOD!