Agile Consulting

Agility stands for the ability to react quickly and appropriately to a complex and dynamic environment, often in the form of customer requirements. Agility therefore means flexibility, or - quite simply: liveliness.

Agile companies have understood that they are operating in an increasingly complex environment and therefore have to adapt to new conditions at an ever faster pace. In response, they reflect the dynamics of their environment in their own organization - and in some cases even manage to make the market itself more dynamic. This is often characterized by a strong customer focus, short, iterative planning and development cycles, flat hierarchies and a high degree of self-organization.

Why do we think agility is important?

Many companies are currently feeling the pressure of an increasingly dynamic market environment in which it is important to remain competitive:

01. Digitalization enables disruption, which displaces existing technologies, products and services from the market in a very short space of time. New players are challenging established companies. If accumulated knowledge and company size do not create a lasting competitive advantage, innovation and agility gain enormous importance.

02. The increasing number of uncertainties in the market environment inevitably increases the speed at which companies have to make decisions and adapt to changing conditions. The ability to plan is decreasing: in the past, projects could be planned and rolled out in a waterfall-like manner over several years, but now short, iterative cycles are sufficient - the shorter the better.

03. The perception of one's own contribution to the company's value creation is increasingly becoming a key motivational factor for employees. External control and a lack of self-efficacy destroy motivation and drastically reduce agility and innovative strength.

Definition and meaning of "agile transformation"
The term "agile transformation" describes the path from a traditional organization to an agile organization, i.e. an organization that follows a whole range of agile principles in product development and service provision in order to survive in the VUCA world. The agile transformation is a change process that companies do not go through overnight. This is because working in a truly agile way as an organization requires far more than just methodological expertise and shorter planning cycles. Much more decisive are the framework conditions under which value creation takes place in the company. They determine what behaviour is opportune and when, what demands the organization has on its employees and what limits must not be exceeded.

Why do agile transformations fail?
It is often precisely these framework conditions that become a critical success factor and cause many agile transformations to fail. Structural elements such as reporting and approval processes, control and planning apparatuses or internal performance incentives and evaluations can either hinder agile value creation or make it possible in the first place. They are the greatest lever for breaking up and reconnecting the fusion of value creation and the values and principles of an organization. In order to understand how this can be achieved, a fundamental realization must be made first:

At the heart of an agile transformation are not methods or frameworks, but first and foremost values and principles that govern collaboration.

This is because every single one of the well-known, much-publicized agile methods was created by consistently applying these values and principles to a specific business case - be it SCRUM for project work, Kanban for the service sector, Lean Startup for testing new business ideas. Visualization and estimation techniques such as burn-down charts or planning poker followed.

Unfortunately, agile transformations too often focus on these methods and techniques instead of starting with the values and principles. However, any method - no matter how popular - can only be successfully applied by an organization if it follows the same agile values and principles on which the method is based. If this is not the case, the application will not only be ineffective, but in the worst-case scenario, it will cause damage. The values and principles that guide an organization's actions are in turn enshrined in its culture, which determines behaviour and guides decisions with an invisible hand. When we talk about sustainable agile transformation, we automatically mean cultural transformation. Agility therefore does not start with post-its, squads, sprints and hackathons, but with values and principles and a critical look at the organization's own culture.

Step by step to an agile organization Culture is the memory of the organization.

It is their immune system that tries to ensure the survival of the organization in the future by replicating what was successful in the past. Culture is reflected in the organization: in processes, organizational charts and rules that have emerged as helpful over decades. It is not enough to proclaim new values and wallpaper the corridors with posters to bring about lasting change in an organization's culture - just as it is of little help to use a teleprompter to get the audience to show authentic enthusiasm at a concert with a bad atmosphere. Even if even the last employee is convinced of the effectiveness of agile values and principles, the processes and structures of the organization often act like a layer of clay. Only by specifically questioning processes, decision-making rules, organizational charts, etc. can the previous framework conditions for collaboration be analysed in small iterations, changed in a targeted manner and the agility of the organization increased. Each iteration makes it possible to gather new experiences that become part of the cultural memory and lead to lasting change.

1. identify patterns
An iteration begins with the question of the value creation mission and where the current organization is hindering this. In the first step, we observe the collaboration in order to recognize critical patterns and thus identify starting points. This can be illustrated using a swing: In order to speed up or slow down a child that is already swinging with the desired effect, the first step is to observe the pattern in which the swing swings. Only then can the push be applied in the right place and at the right time to increase or reduce the swing as desired. In the same way, we first observe and analyse the existing organization and its patterns. Example: A client's HR department has two value-adding tasks. Firstly, it is responsible for administrative tasks such as contracts, certificates, the onboarding process, etc. On the other hand, individual personnel development measures are to be designed. Internal customers have repeatedly been dissatisfied with the latter in the past. The employees in the department are used to leaving decisions to their formal manager once they reach a certain level of importance. In our observations, it is noticeable that, due to their formal decision-making authority, managers have become a strong second point of reference in the daily work of employees alongside the actual customer.

2. form a hypothesis
In the next step, we relate the identified pattern to the value creation task and form a hypothesis as to what influence the organization has on value creation. We look for a reason why the work does not succeed as intended. In our example, we recognize that the employees develop personnel development concepts that primarily correspond to the manager's vision. As a result, the customer focus fades into the background and the added value of the concepts suffers. We hypothesize that without formal power structures, this part of value creation would be more customer-centric and thus produce better results.

 

3. breaking patterns
Based on the hypothesis, we look together for a suitable lever to break the recurring pattern. This involves an organizational intervention, a kind of experiment in which new things are tried out for a predefined period of time and different experiences are gathered. This is the only way to change mindsets and convictions - with a direct impact on the underlying culture. Targeted irritation of the existing organization is needed to enable sustainable change. In our example, we irritate the existing organization of the department by almost completely eliminating the influence of the manager for the period of the next conception of a personnel development concept - from order clarification to completion. We limit reporting, give the team full budget responsibility and allow them to make all decisions on their own, without the manager being able to intervene. Their only task is to create the necessary safe space. Both the team and the manager are accompanied by us along the pilot in order to avoid relapses into old patterns of behavior.

4. evaluate the results
Once the experiment has been completed, check what changes have occurred. Did the lever have the desired effect? What of what we tried out do we keep, what needs to be reconsidered or adapted? Could this also be a lever for other areas? Or do we need to test something completely different? In our example, it worked. Despite initial uncertainties, the team reports an effective and efficient collaboration in which they organized themselves independently and focused exclusively on the wishes and needs of the customers. The result is a product that inspires customers and delivers real added value. Important: There are no blueprints or best practices for agile transformations. The successful experiment only shows that the identified lever worked in this particular environment with this particular team. Transferability to other teams and areas always requires a separate hypothesis and a new experiment first - even if experience already gained accelerates the observation process and often significantly increases the accuracy of the hypothesis.

With the Transformation Loop to an agile organization

As the example of our client shows, change presents organizations with complex challenges and it takes a well thought-out approach to meet this challenge. Converting an organization to an agile organization therefore means uncertainty and must be done holistically in order to generate the full effect. Our iterative approach, based on experimentation, enables incremental improvement. Nevertheless, we need a structured approach to maintain an overview and recognize successes. The following both structured and iterative approach allows us to do just that and is able to respond to evolving transformation conditions: The Agile Transformation Loop. The Agile Transformation Loop describes an approach based on Scrum, enriched with aspects from our many years of Change Management experience. This approach is made up of successive phases and is based on a continuous learning and development process that provides a structured framework for the iteration "recognize patterns - form hypotheses - break patterns - evaluate results".

Preparation of the agile transformation process

In order to initiate the agile transformation, structural groundwork is required. The basis for this is initially formed by the steps "Identify patterns and form hypotheses" in order to analyse the existing organization and its patterns. These patterns are set in relation to the value creation mission so that we can derive hypotheses, which in turn lay the foundation for the transformation backlog. The transformation backlog can be thought of as an indicative list of points to be addressed on the way to an agile transformation. In addition, of course, a team is needed to drive the agile transformation in the company. We rely on a transformation team consisting of different roles. The main sponsor acts as the transformation owner, the voice of the customer "organization", and is overall responsible for the transformation. He is supported in particular by the Transformation Master, who accompanies the team and indirectly the transformation project in terms of process. Together, they support the Transformation Core Team in implementing the various steps on the path to an agile organization. Furthermore, the transformation process is based on sprints, the duration of which must be clarified in advance. Experience has shown that an iteration of 4 weeks makes sense.

Our consulting approach: More agility through networking and institutionalization

Our consulting projects typically start in a specific area of a company. The best conditions for making the division more agile are given when the assignment and the motivation for change come from the manager responsible for the division itself. Through coaching and operational support, we enable the division's managers to effectively build an agile organization from the inside out and to implement cultural changes sustainably. We also provide comprehensive expertise in identifying value creation levers and enable managers to independently drive cultural change forward step by step.

How can an area-specific, agile transformation become a comprehensive transformation that leads to the entire company becoming agile at its core?

The more seed cells of the agile organization are sown in the company and networked with each other, the more experiences can be shared, lessons learned can be exchanged and common patterns - both desired and undesired - can be identified. With our many years of experience in sustainable Change Management , we have the necessary expertise to promote the corresponding dynamics and develop a self-reinforcing effect.

Many individual agile transformations and the open exchange about them lead to the "hidden rules" and "organizational patterns" gradually being revealed and an agile organization being institutionalized. The culture of the company is not turned upside down in the process. Experience has shown that many "hidden rules" and "organizational patterns" remain stable, while central rules and organizational structures that stand in the way of change and value creation are systematically replaced. After all, agile transformation must never become an end in itself.

First and foremost, there must always be the question of the value creation mandate and which structures and framework conditions are currently hindering this. Genuine value creation is therefore our top priority in every project. After all, what counts in the end is not how many Post-Its are stuck to the wall and how many sprints you have run, but whether the customer pays for the product or service. We are convinced that well-organized value creation that satisfies real customer needs not only brings sustainable economic success, but also gives employees a sense of satisfaction, makes them proud and inspires them. This is what we stand for.

This is precisely why we do not have a blueprint for "the agile organization". What we can offer you, however, is a tried-and-tested approach on how to successfully tackle an agile transformation. Our experience is extremely positive. Whether as a coach, consultant, trainer, co-thinker or co-pilot, we work together to find out what is needed and have all the tools we need to do so.

Modern managers create an environment in which precisely this innovative energy can flow - so that innovative ideas can emerge within their own company - by empowering employees, promoting a culture of experimentation and learning and actively developing their own management team.

Nothing works without a mindset

Lifelong learning and flexibility are paradise for curious people who don't want to be tied down at the start of their careers. But what about those who have grown up for years in systems that rewarded meeting fixed levels of competence? Who promoted those who fitted perfectly into a template? Or at least those who successfully pretended to? Where do I get my raison d'être as a manager if I don't know more than my employees?

The change to an agile corporate structure poses major challenges for managers in particular - not least because agile methods usually do not provide for any explicit management roles. It requires strong self-confidence to embrace this change - and the corresponding Change Management. It is therefore essential to support managers in these areas and not simply try to "teach" them a new management style.

What is changing for managers and how can they get employees on board?

The Change Management is often left out of agile transformations. The need for change seems too clear - who wants to lead like the large manufacturers of the 19th century?

The 21st century? What's more, agile working sounds like a lot of fun - planning poker, fuck-up nights and hackathons are accompanied by modern office design and flexible working. Isn't this the change we've all been waiting years for? Why do we need Change Management? In other words: if it's so easy, why do so many agile transformations fail?

Managers also go through the familiar change curve and react to change with uncertainty. Do I have the necessary skills? What about my area of responsibility, do I have to give up skills? What will my future role as a manager look like? Will my employees continue to respect me? Managers react to change with the same shock and sadness as other employees.

Previous skill profiles provided a clear framework of which skills you had to have for which activities. This certainty is now no longer there, but it also offers the opportunity to finally focus on your own strengths instead of being forced into fixed templates. To do this, however, you need to know who you are, what you can do, but also who you are not and what you cannot do. In many organizations, admitting your own strengths and weaknesses is a completely new way of behaving that can be very unsettling. How much weakness is allowed, at what point do you break the rules of the system in which you still work?

Only when managers have mastered this change for themselves can they accompany their employees through the change and authentically explain what is meant by supposed buzzwords such as "fail fast". In order to embrace the change, they must be able to trust their own managers. It is not enough to simply demand and allow a new understanding of leadership at lower management levels.

Among other things, this requires top management to represent a common change story - and to really stand behind it. Lip service is quickly seen through. Every member of top management must be able to credibly explain why a new management style is necessary, what advantages it brings, what exactly it means for the organization and how the organization will achieve its goal.

1. what does "fail fast, fail cheap" mean for us?

2 What do we mean by innovation?

3. how much time do we take for leadership?

4. how and how often do we give ourselves feedback?

5. how do we deal with the individual strengths/weaknesses profiles of employees?

6 Who is allowed to decide what? Who is promoted and why?

8. what career paths do we offer our employees?

9 What is this agile leadership?

Of course, it is not enough just to have a common understanding - the respective manager - also in upper management - must set a good example, actively apply the new management behavior and receive regular feedback on their management style.

The path to an agile organization thus becomes an exciting journey for everyone involved that offers a lot of opportunities.

The term OKR stands for "Objectives and Key Results". OKR is a method that creates a link between strategy and day-to-day business. It is primarily made up of the three core elements of measurability, flexibility and transparency. However, OKRs are not a management method. 

Measurability

The objectives describe the desired corporate goals. The key results make it possible to make each objective measurable. They describe how an objective is to be achieved.

Flexibility

Objectives and key results are typically formulated on a quarterly basis. This allows companies to define their focus several times a year and adapt to changing conditions at shorter intervals.

Transparency

The company's objectives and key results can be viewed by all managers and employees. The OKRs of each team and each individual employee are then linked to those of the company. Finally, there is clarity about who contributes to the company's success with their objectives and where.

Who came up with OKR? The term OKR is closely associated with Silicon Valley and the success stories of Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and Dropbox. However, the approach is older than most of these companies. Originally, the framework was first applied at Intel in the 1970s as an extended Management by Objectives (MbO) concept by Intel CEO Andy Grove. Grove wanted to ensure that the focus at Intel was on the most important objectives by further developing MbO. John Doerr then brought Intel's framework to Google in 1999 in his position as an investor. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin did not adopt the framework 1:1, but expanded it once again to include another cornerstone: the measurability of progress.

Why are OKRs important?

The corporate vision is typically a short, concise sentence that describes where the company is heading. However, for many employees - and even managers - it is rather vague. The OKR framework offers companies the opportunity to concretize the vision and make it more understandable for all employees. This creates transparency as to what lies behind the vision and which goals and tasks result from it. It also answers the question of how each employee can add value to the company.

The purpose describes why we get up in the morning and do what we do. The vision tells us where we want to go. Objectives describe the qualitative goals - in other words, what we want to achieve in detail. The key results quantify the respective objectives. They drive success, make progress measurable and describe how we want to achieve our goals.

OKRs promote the agile mindset

The culture of every company can be described by three layers: The top layer (behavioral culture) describes the externally visible behaviors of employees. The middle layer (value culture) contains the collective values and norms within the company that lead to the behaviors that are practiced. The bottom layer (organizational structure) results from the existing processes, organizational charts and rules in the company.

Changes work from the bottom up. This means that in order to positively influence the value culture and ultimately the behavioural culture of an entire company, the organizational structure must be changed. The OKR framework for employee management has a major advantage here compared to other agile methods such as SCRUM or design thinking: it starts at the organizational level and thus influences the understanding of values of all employees. By changing the organizational structure, agile values such as trust, self-organization, transparency and approaches such as Minimal Viable Product (MVP) can be anchored in the company's value culture. OKRs thus help to establish agile working methods such as SCRUM in the long term: SCRUM teams can follow the method without restriction and do not have to justify their new understanding of values on a daily basis. This is because the higher hierarchical levels and neighboring departments now work according to the same agile basic principles.

Our OKR services: How we support you

OKRs form the foundation for establishing agile values in the entire corporate culture.

OKRs change the values of the company and the mindsets of employees, and this change needs to be accompanied professionally. We support companies in all strategic and operational steps in the implementation of the OKR framework - from analyzing the status quo to supporting the first OKR cycles. Our focus is on familiarizing employees with the OKR framework and getting them excited about it so that agile thinking structures can be sustainably integrated into everyday working life and become part of the culture. With our change know-how, we ensure that the OKR philosophy is positively received and lived by the employees involved.