Doing Agile Right

1. Agile is a tool, not a strategy: Use it wisely and selectively

Doing agile right means using agile as a tool in service of a strategy to improve business performance.

Agile is not a panacea. It's a powerful approach for developing innovative solutions when requirements and delivery methods are uncertain. However, it's not suitable for every situation. Agile works best in contexts where:

• Customer needs are rapidly evolving
• Technology is changing quickly
• There's high uncertainty about the best solution
• Frequent feedback and iteration are valuable

Selective application is key. Organizations should:

• Identify areas where agile can add the most value
• Start with pilot projects to learn and refine the approach
• Gradually scale agile practices where they prove effective
• Maintain traditional methods where they remain appropriate

Remember that agile is meant to complement, not completely replace, existing processes. The goal is to create a balanced system that combines the stability of traditional approaches with the flexibility of agile methods.

2. Agile teams are the foundation: Empower them to innovate

Agile teams are tools used to develop innovative solutions when what to deliver, how to deliver it, or both are vague and unpredictable.

Autonomous, cross-functional teams. Effective agile teams typically have:

• 5-9 members with diverse skills
• Clear ownership of their work and outcomes
• Authority to make decisions about how to achieve goals
• Direct access to customers and stakeholders

Key practices for agile teams:

• Break work into short sprints (usually 1-4 weeks)
• Hold daily stand-up meetings for coordination
• Regularly demo progress to stakeholders
• Conduct retrospectives to continuously improve

Leaders should provide teams with clear objectives and constraints, then step back and allow them to self-organize and innovate. This empowerment fosters creativity, ownership, and rapid learning cycles.

3. Balance bureaucracy and innovation for an agile enterprise

An agile enterprise creates balanced systems that efficiently adapt to changing customer opportunities in order to deliver superior results.

Harmonize stability and flexibility. Agile enterprises don't eliminate bureaucracy entirely. Instead, they:

• Maintain standardized processes for routine operations
• Use agile methods for innovation and adaptation
• Create mechanisms for the two approaches to work together

Key elements of an agile enterprise:

• Clear, customer-focused purpose and strategy
• Adaptive planning and resource allocation
• Empowered, cross-functional teams
• Rapid experimentation and learning cycles
• Technology that enables quick changes

The goal is to create an organization that can reliably execute core business while rapidly innovating to meet new challenges and opportunities. This balance allows companies to be both efficient and adaptable in dynamic markets.

4. Leadership transformation is crucial for agile success

Leaders who aren't committed to learning and practicing agile methods shouldn't launch an agile transformation.

Shift from command-and-control to enablement. Agile leaders must:

• Trust teams to make decisions
• Provide guidance on "what" but not "how"
• Remove obstacles for teams
• Focus on long-term capability building

Key leadership behaviors:

• Communicate a clear vision and priorities
• Ask probing questions instead of giving orders
• Encourage experimentation and learning from failure
• Model agile practices in their own work

Leaders should form their own agile team at the executive level, focusing on strategy and enterprise-wide agility. This transformation often requires significant personal growth and change for leaders accustomed to traditional management approaches.

5. Adaptive planning, budgeting, and reviewing drive agility

Planning, budgeting, and reviewing work together in iterative feedback loops to create an agile plan-do-study-adjust system, just as any individual agile team would.

Shift from annual cycles to continuous adaptation. Agile enterprises:

• Create high-level plans with the flexibility to adjust
• Allocate resources more frequently (e.g., quarterly)
• Use rolling forecasts instead of fixed budgets
• Conduct regular reviews to reallocate based on results

Key practices:

• Maintain a prioritized backlog of strategic initiatives
• Fund persistent teams rather than individual projects
• Use objective metrics to evaluate progress
• Empower teams to make decisions within guardrails

This approach allows organizations to respond quickly to new information and changing market conditions, rather than being locked into outdated plans and budgets.

6. Rethink organizational structure and talent management

An organization's operating model should not be confused with its formal structure—it includes accountabilities and decision rights, a management system, leadership behaviors, culture, collaboration methodologies, and so on, in addition to structure.

Focus on the entire operating model. When transitioning to agile, consider:

• How to organize around customer value streams
• Where to deploy agile teams for maximum impact
• How to balance functional expertise and cross-functional collaboration
• What decision rights to push down to teams

Evolve talent practices:

• Hire for agile mindsets and adaptability
• Create career paths that don't rely on traditional hierarchy
• Shift performance management to focus on team outcomes
• Develop new skills like facilitation and coaching

Remember that structure alone doesn't determine how an organization operates. Culture, processes, and leadership behaviors are equally important in creating an agile enterprise.

7. Evolve processes and technology to support agile methods

Agile enterprises use business processes as enablers to deliver great customer solutions. Business processes are simple and are constantly improving.

Simplify and automate. To support agility:

• Break down complex processes into modular components
• Implement flexible, service-oriented IT architectures
• Automate routine tasks to free up human creativity
• Continuously refine processes based on feedback

Key technology enablers:

• Cloud computing for scalability
• Microservices for modular software development
• DevOps practices for rapid deployment
• Data analytics for quick decision-making

The goal is to create processes and systems that can be easily reconfigured as needs change, rather than becoming constraints on innovation and adaptation.

8. Make agile fun and rewarding to sustain momentum

If you and your team are not having fun with agile, you're not doing it right.

Foster a positive agile culture. To maintain enthusiasm:

• Celebrate small wins and learning experiences
• Encourage experimentation and tolerate failure
• Provide opportunities for skill development
• Recognize and reward agile behaviors

Key practices:

• Use gamification to make agile rituals engaging
• Share success stories across the organization
• Create opportunities for cross-team collaboration
• Invest in comfortable, collaborative workspaces

Remember that agile is about empowering people to do their best work. When done right, it should increase job satisfaction and engagement. If the transition feels overly stressful or burdensome, it's a sign that adjustments are needed in the approach.

Last updated: April 23, 2025