I give a lot of workshops and presentations and in many cases, attendees ask for the ‘silver bullet’ to become agile. It is far too short-sighted to think that you have to implement one agile framework and you achieve agility. First it is not about frameworks (despite my search which already resulted in 50 different agile frameworks. See my blog: A birds eye view on the agile frameworks forest). Also copying a successful way of working will not do (how many organizations copied Spotify’s tribes and squads’ organization model, bypassing Spotify’s own remark “if you want to use Spotify’s way of working, you have to become a Spotify”)? Achieving agility is all about the mindset of you as an individual or your organization and it’s the culture clash between the agile and traditional mindset that makes agile transitions difficult (reminder the picture I often use showing two rhinos looking at each other, as a metaphor for this clash). I have seen organisations firing project and program managers because they choose for the agile way of working and created a lot of agile teams because their competitor did the same and are now regretting that move. They have to hire much more expensive external program managers who lack the added value of the needed informal networks in the organisation to make transformational changes happen. Having only agile teams is not enough.
I got across the AGILE NXT FUTURE FRIDAY 2019 conference organized by Xebia. Last year I read the magazine AGILE NXT – Insights and foresights for your next step in agile so I was triggered, and the program looks awesome.
If I look at the program, I hope to get some answers or at least directions to my own thoughts. The conference offers seven thought leaders to sharpen my and your own mind and will help to improve your own organization’s performance.
- How Agile is Our Human Brain? (Keynote, Margriet Sitskoorn): Take a trip through the plasticity of your mind and gain insight into how you can express your talents and best accomplish your goals in the age of agility.
- Stop Copy-Past Agility, Start Agile Problem Solving (Daniel Burm): Is your agile “copy-paste” or “problem-solving-specific? If you only imitate, you’ll never innovate. Learn what it takes to solve your own companies’ problems, your way—the agile way.
- Structure Your Organization For Tomorrow (Roel Trienekens & Just Meddens):Learn how to confront the real challenges of current work-impacting trends. Gain practical knowledge for your organization’s future-fit toolkit.
- When Agile Meets Culture … And Clashes (Ellen Barree): Open your eyes to the “invisible elements” that often undermine transformations. Learn how to make culture change more tangible and sustainable.
- Why the Agile “Fixed-Team” Dogma is Wrong (Laïla Noujeh & Laurens Bonnema): Solve poor performance with a shift in perspective on the fixed-team dogma. Discover how to implement dynamic reteaming experiments in your organization.
I will definitely attend AGILE NXT FUTURE FRIDAY 2019 and I look forward to the insights the speakers will offer. Afterwards I will write a blog with the highlights of this conference. Interested too, get your ticket at: https://www.agilenxt.com/
Henny Portman's Blog 