The Culture of Agility

The Culture of Agility

Pete Behrens
Leadership Agility Coach
Email pete@trailridgeconsulting.com
Twitter @petebehrens
Understanding why some companies
succeed through sustained agility while
others flounder following initial success

© 2011 Trail Ridge Consulting, LLC

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

93%
of what you’ve learned
at Agile 2011
will fail to stick
in your organization*

* without a supportive agile culture



What is culture?
Why is culture important?
A Language for culture
Culture and Agility
4 Keys to an Agile Culture

@petebehrens


What is
Culture ?

What we do to succeed



Culture is to an organization
As personality is to a person

INTP

There are many culture success models
just as there are many successful personalities



Learning Agility
While many organizations adopt agile, and those
that bring in outside aid do so much faster than
others, few are able to sustain their agile
transformation - this is the focus of the presentation
Sustainability

Agility
Training &
Coaching

Internal Learning

0 1 2 3 4 5
© 2011 Trail Ridge Consulting, LLC Years

Agile is a Strategy

Not the Goal!



What is Agility?

Product Agility

Organizational Agility

Cultural Agility


What is Agility?

What
Process Behaviors
How

Roles, Teams Who
Structure Responsibilities Where

Values
Culture Beliefs
Why



What is Agility?

What
Process Behaviors
How
le ns he
11 t
gi io t
20 a
A ss of
se 3%
9

Roles, Teams Who
Structure Responsibilities Where

Values
Culture Beliefs
Why



What is Agility?

What
Process Behaviors
How

Roles, Teams Who
Structure
Impacts

Responsibilities Where

Values
Culture Beliefs
Why



Steve Denning @ Agile 2011

Shift from Value

to Values



What is Agility?

What
Process Behaviors
How
Focus

Roles, Teams Who
Structure
Impacts

Responsibilities Where

Values
Culture Beliefs
Why



A language for Culture

William Schneider, The Reengineering Alternative



Control Culture

Socialization base in military organizations
Structured hierarchically, focused functionally


Control Culture

”
ita tive
o r
“A uth

Leaders exercise “role” power
Follow chain of command
Command respect and compliance
Delegation is tight, clear


Control Culture

”
ys tem
“S

"Everyone at P&G is like a hand in a bucket of water,
when the hand is removed, the water closes in and
there is no trace."

The system is more important than people
Information is guarded with care and flows down/up



Control Culture

oc ess”
“Pr

"We are the biggest SOP company in the business.”

Policy and procedure are extremely important
Decision making is methodical and systematic



Collaboration Culture

Socialization base in the family or athletic team
Strong focus on people and interactions
Success through building and developing teams



”
“We

1982 each employee gave $1,000 to buy a $30M Boeing 767

1973 during energy crisis they had a no layoff policy
They shifted to other jobs, cleaning, selling tickets, etc.

Personal sacrifice for the organization
Camaraderie, shared celebrations, shared wealth
Individual identity tied to organizational identity



e over
“P eopl ss”
P roce

"The only difference between us and our competitors is
our people, our engineers are more creative, our people
are more productive, we are going to beat them."

Relationship power is key
People stick with the organization a long time



”
2 =5
“2+

"When decisions have to get made, we get everyones opinion."

Their CEO, a 32 year veteran with the company,
still eats with packers, and junior managers

Success comes through synergy from working together
They hire a wide variety of people with versatility


Competence Culture

Socialization base in the university
Strong focus on expertise and knowledge
Value competition against a standard of excellence


Competence Culture

”
nary
“V isio

Seymour Cray "was obsessed by a vision of
technological achievement, scientific purity, and quality"

Focus on new products, services, markets, businesses
Ideas and concepts ultimately motivate people



Competence Culture

en ce”
l
Ex cel
“

Giant research lab in electrical engineering, chemistry, biology,
computer science, and physics with over 26,000 patents

Success by having the best product, technology or service
Pursuit of excellence, ingenuity and creativity



Competence Culture

ied”
a tisf
ve rS
“Ne

"One of the things that characterizes Microsoft is insecurity.
People never believe that they've got the best product.
It's always the fear that somebody is going to come up with
a better product."

There is always more to do
Considerable pressure to move ahead


Competence Culture

O ut”
r
“Upo

Culture of superstars

Do whatever it takes to win
Relationships are often competitive
The better you can be, the more you will be rewarded



Cultivation Culture

Socialization base in religious institutions
Strong focus on growth and faith
System of beliefs to accomplish goals
Make progress towards a higher order


Cultivation Culture

l ”
os efu
“P urp

Make the world a better place, nurture people’s bodies,
and uplift their souls.

Expanders and enlargers of their people and organization
Envision possibilities - get people on a common vision
Pursuit of possibility - people possibility, uplifting


Cultivation Culture

”
g anic
“Or

Four acre company garden
Social responsibility

Plant seeds and trusts nature to take its course
Information is free-flowing, little is kept secret
Climate is relaxed, spirited and energetic



Cultivation Culture

e”
ea tiv
“Cr

“Never kill an idea, deflect it”
“Biological Structure”

Encourage free flow of ideas
People empowered to think independently
Advocate discovery, experimentation and fresh ideas
The organization is in motion a great deal


COLLABORATION
Personal-Impersonal Cultures

• People driven • Detached

CONTROL
• Organic • Systems, policies
and procedures
• Dynamic

Impersonal
Personal

• Scientiﬁc
• Participative
• Objective
• Subjective
CULTIVATION

COMPETENCE
• Formal
• Informal
• Emotionless
• Open-ended
• Prescriptive
• Emotional


Actuality-Possibility Cultures

Actuality
COLLABORATION

• Concrete, tangible reality, facts

CONTROL
• What has occurred and is occurring now
• Actual experience and occurrence

Impersonal
• What can be seen, heard, touched, measured
Personal

• Practicality, utility

• Insights and imagined alternatives
CULTIVATION

COMPETENCE
• What might occur in the future
• Ideals, beliefs, aspirations, inspirations
• Novelty, innovations, and creative options
• Theoretical concepts or frameworks

Possibility


Core Culture Overview

Actuality

Impersonal
Personal

Possibility


Reading Charts and Graphs

The information presented in Many of the subsequent slides
the subsequent slides is from will display information in color
real companies who have without coding what the color
transitioned and are in indicates. Just as the
various stages of introduction of the culture
sustainability of agility. language, each core culture is
represented by its color.
The following case studies
were chosen as examples of
various cultures and how Blue = Control Culture
understanding their culture
impacted their agile adoption Yellow = Collaboration Culture
and sustainability.

Data was obtained through Red = Competence Culture
surveying the organizations.
Green = Cultivation Culture


Retail Control Culture

Control

Collaboration This is control culture
signature of a large retail IT
organization with a centralized
functional hierarchy. While
Competence there are many nuances to
their agile adoption, in general
they have been on the road for
Cultivation 2 years.

10 15 20 25 30 35

Percent Response


1. The people with the most power and influence in the organization:
21 a. Are charismatic, can inspire others, and are good at motivating
others to develop their potential.
53 b. Have the title and position that gives them the right and authority
to exercise power and influence.
21 c. Are both contributors and team players, who are an essential
part of the team. People like working with them.
5 d. Are experts or specialists, who have the most knowledge about
something important.

Control 53
Collaboration 21
Competence 5
Cultivation 21 An example survey question and
answers used to measure culture.
Leaders in control cultures tend to
drive through title and position.


2. Which of the following best describes the primary way decisions are made
in the organization?
3 a. We pay close attention to our concepts and standards. We emphasize the
fit between our theoretical goals and the extent to which we achieve
them. Our decision-making process centers on how systematically
our conceptual goals are achieved.
5 b. We pay close attention to our values. We emphasize the fit between our
values and how close we are to realizing them. Our decision-making
process centers on the congruence between our values or purposes
and what we have put into practice.
89 c. We emphasize what the organization needs. Our decision-making process
centers on the objectives of the organization and on what we need
from each function within the organization.
3 d. We emphasize tapping into the experiences of one another. Our decision-
making process centers on fully using our collective experiences and
pushing for consensus.
Control 89
Collaboration 3
Competence 3 Control cultures tend to have a functional
Cultivation 5
focus on the current needs.

3. What do we pay attention to primarily in our organization and how
do we make decisions?
37 a. We pay attention to what might be and we decide by relying on
objective and detached analysis.
13 b. We pay attention to what is and we decide by relaying on what
evolves from within the hearts and minds of our people.
18 c. We pay attention to what might be and we decide by relaying on
what evolves from within the hearts and minds of our people.
32 d. We pay attention to what is and we decide by relying on objective
and detached analysis.

Control 32
Collaboration 13
Competence 37
Cultivation 18
Not all responses will be focused
in one culture - This indicates a
very impersonal culture.

5. What counts most in the organization is:
26 a. Winning. Being recognized as the best competitor around.
3 b. Not losing. Keeping what we've got.
63 c. Evolving. Realizing greater potential. Fulfilling commitments.
8 d. Accomplishing it together. Being able to say "we did it together".

Control 3
Collaboration 8
Competence 26
Cultivation 63

Not all responses indicate a control culture
as this response indicates a cultivative
response.



Retail Control Culture Adoption

Due to the control culture structure and size of the
organization, agile adoption is more challenging
and takes longer as the traditional structures are
deconstructed in favor of more agile structures

Agility

0 1 2 3 4 5

Product Cultivative Culture

This is a cultivative culture signature of a
Control small product development organization.

Collaboration

Competence

Cultivation

10 15 20 25 30 35

Percent Response


6. Which phrase best describes our organization?
80 a. "We believe in what we are doing, we make a commitment, and
we realize unlimited potential."
10 b. "We are the best at what we do."
0 c. "We are the biggest at what we do."
10 d. "United we stand, divided we fall."

Control 0
Collaboration 10
Competence 10
Cultivation 80

Cultivative cultures look forward and look
for growth in people through mission



7. What counts most in the organization is:
0 a. Security.
20 b. Community.
20 c. Merit.
60 d. Fulfillment.

Control 0
Collaboration 20
Competence 20
Cultivation 60

This company shows a strong
commitment to people and their beliefs



Cultivative Culture Path

Due to the smaller size and agile culture alignment,
adoption was natural and fast. Added agile structures
to focus on discipline of agility.

Org growth
75 -> 150!

Agility 9 people at
Agile 2011!

0 1 2 3 4 5

McKinsey IT (presenting @Agile2011)

Many successful agile companies exhibit
cultivative cultural behaviors - as seen by
Control those presenting at the conference.

Collaboration

Competence

Cultivation

10 20 30 40 50 60

Percent Response


From Team to “WOW” Team

This represents a summary of McKinsey
IT Agile 2011 Presentation

1. BACK TO THE BASICS

2. NO IDEA IS TOO SILLY

3. START SMALL

4. MAKE EVERYTHING FUN



McKinsey IT Agile Path

Due to the smaller size and agile culture alignment,
adoption was natural and fast. Added agile structures
to focus on discipline of agility. Even as they reach
plateaus, their culture helps them move beyond them.

Agility

0 1 2 3 4 5

Barbara Fredrickson @ Agile 2011

Positive emotions
expand awareness
which enable agility



Omnyx (GE Healthcare)
(presenting @Agile2011)

Another cultivative (and well balanced)
organization presenting at Agile 2011
Control

Collaboration

Competence

Cultivation

10 15 20 25 30 35

Percent Response


Organizational Heartbeat

From the Omnyx presentation, you can see they
focus on culture as much as they focus on agility
because they see them as co-dependent.



Omnyx Agile Path

Starting with a greenfield organization, in the medical
field, Omnyx created a culture of agility from the
outset and have continued strengthening it for 3 years

Agility

0 1 2 3 4 5

Salesforce R&D Competence
Culture (presenting @ Agile 2011)
Not all successful agile
Control companies are cultivative.
Salesforce.com, one of the
most documented successful
Collaboration agile organizations sports a
competence-based culture.

Competence

Cultivation

10 15 20 25 30 35

Percent Response


SaaS R&D Competence Culture
8. Which of the following best describes how you feel about working
in your organization:
7 a. This is a caring and "spirited" place. I feel supported.
24 b. People are able to count on one another.
2 c. Things are no nonsense and restrained.
66 d. Things are rather intense. I feel like I have to be on my toes all
the time.

Control 2
Collaboration 24
Competence 66
Cultivation 7
Competence cultures tend to drive their
people and have higher intensity



9. Which of the following best describes our organization's primary approach
in dealing with customers?
14 a. Partnership. We team up with our customers. We want to be able to say
"We did it together".
19 b. We emphasize uplifting and enriching our customers. We concentrate on
realizing the possibilities and potential of our customers more fully.
12 c. We emphasize gaining the greatest market share that we can get. We
would like to be the only game in town for our customers.
54 d. We emphasize offering superior value to our customers. We try to provide
state-of-the-art goods or services to our customers.

Control 12
Collaboration 14
Competence 54
Cultivation 19

Competence cultures tend to drive their
products as hard as their people. Nothing
© 2011 Trail Ridge Consulting, LLC is good enough, there is always better.


“All In” approach in R&D with training/coaching
help brought early success. Continued expanding
through IT, Tech Ops, Marketing over next 4 years.
Agile structures have guided its continued growth.
> 1,000 in
R&D, IT,
Ops, Mktg

Agility
250 in
R&D

0 1 2 3 4 5

Salesforce.com:
A Financial Perspective
Salesforce.com’s financial performance has paralleled their agility as
compared to Apple, one of the top performing companies in the past
decade.



SaaS IT Culture (same company)

Company cultures are not
singular. In this case,
Control Salesforce.com IT organization
exhibits a cultivative culture.

Collaboration

Competence

Cultivation

10 15 20 25 30 35

Percent Response


SaaS Acquisition (same company)

Control

Again, through acquisition, yet
Collaboration another sub-culture is brought
into the mixture.

Competence

Cultivation

10 15 20 25 30 35

Percent Response


Sub-Cultures

Working across differing sub-cultures can be very challenging and
is what causes failure within organizations and mergers.

Control

IT
Collaboration R&D
Acquisition
Competence

Cultivation

10 15 20 25 30 35

Percent Response


Cultural Discovery

In this case, a leadership summit focused on culture began to
expose the organization to this language and their culture. It aided
in their shared understanding of different sub-cultures.

R&D Acquisition


Cultural Visioning

During the summit, cross-departmental teams envisioned new
cultures based on what they had learned - these examples
illustrate a desire to take the strengths across all cultures to drive
a new future combined culture.



What makes the difference?

Why?
Agility

0 1 2 3 4 5

1. Start with Awareness

Visualize the
Organizational
Culture



2. Focus on Leadership

Leadership Culture

Leadership drives culture Culture drives leadership
in new organizations in matured organizations




Leadership Agility

Catalyst
Achiever
Expert

Catalyst-level leadership is required
to foster and support organizational
agility and an agile culture, especially
when a corporate culture exhibits
behaviors which inhibit agility.



3. Change the Structures

This is an
organizational
sociogram
highlighting the
communication
structures
across roles in
an organization.

It, along with
other structural
tools, can aid in
understanding
how the
structures are
enabling or
hindering agility.



Serving as one example,
reducing roles within an
organization can increase
Fewer communication and
Roles collaboration - keys to agility.

Increases
Communication

Source: 2004 Patterns of Effective Organizations by Neil Harrison




Organizational Heartbeat

Org Review Cycle

Program Review Cycle

Sprint Cycle
May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Serving as a second example, creating organizational shared
learning and collaboration structures like this organizational
heartbeat drive increased agility.




Organizational
Agility Team
Using Agile to
BE(COME) Agile
Impediments, Challenges, Learning,
Tools, Surveys, Feedback, Issues, etc.

Organizational Day
Organizational

Agility Team
Sprint Organizational
Backlog Change
Backlog

Month



4. Expect Constant Change

Agility is not a one-time event
it is a process of ongoing improvement

where change is not the exception
it is the norm

and creates an environment of insecurity
in our organizations constantly



“Get Comfortable with being uncomfortable”
Michael Meissner, Omnyx @ Agile 2011




1. Start with Awareness






The Culture of Agility

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