Self-governance models (e.g. Holacracy, Teal organization, Sociocracy 3.0, …) as well as models for aligned autonomy(e.g.the 'Spotify model') have emerged to address the need for strategic agility.Strategic agility, however, requires more than autonomy and alignment.Suppose that you are working in an organization where you have multiple initiatives going on.On a regular basis work finishes and capacity becomes available(supply - side).At the same time customers– external as well as internal– are requesting new work to be performed(demand - side).Ideally, you can perfectly match the needs of newly arrived work with the capacity that has become available.In reality, however, work arrives when there is no free capacity or where the right type of capacity is not free;or, capacity becomes available when there is no new demand or where the demand is not of the right type. Whether we want it or not, organizations are market places where an ever - varying, ever - evolving demand is confronted with an ever varying, ever - evolving supply.These market places are internal, but reflect the external market place.As a reflection they can draw inspiration from these external market places in the way they are operated.In this presentation we will explore what it takes to run an 'agile portfolio' as an(internal) market place inspired on financial markets. We will start with laying out the structure of the portfolio as a market place(who trades what, and so on).In analogy to the concept of market liquidity that can be found in financial markets, we will explore organizational liquidity as a measure of how well supply and demand can be matched.We will take into account all the realities of a varying demand and a constrained supply and discuss why and how to improve liquidity.We will explore the concept of disintermediation(cutting out the middlemen), a hot trend in financial markets(e.g.with cryptocurrencies).Inspired by this, we will end with giving a glimpse of a possible future of internal market places that are regulated by a digicoin.The goal is to explore disintermediated liquidity as a powerful new way of self - organizing.

1. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 1
Agile portfolio’s as market places
PatrickSteyaert
Okaloa
Autonomy meets liquidity

2. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 2
Is this agile?
“doing” agile at the team level
Team board
Daily stand-
up

3. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 3
More than “doing”
PRACTICES PRINCIPLES CAPABILITIES
Mechanistic Idealistic Enabling
(discover, create, and
deliver value)
(stand-up, board,
retrospective, ..)
(welcome change,
satisfy customer, ..)

4. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 4
becoming agile!
Work-In-Progress limits
enable capabilities to
deliver value (FLOW)
Reached
timebox
COLLABORATION policies
enable capabilities to
create value
Timeboxes enable
capabilities to discover
value (LEARNING)
Collaboration
enables flow
Learning enables
collaboration
Flow enables
learning
Flow enables
collaboration
Learning enables
flow
Collaboration
enables learning

5. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 5
Is this Business agility?
Portfolio
board
Agile
teams
Cross-team
board
Cross-team
stand-up
Portfolio
stand-up

6. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 6
More than “doing”
E.g. Aligned Autonomy in decision making
good enough for
now and safe
enough to try

7. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 7
Becoming an agile Business
More than aligned autonomy
CAPABILITY TO CREATE
& SHAPE DEMAND
In order to make best use
of a constrained supply
CAPABILITY TO
DELIVER (SUPPLY)
In order to meet
fluctuating demand
CAPABILITY TO MATCH
demand and supply
MARKET PLACE

8. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 8
Matching demand and supply
Option
Upstream Downstream
Ready to
commit
Ready to
execute
N-to-N matching
problem
Multiple
sources of
supply.
Commit-
ment
Option
Option
Option
Team blue
Team red
Team yellow
Customer X
Customer Y
Customer Z
Option
Multiple
sources of
demand.
Option
Commit-
ment

9. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 9
Delivering value not work
Team blue
Team red
Team yellow
Upstream Downstream
Ready to
commit
Ready to
execute
Customer X
Customer Y
Customer Z Delivering value, not work,
requires the synchronization
(if not collaboration) of all
teams that are involved.
Delivering value, not work,
requires the alignment (if
not collaboration) of the
“customers” that are
involved.

10. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 10
Dealing with volatility
Fluctuating demand and Constrained capacity
Capacity
Demand
Excess capacity
(starvation)
Lack of capacity
(overburdening)

11. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 11
Constrained capacity
At the team level
Work-In-Progress limits
express a capacity
constraint at the level of
work.

12. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 12
Constrained capacity
Across teams
Upstream Downstream
Ready to
commit
Ready to
execute
2. Capacity tokens
represent the
available capacity.
4. Capacity tokens
are recycled when
demand is fulfilled.
Team blue
Team red
Team yellow
Customer X
Customer Y
Customer Z
3. Work can only be started
when ALL the appropriate
tokens (capacities) are
available.
1. Demand
requires capacity
of different teams.

13. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 13
Ready to
commit
S/A in
Progress
Synthesis/Analysis
Leveling demand & securing supply
Upstream is not downstream
Discovery Approval
Ready for
S/A
Approval in
progress
Approved
Capture
> 1
> 5
Order points to
ensure sufficient
options
Capacity is reserved
for upcoming demand
Triage
Triage to
route
options

14. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 14
Optionality improves matching
Optionality in
demand
(embedded options,
order points, …)
Team blue
Team red
Team yellow
Upstream Downstream
Ready to
commit
Ready to
execute
Optionality
in supply
(Staff liquidity)
Customer X
Customer Y
Customer Z
Option
Option
More options
for matching

15. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 15
Actual
demand
A market place emerges
Demand creates supply / Supply creates demand
Potential
demand
produces
produces
enables
enables
Actual
supply
Potential
supply
Upstream
Downstream
Marketplace

16. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 16
Capacity tokens are assets
Team blue
Team red
Team yellow
Upstream Downstream
Ready to
commit
Ready to
execute
Customer X
Customer Y
Customer Z
Sources of
demand bid
for tokens
Supply offers
tokens

17. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 17
Liquidity is an indication of agility
Low liquidity
(few matching options)
Low liquidity
(few matching options)
High liquidity
(many matching options)
DEMAND SUPPLY Speed
Value
Low liquidity
Speed
Value
High liquidity

18. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 18
DEEPENING
Individual Team Organisation Ecosystem
Mechanistic
Practices
(doing)
Idealistic
Principles
(being)
Enabling
Capabilities
(becoming)
Business agility
Deepening as well as broadening agile
Primary focus today Blind spot today
Self-organizing teams +
Higher level boards
Market places +
organizational liquidity
BROADENING

19. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 19
a never-ending journey
PRACTICES PRINCIPLES CAPABILITIES
Mechanistic Idealistic Enabling
(discover, create, and
deliver value)
(stand-up, board,
retrospective, ..)
(welcome change,
satisfy customer, ..)

20. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 20
Thank you@PatrickSteyaert @OkaloaFlowlab
More info about Okaloa Flowlab at www.okaloa.com/flowlab

21. Organizational liquidity© Patrick Steyaert, 2019 21
CONTACTDETAILS t +32 473 56 50 98
t +32 477 79 12 98
arlette.vercammen@okaloa.com
patrick.steyaert@okaloa.com
@OkaloaFlowlab
@PatrickSteyaert