Recently been to an Agile conference and it was quite fascinating. We dealt with some of the core issues of organizational conflict that would surface on a journey towards Agile.
We discovered a need for a 'shared' leadership style as opposed to unitary/top-down/command and control style. Every member in the team has a voice and is to be empowered to be proactive. Second, a desired performance appraisal system where a 'Team' is recognized for success rather than choosing one or more star performers. Not that there are no star performers but rather a realization that real star performers value team's productivity and happiness quotient over individual glory.
Is it easy to get there?
In our evolution of organizational culture and as a society we tend to carry a baggage of Managerial roles that issue directives, spend time in high level meetings and promise work outcomes but leave out all of the ground level work for 'others' in the team. When the teams are well organized and committed it may succeed and keep succeeding over a period of time. However it still is fragile. It is not a sustainable model for the organization.
Every individual particularly in the Asian / Indian context who starts off as a technologist wants to become a Manager sooner rather than later. This creates an artificial value system and is detrimental to the organization. It is perhaps driven by a need to be perceived as the boss rather than a genuine interest in the field of Management.
There are Managers who say, "I head this team", "I run this team" instead of saying, "I am responsible for such and such thing..." Whether an organization's culture creates a value for responsibility or sows the seeds for internal power games is very much in the language that people use.
Agile values can help cut the crap.
Agile can be a silver bullet. However it requires a radical change in mindset top-down and bottom-up. It often forces a cultural change within an organization. Calls for a different way of looking at organizational roles and responsibilities by redefining them if not eliminating them.
An evolutionary step in managing work in any sphere of life. Agile manifesto is deceptively small and simple. When put into practice it challenges several levels of corporate governance and is not limited to small project / product teams.
We discovered a need for a 'shared' leadership style as opposed to unitary/top-down/command and control style. Every member in the team has a voice and is to be empowered to be proactive. Second, a desired performance appraisal system where a 'Team' is recognized for success rather than choosing one or more star performers. Not that there are no star performers but rather a realization that real star performers value team's productivity and happiness quotient over individual glory.
Is it easy to get there?
In our evolution of organizational culture and as a society we tend to carry a baggage of Managerial roles that issue directives, spend time in high level meetings and promise work outcomes but leave out all of the ground level work for 'others' in the team. When the teams are well organized and committed it may succeed and keep succeeding over a period of time. However it still is fragile. It is not a sustainable model for the organization.
Every individual particularly in the Asian / Indian context who starts off as a technologist wants to become a Manager sooner rather than later. This creates an artificial value system and is detrimental to the organization. It is perhaps driven by a need to be perceived as the boss rather than a genuine interest in the field of Management.
There are Managers who say, "I head this team", "I run this team" instead of saying, "I am responsible for such and such thing..." Whether an organization's culture creates a value for responsibility or sows the seeds for internal power games is very much in the language that people use.
Agile values can help cut the crap.
Agile can be a silver bullet. However it requires a radical change in mindset top-down and bottom-up. It often forces a cultural change within an organization. Calls for a different way of looking at organizational roles and responsibilities by redefining them if not eliminating them.
An evolutionary step in managing work in any sphere of life. Agile manifesto is deceptively small and simple. When put into practice it challenges several levels of corporate governance and is not limited to small project / product teams.
