Creating Agile Organizations: A Systemic Approach

Creating Agile Organizations: A Systemic Approach

by Ilia Pavlichenko, Cesario Ramos
Released September 2022
Publisher(s): Addison-Wesley Professional
ISBN: 9780135987438

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Book description

Design Your Organization for Maximum Agile Success at Scale

“[A] unique view of organizational agility. Cesario and Ilia first describe the [foundational] tools and vocabulary to think about agile enterprise-level change. The second section is a practical approach to adoption. It marries the foundational elements into a people and customer centric approach to change. The book is epic in scope ... but it manages to present a cookbook for agile adoption and change.”

—From the Foreword by Dave West, CEO, Scrum.org

“Cesario and Ilia ... understand that a key element of successful change to being adaptive at scale is Organizational Design (OD)—and that OD is something senior managers need to own, master, create, and lead, not delegate. ... [F]ast delivery and learning isnt enough at scale. Without other adaptive OD elements in place, there might not be any concrete change. ... [A] wonderful book from two passionate people with years in the trenches involved in large-scale adaptive development.”

—From the Foreword by Craig Larman, co-creator, Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS)

For Agile to succeed at scale, strategy, structures, processes, reward systems, and people practices must align with and reinforce each other across the entire organization. Creating Agile Organizations is about making that happen. Whether youre a leader, Scrum Master, or trainer, this book will help you use effective Organizational Design (OD) to achieve successful Agile transformation at the enterprise level.

Drawing on years of experience scaling Scrum, renowned Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS) experts Cesario Ramos and Ilia Pavlichenko present proven techniques for use with any technology, in any large environment. In the context of a true systems-thinking approach, they provide specific solutions for challenges such as preparing and facilitating large-scale Scrum meetings, honing newly relevant leadership skills, and addressing challenges that cut across the entire organization.

This book includes a library of tested tools for effective Agile leadership, including Product Definition Guides for describing any new product and a Feature Heat Map for designing teams and entire organizations.

  • Organizing for adaptability, making strategic optimization choices, and choosing informed tradeoffs

  • Exploring and applying proven OD principles at the leadership level

  • Taking a birds-eye view of the activities most crucial to large-scale adoption

  • Coaching to make Agile transformation successful across your organization

  • Planning, designing, and facilitating Agile workshops that work

  • Preparing and launching highly effective, well-aligned Product Groups

  • Coaching teams and guiding product ownership in large groups

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. About This eBook
  3. Halftitle Page
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright Page
  6. Pearson’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
  7. Dedication Page
  8. Contents
  9. Foreword
    1. Organizational Design
  10. Foreword
  11. Preface
    1. Why This Book?
    2. What Makes an Organization “Agile”?
    3. Intended Audience
  12. Introduction
    1. Agility at the Organization Level
    2. A Learning Organization
    3. Ownership for Continual Improvement
    4. Empirical Process Control
    5. References
  13. Acknowledgments
  14. About the Authors
  15. 1. Organizing for Adaptability
    1. Hello, VUCA World!
    2. What Is an Agile Organization Design?
    3. Typical Problems When Adopting Agility
    4. Avoid Copy–Paste Scaling: A Typical Scaling Approach
    5. Overview of an Agile Organization Design
    6. Summary
    7. References
  16. 2. Systems Thinking
    1. Basics of Systems Thinking
    2. Applying Systems Thinking
    3. Summary
    4. References
  17. 3. Optimize for Adaptiveness
    1. What It Means to Be Adaptable
    2. Flow Efficiency
    3. Behavior of Queues
    4. Queueing System Structures
    5. Algorithm for Dealing with Queues
    6. Choose an Operational Strategy
    7. Summary
    8. References
  18. 4. Agile Organizational Design
    1. Why Organizational Redesign?
    2. Business Strategy Drives Organizational Design
    3. Overview of a Design Process
    4. Agile Organization Design Guidelines
    5. Agile vs. Traditional Human Resources Management
    6. Summary
    7. References
  19. 5. An Agile Adoption Approach
    1. Principles of an Agile Adoption
    2. Overview of an Adoption Approach
    3. Overarching Adoption Guidelines
    4. Applying Systems Thinking in Organizational Coaching
    5. Summary
    6. References
  20. 6. Coaching for Change
    1. Guideline 1: Influence People
    2. Guideline 2: Co-Create the Change
    3. Guideline 3: Voluntary Participation
    4. Guideline 4: Acknowledge the Loss
    5. Guideline 5: Deliver the Message Continually
    6. Guideline 6: Help People to Cross the Edge
    7. Guideline 7: Axes of Change
    8. Guideline 8: Find the Right Balance of Radical/Incremental Change
    9. Summary
    10. References
  21. 7. Group Facilitation
    1. Principles of Facilitation
    2. Workshop Design
    3. Facilitating Scrum Events
    4. Summary
    5. References
  22. 8. Preparing the Product Group
    1. Areas of Concern for Successful Preparation
    2. Area 1: Involve the Managers
    3. Area 2: Understand the Current Reality
    4. Area 3: Create a Vision of the Future
    5. Area 4: Identify the Product Group
    6. Organizational Design to Eliminate Dependencies
    7. Summary
    8. References
  23. 9. Launching the Product Group
    1. Menu of Available Choices
    2. Initial Product Backlog Refinement
    3. Define the Definition of Done
    4. Feature Team Adoption Map
    5. Self-Designing Team Workshop
    6. Team Lift-Off
    7. Identify and Launch Communities
    8. Identify Coordination Mechanisms
    9. Create Useful Checklists
    10. Summary
    11. References
  24. 10. Coaching Teams
    1. The Building Blocks of the Agile Organization
    2. Observations of an Agile Team
    3. Building on the Team Lift-Off: Coaching Multifunctional Learning
    4. Dealing with Recurrent Complex Problems in Teams: Systems Team Coaching
    5. Improving Team Dynamics: Trust
    6. Facilitate Feedback Loops for Learning: Learning New Practices
    7. Summary
    8. References
  25. 11. Guiding the Product Ownership
    1. What Makes a Team Product Owner?
    2. The Product Owner in a Senior Position
    3. Product Ownership Measures
    4. Customer Understanding
    5. The Product Owner Process
    6. Stakeholder Alignment
    7. Product Owner Leadership
    8. Summary
    9. References
  26. Appendix. Case Studies and Workshop Examples
    1. A. Reference to Case Studies
    2. B. System Improvements with Scrum Patterns
    3. C. Example of Building a Pattern Sequence Workshop
    4. D. Example of Systemic Mode Sprint Retrospective
    5. E. Scrum and Kanban
    6. F. Example: Splitting Product Backlog Items
    7. G. Example: Increasing Customer Understanding with Serious Games
    8. H. Scaling Sequence: Scaled Scrum Is Still Scrum
    9. I. Example: Workshop to Define Measures for Improvement
    10. J. The ORID Framework
    11. K. Trust
    12. L. Facilitating Conflict
    13. M. Radical Candor
    14. N. Cost of Delay
    15. References
  27. Index

Product information

  • Title: Creating Agile Organizations: A Systemic Approach
  • Author(s): Ilia Pavlichenko, Cesario Ramos
  • Release date: September 2022
  • Publisher(s): Addison-Wesley Professional
  • ISBN: 9780135987438