The Journey of an Agile Transformation with Quincy Jordan Agile Coaches' Corner

This week on the podcast, Dan Neumann is exploring the journey of an agile transformation with Quincy Jordan, a Director in AgileThought’s Innovate Line of Service.
 
Agile is no longer the new kid on the block. However, when a new organization decides that they want to benefit from adopting an agile practice, they are sometimes not aware that agility is a journey — not something where you install agile and walk away. This sometimes leads them to run into problems early on. In this conversation, Quincy highlights some of these areas and challenges that organizations run into as they go through their agile journey and how to overcome them.
 
Key Takeaways
Why is it important to understand that agile is a journey?
When it comes to an agile transformation, it is important to understand that you can’t just install agile and walk away — it’s a journey
“What other journey takes a linear path? There is no journey that takes a linear path. … So, really why [do] we think agile will be any different?” — Quincy Jordan
How to start your agile transformation journey on the right foot:
Lead with: ‘Why do we want to take this journey, to begin with?”, “Why do we want to go down this agile path?”
Set out to solve a specific set of problems
Identify opportunities you’re looking to create
The benefits of business agility in an organization:
Business agility will allow organizations to move quicker with the market
Those who can learn, and unlearn, and relearn the fastest are going to be the ones to excel the most
You can respond to changes in the marketplace and pivot much faster
Important notes on cultural debt:
Does your current culture allow for a change in culture to take place?
When it comes to an agile transformation, a shift in culture cannot come last because everything else is part of it (and if it does come last, you’re building massive cultural debt)
Deciding is a big indicator of culture
How communication happens can be an indicator of cultural debt
The culture should not be one of ‘burning the midnight oil’ or unsustainable heroics — you get more productivity out of healthy, satisfied employees
What an organization needs to know as they move through their agile journey:
The organization has to become comfortable with being able to move forward with uncertainty (“We’re not going to know everything, every time.” — Quincy Jordan)
When you have an organization that is on the path of an agile transformation, they can adapt a lot better to unforeseen things
Don’t reward what you don’t want to encourage (i.e. rewarding someone pulling off heroics in a pinch — a single star player won’t outdo even a mediocre team that plays well as a team)
A shift in mindset around budgeting, performance reviewers, ‘human resources,’ etc.
It’s important for leadership to regard their teams as their fellow teammates in the organization
 
Mentioned in this Episode:
Quincy Jordan
Jeremy Bearimy Timeline
 
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