Agile Strategy Management Transcript

When you think of Agile, what do you think of? I think of product and engineering scrum team 15-minute stand-ups. Or Kanban stand-ups with the advertising operations team debating how many items can we have in progress at the same time. But did you know that you can also apply Agile methods to your annual strategy management process too? I'm Ross Martin. Join me as we explore the union of agile concepts with business strategy to better prepare you and your company to adapt smoothly in the fast-paced business world. We'll delve into how agility can not only transform your strategic approach, but also ensure you remain a forerunner in this relentless race of business relevance. Let's explore a world where strategic adaptability isn't just an asset, but a necessity for thriving.

Picture the modern business environment as a dynamic, ever-evolving cityscape, where change is the only constant. We've heard this phrase many times, but the idea was actually coined as far back as ancient Greece by the philosopher Heraclitus. In our modern world, change agility transcends a mere concept to become the lifeblood of successful enterprises. Each decision made, every customer interaction, and all market trends weave into an intricate living tapestry of business activity. This tapestry is unique. It's sensitive, reactive, and adapts in real time to the market's ever-changing rhythms and patterns. The only way to win in this environment is to be flexible. Rigid businesses won't make it.

My journey has taken me from the early days of Scrum and the Agile manifesto, to Agile transformations in the tech hubs of Silicon Valley, and to driving strategic merger integrations in global media icons. In each of these roles, the common thread has been adaptability woven into every strategic decision. Agile strategy management is about constantly reevaluating and reshaping your strategy as the market writes its own narrative. It's about ensuring that your organization doesn't just survive, but thrives, scripting a story of resilience and enduring success.

Enough on concepts. Let's get practical. The framework of agility stands firmly on five foundational pillars. These should be familiar to those who are experienced with Agile in product development, but in this case, they are adapted to the needs of strategy.

First, flexibility over rigid planning. This pillar champions the agility to pivot swiftly in response to new insights or challenges, fostering a culture where change is not just expected, but embraced. It's about empowering teams to reprioritize and recalibrate goals, breaking free from the constraints of inflexible planning. As we all know, in 2020 and 2021, many supply chains stretched and in some cases broke. Few foresaw a global pandemic, but for companies that had flexibility in their supply chain, such as multiple vendors located in disparate locations, they not only survived, but were able to take market share from their competitors. The definition of a Black Swan event means it is only obvious in retrospect. However, your business can strategically analyze your vulnerabilities, such as if you source your critical materials from only one country. And it is possible to adjust your strategy to plan for the unforeseen. The key is to actually build agility into the strategic plan itself.

Second, leadership driven by a clear purpose. Here, leaders are visionaries, charting a course that resonates throughout the organization. They articulate a compelling why that aligns every action and decision, infusing agility with purpose and direction. And I'm sure you've heard all that before, but a study by Kaplan and Norton found that 95% of employees don't understand how their day-to-day activities contribute to the strategy set by the executive team. For many employees, the strategy is something that the CEO presents in an all-hands meeting once, and then there's maybe some follow-up emails and a few discussions. The key here is to establish a culture where all employees root their decisions and actions back to that why, showing by example that the business is outcome-oriented through and through.

Third, an unwavering focus on the customer. In this fast-paced market, the customer's voice is your guiding star, and this pillar emphasizes understanding and anticipating customer needs, continuously adapting your offerings. It's a commitment to keeping the customer at the heart of all strategic decisions, ensuring that every move is calibrated to their evolving demands. Of course, it's easy to say you include the voice of the customer in your strategy and decisions, but as you know, they are not usually present in those meetings. So the key is to establish a culture in your frontline to have an ongoing two-way dialogue with your customers and then a feedback process within the company to feed those customer voices back to the leaders.

Fourth, iterative progress. Think of progress as a series of intentional, manageable steps rather than a giant leap. This approach values regular feedback, smaller-scale implementations, and consistent improvements. It's about breaking down goals into achievable parts, allowing for more effective tracking and refinement. This pillar is what I think of as the essence of agile methodologies and really the best way to tackle any huge issue or goal. Break it into manageable and measurable steps. This is where I have found it essential to include a project delivery professional who is also educated in strategy to work closely with the executives to carve their big, hairy, audacious goal into chunks that can actually be executed by the teams.

And finally, a culture rooted in collaboration. Envision a workplace where every voice matters, where cross-functional collaboration breaks down silos. This pillar celebrates diverse perspectives, encouraging idea sharing and collective problem solving. It's a commitment to a shared vision, where collaboration is not just encouraged, but ingrained in the very fabric of the organization. Again, this is motherhood and apple pie, and many companies champion this in their values, but I've seen that it is not necessarily the case with strategy. Often strategy is formed in rooms of 10 executives or less, and then handed down to the next level of leadership to implement. I believe that the most successful companies have a much more inclusive set of participants in strategy planning as well as execution. Obviously, you can't include 100 leaders in your strategy formulation, but there are ways to ensure their voices are heard. Together, these five pillars don't just support your strategy. They should form the bedrock of your organization's philosophical approach, essential for steering through the unpredictable currents of today's market.

To truly embrace agility is to anticipate and adapt to change even before it manifests. In my experience at a global media company, agility was our guiding star when an expected business partnership escalated into an unexpected complete acquisition of our company. Using agile methods, we pivoted our strategy to adjust for the new reality while maintaining our operational course despite the sudden shift in winds. Similarly, at a multinational healthcare corporation, we used the agile pillars to guide us as a whole and within each function as we transitioned from public to private ownership, keeping an eye on the existing business while crafting our new go-forward strategy in the face of a different type of ownership.

With the five pillars firmly in place, let us explore five key actions that can steer your enterprise towards strategic agility. First, anchor every decision in your foundational why. Begin every strategic journey by revisiting your core purpose, and let this why be the compass that guides your decisions, ensuring alignment with your organization's values and objectives. When the organization forgets the why that they're doing something, the what they are doing itself becomes the definition of a success. For example, you bring in OKRs, Objectives and Key Results, because you want your organization to be more outcome-focused. But the executives don't communicate to the entire team why they are implementing OKRs. What's the ultimate business benefits expected once OKRs are fully operational? So then the definition of success for the project instead becomes, we did it, we're now doing OKRs, as opposed to achieving the business outcomes desired by the executives that led to implementation of OKRs in the first place.

Second, cultivate an environment of trust. In this realm, trust is the cornerstone of empowerment. It's about creating an environment where employees are encouraged to take initiative, make decisions, and feel a sense of ownership. Transparent communication and a supportive culture are the hallmarks of this action. Now, we all say we all want employees to be empowered to make decisions and improve the business, but I've seen time and time again the words, empower our people on a slide, and then watch as someone who steps out of line gets their hand slapped, or possibly were just ignored. The team then learns that the mantra is meaningless.

Third, promote a culture of continuous learning and improvement. Adopt a philosophy where learning is ongoing and evolution is constant. Encourage your team to stay ahead of the curve, embracing education and innovation. Regularly review and refine your strategies, seeing every challenge as an opportunity to grow. If 95% of your employees don't understand how their work is related to your strategy, then I think it's time to teach your employees about strategy. In fact, they should all learn Business 101. I've participated in high-performing leadership programs, and we were given a broad view of the business, from a market, competition, product, sales, operations, finance perspective, and so on, from the company leaders themselves. Obviously, you can't teach 5,000 or 10,000 employees that kind of depth, but I advocate for including education about your business in all hands and smaller, possibly opt-in opportunities. If your people understand what you see as a senior leader, it can transform your entire workforce.

Fourth, choose and implement a framework that aligns with your organization's ethos. Select an agile framework that speaks to the unique needs and culture of your organization. Tailor it to enhance your team dynamics and strategic goals, ensuring that it resonates with and empowers your workforce. In my high-tech company, we used Scale Agile Framework, or SAFE, across product and engineering, because those were the dominant functions at that company. At another company, in operations, we used Kanban, because simplicity made more sense in that context. Learn what are the options and select one or several, but if you choose several, make sure your delivery team is on top of tying them all together so upper management has the knobs and dials necessary to pilot the supertanker.

Finally, reflect and adapt regularly. The practice of regular reflection is crucial. This action involves assessing the effectiveness of your strategies, being receptive to feedback, and proactively adapting to new developments. It's a commitment to staying agile, responsive, and ahead of the curve. For those of you who've practiced Scrum, you know that retrospectives are easy to undervalue. It makes sense. The team's finished the sprint. The energy is not high for spending an hour talking about it. And I've also seen that with pretty much all project postmortems. You want to share learnings with your future self, but mostly you just want to be done with it all. But reflections are the true secret power of Agile. It is the regular, small course corrections, every cycle, that bit by bit make the team better, or the project better, or whatever you're doing better. Think about getting healthier as a person. Despite what people wish, it is one meal decision at a time, one bike ride at a time, day after day, month after month. It's the same with Agile. The improvements come one at a time, but they accumulate.

Embarking on agile strategy management is akin to setting sail on a grand and unpredictable voyage across uncharted waters. The path ahead may be unknown, but armed with an agile mindset, you'll be prepared to face any storm, navigate through uncharted territories, and explore new horizons. In the world of business agility, it's not just about the speed of your journey, but the grace and foresight with which you adapt and pivot. Our exploration today is just skimming the surface. Agile strategy management will be a mindset shift for your organization. But I am certain any investment will pay you back many times over. Join us in future videos as we delve deeper into this world, exploring new ideas, engaging with the latest trends, and evolving alongside the ever-changing business landscape. Thank you for joining Future of Work 2.0 on this enlightening voyage today. If you're ready to embrace the agile approach in your business endeavors, don't hesitate to like, subscribe, and follow us for more in-depth insights and guidance on mastering agility in your strategic journeys.