Culture and Transformation: When Managing Isn't Enough Anymore

Let’s be clear from the start: if an organization wants to get the most out of the much-hyped idea of organizational agility, to promote an agile mindset even beyond its teams, in complex and adaptive environments, it needs to consider change management as an integral part of the agile transformation process from day one. And here’s the point that interests me most: managing that transformation — processes, roles, structure — is necessary, but it’s not enough. At some point, culture will demand that you stop just managing and start leading.

Without Culture, There’s No Future

It’s always essential to validate and understand your starting point. An organization traditionally oriented around assigned tasks, where hours worked is treated as a synonym for productivity, and where a “spreadsheet-style” management style reigns, treating individuals and figures the same way — that organization will suffer no end of frustration and anxiety in the face of the apparent chaos and anarchy that “agile freedom” seems to represent.

Roles and responsibilities that pin down even the simplest things — like what happened a few weeks ago with a client, where the team was arguing over who should book the meeting rooms — are a symptom, a trait of ultra-conservative organizations that don’t understand the concept of “team autonomy” or “self-organization.”

An agile transformation doesn’t mean restructuring the organization, or changing roles, or working in “cells” or “squads.” The clearest signs of a successful agile transformation process are: collaboration, participation, and the desire to contribute in a coordinated way, aligned with the organization’s goals.

If the word “silo” sounds familiar, or gets used often in your organization, the problem might look like a lack of collaboration between teams and different business units — but in my opinion, that’s nothing more than the result of other, more complex issues.

The Chicken or the Egg

Silos form for different reasons, and in our experience, none of them are strictly tied to the organization’s structure. For example, budget allocation schemes or incentives that promote “healthy competition” between areas are often the real culprit.

Agile transformation should promote collaboration — a free, sometimes unstructured but selfless kind of contribution — between areas and, of course, between the individuals who make them up. If the organization has “controls” in place to prevent that from happening, keeping each area as independent as possible, then internally, it has silos. It doesn’t matter what gets said in meetings or leadership courses.

Change Management

Agile transformation requires a cultural shift, even before you start thinking about a structural one. If the culture “we want to create or promote” isn’t clear or well-defined, structure will just become an excuse for making uncoordinated changes.

Things to Consider

• Remember that agility is a mindset shift, one where every individual is recognized as a source of value, and can therefore contribute to the organization’s value in different ways.
• Change management is a key, fundamental process in any large-scale project. It needs to be considered from the very first moment.
• Every organizational culture change requires a plan. That plan requires leaders — capable leaders who represent the values and principles of that culture.
• Do the current leaders represent those values? Do the current leaders in positions of power understand the challenge of change, and can they align with it? If the answer to those questions runs counter to the change plan, it’s time to change leaders. Don’t try to build a new culture without the right leadership and the right example.
• Every individual in the organization will face the dilemma of change. Are these new values aligned with my personal interests? What do I get out of it? How do I benefit? Perception of the world is subjective, and if someone can’t find a connection to the change process, they’ll likely suffer through the internal process more than anyone.
• Change processes take time — sometimes a lot of time. Don’t expect to change a culture overnight.
• Look for support. A lot of people know exactly what they need to change or do to get better, to recover from an illness or an addiction, or even to improve at work. And still, they can’t do it on their own. Coaching and guided support are a good idea when the change puts the organization’s future on the line.

Many organizations feel the urgency to change, to transform — that’s natural in an increasingly fast-paced, competitive world. Don’t let urgency take over. Give yourself room to think about what values and principles you want to represent, and what kind of organization (business unit or team) you want to build. Remember, not everyone wants the same thing, so remember that, along the way, some people will join in and others will step away. Don’t fight it.