I recently had the privilege of tuning into a conversation and Q&A session featuring Dave Gipp, Enterprise Transformation Coach with Agile Velocity and Adam Mattis, Principle Consultant and Fellow at Scaled Agile. The discussion centered around Annual Operating Plans (AOP) and their pivotal role in scaling agility within large enterprises.
For those unfamiliar, AOPs are comprehensive guides that delineate an organization’s financial and operational objectives for the upcoming year. Gipp and Mattis underscored the significance of comprehending the intricacies of AOPs, emphasizing their direct impact on the scalability of agility across the enterprise. They delved into the essential nature of understanding the organization’s broader strategy and fostering alignment across teams of teams, highlighting the success indicators for AOPs as being rooted in delivering expected outcomes rather than merely meeting specific metrics.
The conversation explored the challenges of hierarchical structures, advocating for adopting an enterprise-wide agile operating model that harmonizes depth and breadth.
The dialogue also sheds light on the reality that not all skill sets and teams are immediately interchangeable (i.e., people are not “Fungible Resources”). Dave also highlighted the significance of multi-stage estimation in supporting a predictable cadence of delivery, enabling organizations to make informed business decisions and quickly respond to market feedback.
Additionally, the session emphasized the role of coaches in shepherding enterprise transformations toward enhanced innovation, resilience, and predictability.
Embracing Organization-wide Agility
In the landscape of scaling agility explored by Dave and Adam, a vital need emerges for a guiding compass for organizational transformation. Our Path to Agility model (P2A) steps into this role, offering a tailored method for achieving lasting change, a strategic ally for organizations navigating the complexities of embracing enterprise-wide agility.
Leadership’s Modern Mindset
In the realm of organizational agility, leadership’s modern mindset is the cornerstone of successful transformations. P2A places a spotlight on this crucial aspect by emphasizing the development of a contemporary leadership outlook. Leaders are encouraged to cultivate increased visibility throughout the organization, creating alignment around a compelling vision, well-defined goals, and measurable success criteria for organizational change. Through the “Align” stage of our model, the Agile Leadership Team is formed, comprising cross-organizational members with well-defined decision-making powers. This enables the leadership to not only embrace agility but also act as a guiding coalition capable of driving change effectively.
Team Empowerment and Engagement
Empowering teams and fostering high levels of engagement are pivotal for achieving sustainable and predictable value delivery. In P2A, the “Learn” stage focuses explicitly on establishing foundational agile practices and cultivating a culture of continuous learning. Agile coaches, utilizing this framework, guide teams in taking ownership of their work and processes, ultimately leading to increased employee engagement. The Agile Leadership Team, formed during the “Align” stage, plays a key role in providing the necessary support and resources for teams to successfully adopt new roles, solidify agile practices, and achieve a sustainable, predictable cadence of delivering value.
Strategic Alignment and Forecasting
Strategic alignment and effective forecasting are essential elements for organizations navigating the complexities of agility. The “Predict” stage in the P2A model directly addresses this need by ensuring leaders articulate value, ensure strategic alignment, and sequence work appropriately. The capability of Portfolio Sequencing is crucial in creating clarity and leadership alignment on factors influencing strategic value. This involves defining a collaborative approach to vetting and ranking investment options, linking portfolio vision and objectives to organizational strategy, and establishing a structured process for reviewing all opportunities based on agreed-upon value drivers.
Adaptability at Every Level
Flexibility and responsiveness lie at the heart of organizational agility, and our model encompasses this through the “Adapt” stage. At the organizational level, achieving Whole Organizational Agility involves aligning the strategy, vision, funding, structure, and people practices to support adaptiveness and resilience. The Strategic Agility capability ensures senior leaders embrace adaptive, evolutionary funding models, shifting away from rigid annual planning cycles. Organizational structures become adaptable, allowing the network of teams to self-organize, while people practices promote continuous learning, experimentation, and proactive innovation, fostering a culture of agility throughout the organization.
The Journey to Sustainable Change
Embark on your organization’s journey to lasting change by leveraging our Path to Agility model to serve as your guide. Whether you’re an agile coach or a leader driving change, take the next step toward innovation, resilience, and predictability.
Contact us for a demo of P2A Navigator to help guide you through the challenges of enterprise transformation and catalyze meaningful shifts in leadership, team dynamics, strategic alignment, and adaptability at every level.
