StatusNeo’s mission is to be the Cloud Native Software Development, Consulting, and Managed Services leader. We sat with Vaibhav, who heads the Agile CoE at StatusNeo , to understand what it takes to implement Agile in an organisation which is an expert in Cloud-Native Technology. We also asked him how they carry out Agile Transformations for their clients and internal teams.
Who you are, and what do you do?
My name is Vaibhav, and I am the Agile Evangelist, aka Agile Ambassador, here at StatusNeo. My job is to bring the Agile ways of working to as many teams as possible, both internal and external. People often refer to me as Tribe Leader for Agile.
What does Tribe leader for Agile mean?
It started as a joke based on my passion for Agile. A tribe is when people are passionate and are willing to live and breathe their mission. We call all people who are passionate about Agile as belonging to the Tribe Agile, and my job as their leader is to fuel the passion of the Tribe.
How are Cloud-Native Digital and Agile connected?
Cloud-native digital means innovation. Innovation does not happen if you are not Agile. You have to understand Agile works best in a non-predictive environment. You can’t predict innovation. You discover innovation through experimentation and figuring out what works. Constant experimentation and relentless learning is another definition of Agile.
Will you be able to share a few specific examples of how you are implementing Agile in Cloud Native?
Sure. Many times people think Agile means following one Agile framework or another. The most popular is Scrum. Well, Agile starts there. You also need to think and adopt various Technical Practices. If you talk about Agile in cloud-native digital, you have to embrace DevOps practices.
Another example of Agile in cloud-native digital is driving value out of Data. Agile is all about delivering value, and we have to constantly ask ourselves what value we are getting out of all the data we are collecting.
One of the Agile principles is “Simplicity–the art of maximising the amount of work not done–is essential”. By relentlessly focusing on “Simplicity”, we can deliver cost savings for our clients and teams in Cloud.
Another scenario where we see Agile playing a significant role in cloud-native digital is delivering applications with better and intuitive UX.
How does StatusNeo Team, when engaged with a client in their Agile Transformation, recommend them on their journey?
Enterprise Agile transformation is very different from implementing Agile in a single team. An enterprise is highly dynamic, interconnected, and unpredictable. We define such systems and, by implication, enterprises as Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS). These systems have demonstrated a pattern of evolving, adapting and responding to change.
In an article in Harvard Business Review, Martin Reeves says, "We stress that companies are identical to biological species in an important respect: both are what's known as complex adaptive systems. Therefore, the principles that confer robustness in these systems, whether natural or manmade, are directly applicable to business.''
Therefore we start with conducting an Organisation Systems Entry. During this phase, we interact and build a rapport with different Stakeholders. This phase is about understanding the business case for change. During this phase, we assess the Enterprise’s current systems using the various Assessment tools. We then co-design our Change strategy with the leadership and transformation team. We come up with the Vision in all the four areas - Business / Innovation, Customer, Internal Culture, Leadership, and Mindset.
Only after we have done the above mentioned initial work do we recommend our Scaling Approach. The Scaling approach could be SAFe, Nexus, Scrum at Scale, LeSS, Spotify, etc.
To have a successful Agile Transformation, I have heard that you need to have effective Agile Leadership. How do you go about Agile Leadership at all levels in an Organization?
Agile Leadership involves establishing different leadership development initiatives. These include but are not limited to Scrum Master Community of Practice, Agile Coach Mentoring Program, Coaching Clinic for Leaders, Weekly Learning Session, etc.
Establishing Agile Leadership also involves Coaching Leaders one-on-one for Professional Development around various topics that the Leaders themselves have identified. We focus on beliefs, mindsets, or fears that helped or hindered the leader's professional development. We create and track development paths for different leaders to grow leadership at multiple levels.
Can you share some light on how does StatusNeo guide organisational Agility?
We continually guide the organisation to deal with uncertainty and complexity. We do this by figuring out what Team Level Frameworks - Scrum, Kanban, etc. - we need to deploy and what Scaling Framework (Scrum of Scrums, Scrum@Scale, Nexus, or SAFe) will work best at the Organisation.
We use the System thinking model to listen to the “voice of the system”, seeing the system as a whole and not just optimising its parts (local optimisation). We will also be acknowledging interdependencies, paying attention to underlying patterns, structures, and mental models behind events and behaviours.
We work closely with the organisation's senior leadership to figure out the changes we need to make in the organisation structure to make it more responsive and adaptive. This involves answering questions like what should be our team structure? What new roles do we need to hire (internal or external)? What changes do we need to make to the org structure to increase business agility?
We work with the organisation’s senior management to agree upon what Quantitative and Quantitative Metrics are we going to use to measure the business outcomes.
One last question. What is a book you are currently reading and that you will recommend to our readers?
Well, Agile also advocates relentless learning. To practice what I preach, the book I am currently reading and recommend to all your readers is “Everyone Communicates Few Connect” by John C. Maxwell.
Thank you so much for your insights and for sharing your experience with us.
You are welcome. It was a great conversation.
