In this presentation filmed during Agile 2007, Mike Cohn talks about the transitioning process towards an agile organization, why the process is inherently difficult, and what it takes to see self-organization emerging in a previously tightly controlled environment.
Watch: Succeeding With Agile: A Guide To Transitioning (1h 24 min.)
Transitions to agile are difficult, according to Mike. They are not top-down neither bottom-up processes. It is not enough to have a strong leader who has the vision and leads the organization, because the organization might not react properly. It is like instaurating democracy by force. It is not working. Also, it is not enough to have a bold development team who wants to be agile. It is most likely to hit a road block somewhere on the management ladder.
Mike enlists three vital ingredients that help self-organizing to emerge:
- Container - A boundary within which self-organization occurs. Examples: company, project, team, city, role, nationality.
- Differences - There must be differences among the agents acting in our system. Examples: technical knowledge, domain knowledge, education, experience, power, gender.
- Transforming Exchanges - Agents in the system interact and exchange resources. Examples: information, money, energy (vision).