Novus Leadership Institute

Helping you succeed despite relentless change

Insights

Why Do Agile Transformations (Continue to) Fail?

by Leave a Comment

From a Version One email:  “Why Agile Transformations Fail – Learn why culture is the key to agile failure and success in this video with insights into the trends from the 10th annual State of Agile Report.”

That culture is the key is not surprising.  I have evangelized this for more than a decade, with clients and at Agile 2008 among other conferences.  Here is a related article:  Face Culture or Face Failure.

One of the most common issues?  Changing from control-oriented processes to those that increase individual and team autonomy is pretty much guaranteed to cause a culture clash.

There is, however, an even better question.

[Read more…] about Why Do Agile Transformations (Continue to) Fail?

Get an innovation jump-start

by Leave a Comment

Considering new product or service development?  Responsible in any way for innovation?  Are you working with less than complete knowledge of the market?  Developing and innovating amid change and uncertainty needs the “Wrong Until Right” mindset.

A good introduction in conference form is the Lean Startup Week.  The next one is coming up during the week of October 30th in San Francisco.

DO NOT let the words “lean” or “startup” stop you from going.  The conference is really about smart innovation amid uncertainty.  The conference is relevant if you have anything to do with that.

[Read more…] about Get an innovation jump-start

How to Accelerate Business Change

by Leave a Comment

Change is ever present in an adaptive business.  Adaptation is necessary to respond to external change and to innovate.

Adaptation can bring new or modified business models – strategy – of how the business sustainably delivers value.  New business models bring new or modified systems and processes to implement the models.  Adaptability requires continual learning to achieve and maintain mastery for the updated systems and processes.  Culture may also need to adapt.

In short, we must focus on and work with the total business model:

 

Leverage the total business success model for change - Mike Russell and Dr. Michael O'Connor
Total Business Performance® model elements by Dr. Michael O’Connor

 

The difficulty is achieving and accelerating adaptability without a lot of overhead.  Overhead both adds cost and reduces adaptability and responsiveness.

There is a simple solution.

[Read more…] about How to Accelerate Business Change

A Simple Secret to Highly Effective Organizations

by Leave a Comment

We know a lot about how individuals can be effective based on motivation and productivity.  For example, Dan Pink’s book Drive demonstrates why purpose, mastery, and autonomy are key to individual motivation.  Focus is key to individual productivity.

But what about a business, government, or other organization?  What makes them effective?

[Read more…] about A Simple Secret to Highly Effective Organizations

How Can Government Succeed Amid Relentless Change?

by Leave a Comment

Brexit – shorthand for the UK’s exit from the EU – loudly asks:  How can we build better government to respond to OUR own needs?  Given the shock waves from the referendum, it also asks:  Must change be so difficult?  How can governments, not normally known for being nimble and responsive to change, structure and adapt for the better in the age of relentless change?

I believe the answers are in Minimum Viable Government (MVG).  A MVG is the government equivalent of a Minimum Viable Business.  It implements the “Wrong Until Right” mindset appropriately for its mission.

What might a Minimum Viable Government look like?

[Read more…] about How Can Government Succeed Amid Relentless Change?