We have studied the scaling up of agile at hundreds of companies, including small firms that run the entire enterprise with agile methods larger companies that, like Spotify and Netflix, were born agile and have become more so as they’ve grown and companies that, like Amazon and USAA (the financial services company for the military community), are making the transition from traditional hierarchies to more-agile enterprises. And it’s not unusual to launch hundreds of new agile teams only to see them bottlenecked by slow-moving bureaucracies. Companies often struggle to know which functions should be reorganized into multidisciplinary agile teams and which should not. But as enticing as such a vision is, turning it into a reality can be challenging. In today’s tumultuous markets, where established companies are furiously battling assaults from start-ups and other insurgent competitors, the prospect of a fast-moving, adaptive organization is highly appealing. What if a company were to launch dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of agile teams throughout the organization? Could whole segments of the business learn to operate in this manner? Would scaling up agile improve corporate performance as much as agile methods improve individual team performance?
Naturally, leaders who have experienced or heard about agile teams are asking some compelling questions. When implemented correctly, they almost always result in higher team productivity and morale, faster time to market, better quality, and lower risk than traditional approaches can achieve. These small, entrepreneurial groups are designed to stay close to customers and adapt quickly to changing conditions. And the annual budgeting process should be complemented with a VC-like approach to funding.īy now most business leaders are familiar with agile innovation teams. Functions not reorganized into agile teams should learn to operate with agile values. Workstreams should be modularized and then seamlessly integrated. Leaders should use agile methodologies themselves and create a taxonomy of opportunities to set priorities and break the journey into small steps.
The authors, who have studied the scaling of agile at hundreds of companies, share what they’ve learned about how to do it effectively. And it’s not unusual to launch dozens of new agile teams only to see them bottlenecked by slow-moving bureaucracies. What if a company were to launch dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of agile teams? Could whole segments of the business learn to operate in this manner?Īs enticing as such a prospect is, turning it into a reality can be challenging. When implemented correctly, agile innovation teams almost always result in higher team productivity and morale, faster time to market, better quality, and lower risk than traditional approaches can achieve.