Mistake #1: No Vision, No Victory – The Root Cause of Agile Transformation Failure

In the bustling corridors of an unnamed company within the automotive industry, the mood had shifted from vibrant innovation to palpable uncertainty. Their Agile transformation, focused on SAFe and initiated with much fanfare, was floundering. Why? A deep dive revealed a startling absence: a clear, compelling vision for the transformation. The purpose was also unknown. They did not know where they were heading, nor did they understand why they needed to change. Consequently, lacking a defined destination and reason, the transformation was eventually abandoned in favor of another large change initiative – a reflection of a common pattern where organizations leap from one change to another without a foundational vision.

This story isn't unique. Similar patterns are observed across various sectors, where organizations embark on Agile journeys equipped with tools and methodologies yet falter at a fundamental hurdle – the absence of a unifying vision and purpose. This article discusses why a clear vision is the linchpin in Agile transformations. Drawing upon Simon Sinek's insightful 'Start With Why,' and integrating principles from John Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model, we'll explore the transformative power of a well-articulated vision. It’s not just about adopting Agile practices; it’s about rallying every team member around a shared purpose, steering the organizational ship through the tumultuous seas of change.

Expect to navigate through this article the common pitfalls associated with vision in Agile transformations, armed with real-life examples, strategies, and reflective exercises. Our goal is to equip you with the insights to craft a vision that resonates, inspires, and propels your Agile journey forward. So let's do it!

Consequences

As with any mistake in agile transformation, the consequences might be the first indication that something is wrong. The consequences of lacking a clear vision and purpose in a transformation might include:

Lack of Motivation and Engagement: Without a clear vision and purpose, team members may feel unmotivated and disengaged. They struggle to understand the reason behind their work and how it contributes to larger transformative goals, leading to reduced enthusiasm and productivity, not just in the change itself but also in value delivery.

Confusion and Misalignment: Vision and purpose provide direction and clarity. Without them, teams often experience confusion about priorities and misalignment in their goals. This can lead to duplicated efforts, conflicting objectives, and inefficiencies in workflows.

Stagnation and Resistance to Change: Agile transformations thrive on continuous improvement and adaptation. A lack of vision and purpose can result in stagnation, where teams stick to old, or even outdated, habits and resist new methods or practices. This resistance can severely hinder the agile transformation process when teams and individuals question the change, not understanding what's in it for them.

Diminished Creativity and Innovation: Vision and purpose inspire creativity and innovation by providing a future-oriented focus. When these are missing, teams might become overly focused on day-to-day tasks and fail to explore new ideas or solutions, limiting their potential for innovative solutions to transformation problems. Teams may struggle to set clear, achievable change objectives, leading to a cycle of missed targets and unmet expectations.

Poor Decision-Making: A clear vision and purpose help in prioritizing tasks and making strategic decisions. In their absence, decision-making can become reactive and short-sighted, leading to suboptimal outcomes and a lack of strategic direction. The absence of a clear vision and purpose can also create fear of decision-making, as leaders and individuals might fear taking steps without knowing if they align with the right direction.

Perceived Need for Detailed Processes: A lack of vision may lead leaders and other individuals to demand detailed instructions, such as role descriptions or process guidelines. This stems from the uncertainty of not knowing where to go, leading to a focus on how to proceed instead. This is directly counterproductive to the agile goals the organization aims to achieve.

Erosion of Trust and Morale: Teams need a vision and purpose to feel that their efforts are meaningful and valued. Without them, trust in leadership can erode, and morale can decline, as team members feel their work lacks purpose and recognition.

The need for a vision

As the Cheshire Cat wisely tells Alice in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland:

"If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there."

This metaphor aptly illustrates the necessity of a clear vision in Agile transformations. Without knowing the desired destination, teams can easily veer off course, making random decisions that lead nowhere meaningful, since any road will get you there.

Agile transformation, a journey as promising as it is challenging, must begin with a clear vision and purpose. One of the most common pitfalls in this journey is a lack of understanding or clarity regarding the 'why' behind the transformation. In my experience in the field, I have encountered at least four distinct yet common traps or faults in this area:

1. Vision Not Known
2. Vision Not Aligned
3. Vision Not Enough Communicated
4. Vision not Clear, Providing Priorities and Directions

But before explaining these mistakes, it's crucial to understand why we need a vision for the transformation in the first place.

Vision and Purpose

In my experience, both vision and purpose are essential for a successful transformation. The vision sets the destination, while the purpose provides the motivation and rationale for embarking on the journey. Ensuring that both are clearly defined, well-communicated, and aligned with organizational values can significantly enhance the likelihood of a successful Agile transformation.

The vision acts as a North Star, guiding and aligning the efforts of teams and leaders alike. It's not just about adopting a new methodology; it's about embracing a vision that resonates with every member of the organization. However, it's not just the vision itself that's important. To create a compelling vision, we must understand the reason behind the change – the “why.” As Simon Sinek aptly put it: “It starts with why.”

The purpose, the "why," helps the entire organization to understand the necessity of change. It can be for any reason. For instance, in the "State of Agile 2022" report, 52% of respondents identified accelerating time to market as the key benefit of Agile. But is “Accelerating time to market” enough as a purpose? I don’t believe so. It doesn’t resonate with all employees, nor does it help them understand the need for Agile. It doesn’t aid in making daily decisions and might even lead to misguided actions. “If we’re going to accelerate time to market, why can’t we just work faster and drop all this Agile nonsense?” is a sentiment I’ve encountered. Overcoming this mindset as a coach is challenging.

No, the compelling why must be on a much higher level. A purpose like, “We will be out of business in three years if we do not implement Agile. We are currently burning out people by working harder instead of smarter, delivering value to our customers too seldom, and the quality is not meeting their expectations.” A manager might continue, “In our vision, we are like a family. Working together, supporting each other. No one is more important than the other. We deliver value often, as often as every week. We listen to each other and to our customers. We engage in fruitful disagreements but unite on a solution. We plan regularly, but the purpose of planning is not to have a plan, but the process itself – the enlightenment of dependencies, the cross-competence knowledge sharing, and matching capacity to demand and demand to capacity. We deliver what we promise, and we promise what we can deliver. And we deliver with quality. This is our vision. How does it sound?”

This example of a vision, including a compelling purpose, even if imaginary, illustrates the power of having such a vision. The strength lies not only in its formulation but also in its repetition and communication.

A real world example

This concept of a transformative vision is not just theoretical. Take, for instance, the journey of Ericsson, a case that mirrors the power of a compelling vision. Initially recognized as a hardware-centric company focused on delivering tangible products, Ericsson embarked on a transformative path. Their vision was not just about a shift in product offerings but a fundamental change in their operational ethos – from a box-delivery, hardware-oriented company to a modern, agile, software-focused enterprise.

This vision steered Ericsson through a series of ups and downs, typical of any significant organizational change. However, their unwavering commitment to this agile transformation vision ultimately led to their success. Today, Ericsson stands as a testament to what can be achieved – the company is now celebrated as a fully agile, software-centric organization, showcasing the transformative power of a well-defined and embraced vision.

Reiterating and Communicating the Vision

The repetition and frequent communication of the vision are as crucial as the vision itself. A vision that is not constantly communicated risks being forgotten or, worse, misunderstood. It should be integral to everyday conversations, decision-making processes, and strategic meetings. Each repetition reinforces its importance, ensuring that it remains at the forefront of everyone's mind and actions.

When a vision is articulated with clarity and conviction, it becomes more than just words; it transforms into a guiding principle that influences behavior and decisions. This process of regular reinforcement helps in embedding the vision into the organizational culture, making it a living, breathing part of the Agile transformation journey.

Detailing the vision with strategy

While a broad vision sets the direction for Agile transformation, incorporating strategic details is essential for guiding the organization on achieving this vision. These details should be carefully crafted to be directive enough to ensure alignment and steer the organization towards its goals, yet flexible enough to allow for autonomous action and adaptation.

A detailed strategic vision should strike a balance between providing direction and allowing flexibility. It needs to be "fluffy" enough to encourage creativity and initiative and clear enough to ensure everyone is aligned and moving towards the same objectives. This balance is crucial in Agile environments, where adaptability and responsiveness are key.

Consider this illustrative example: “In the first quarter, our focus will be on the Agile teams. We aim to cultivate empowered Agile teams, inclusive of all necessary competencies, working across organizational boundaries to deliver real value to our customers. And by customers, I mean our end-users – the ones paying for our services. These teams should learn about Agile, embrace self-organization, and begin implementing an Agile process. We will not prescribe which methodology they should use, we will learn as we go and go as we learn, starting becoming a learning organization”

This example demonstrates a strategy that is specific enough to give clear direction – focusing on team empowerment, cross-functional collaboration, and customer-centricity – yet open-ended enough to allow teams to choose their Agile methodologies. This approach encourages teams to take ownership of their Agile journey, fostering a sense of urgency and commitment.

As we saw in the example, leaders play a pivotal role in communicating these strategic details. They must articulate the vision in a way that resonates with and motivates the teams, encouraging them to take the necessary steps toward transformation. This communication should be continuous and consistent, reinforcing the strategic aspects of the vision at every opportunity.

Periodic Review and Adaptation of the Agile Vision

Agile methodologies, at their core, are about adaptability and responsiveness to change. This principle should, of course, also apply to the strategic vision guiding an Agile transformation. A vision, while providing direction and purpose, should not be static. Instead, it needs to be dynamic, evolving with the organization's changing context and external environment.

By regularly reviewing and adapting the strategic vision, organizations can ensure that their Agile journey remains relevant, effective, and aligned with both their internal goals and the external environment. A dynamic vision is a cornerstone of a successful Agile transformation.

The Traps of Vision in Agile Transformation

Vision Not Known: Often, I've seen organizations where the vision for Agile transformation is vaguely defined or not shared with all members. Or not even known at all. The first question from me when I come to a new organization in the midst of an Agile transformation is “Why? Why are you doing this transformation?” Some organizations and leaders give a very compelling answer, but some struggle to get a meaningful answer. The worst answer I have gotten is: “Because our parallel organization is doing it.”

Vision Not Aligned: Another common issue is when the Agile vision is not aligned with the overall organizational goals or varies between different organizational parts. This misalignment creates internal conflicts and mixed messages, diluting the transformation efforts. The vision needs to be a part of, and go hand in hand with, the complete organizational vision, mission, and, of course, strategy. The Agile transformation may be a theme in the company strategy. Maybe it is a good idea to tell customers, shareholders, and the steering committee that we are doing this transformation, and we expect the following outcome ...

Vision Not Enough Communicated: It's not uncommon to find that the vision, although well-crafted, is not communicated effectively or frequently enough. Sometimes it is in a document not even accessible for all. I have seen organizations that proudly say when I ask for the vision. “Yes, it is here, we did it last fall on a management workshop”. On my follow-up question on when it was communicated, they say “I think it was communicated briefly once”. This failure in communication leads to a lack of buy-in and enthusiasm among the workforce. Transformation is impossible unless hundreds or thousands of people are willing to help, often to the point of making short-term sacrifices. Employees will not make sacrifices, even if they are unhappy with the status quo, unless they believe that useful change is possible. Without credible communication, and a lot of it, the hearts and minds of the troops are never captured.

Vision not Clear, Providing Priorities and Directions: Without clear priorities and directions, even a well-defined vision can become ineffective. Teams need to understand not only the 'why' but also the 'what' and the 'how' of their daily actions towards achieving the Agile transformation. And they need to be empowered to make their own decisions about the details. If you ask for ten teams that shall run Scrum, you will get ten teams that run Scrum. Probably by the book, focusing on the process. But if you ask for 10-ish empowered, cross-organizational, cross-functional, self-organized teams that continuously deliver customer value with high quality, have all the competence, tools, and resources they need, and have fun simultaneously. Guess what you get? Ask for outcomes, not output!

Time for Reflection

As you reach the end of this article, take a moment to reflect on your organization’s Agile transformation journey:

• How well is your organization’s vision for Agile transformation understood and communicated?
• Is the vision aligned with the broader goals of your organization?
• Have it been enough communicated? Do all understand it?
• Are priorities and directions clear?
• What part will you improve tomorrow?

Conclusion

A powerful and well-communicated vision and purpose forms the bedrock of a successful Agile transformation. It must resonate with everyone, be aligned with broader organizational objectives, and be communicated consistently and effectively. By avoiding the common traps related to the vision and purpose, organizations can set a strong foundation for their Agile journey.

In coming articles, we will explore each of the remaining ten areas where Agile transformations commonly fail. Armed with the understanding that it all starts with a clear, compelling, and well-communicated vision and purpose, we next turn our attention to another critical aspect of Agile transformations: leadership engagement and alignment. So stay tuned!

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This article is the second in a series of articles about common mistakes in agile transformations. Subscribe to my newletter not to miss the rest!

• The next article: Mistake #2: Alienated Leadership – The Silent Killer of Agile Transformations Read it next!
• The first article: Most Agile Transformations Fail: 12 Common Mistakes Revealed if you want to go back to the beginning.
• All articles including future articles

Updated 2024-10-02: Links
Updated 2024-08-28: Typo
Updated 2024-08-27: Fixed a typo—thanks to Martina for pointing it out!

Last updated Dec 17, 2024