Agile Transformers: Enabling Sustainable Organizational Agility

Agile Transformers

Kai LaMadeleine, CEO/Co-founder, Agile TransformersKai LaMadeleine, CEO/Co-founder
Many organizations have been on a long Agile journey and have yet to reach Sustainable Organizational Agility due to one root cause. There is an imbalance in how Agile is perceived and implemented, whereby the scale tips heavily towards process versus having a balance of both process and servant leadership. Due to the lack of leaders’ embodiment of “servant leadership” to inspire, to guide, to support, to develop people, Agile simply just becomes “another fad” that teams feel forced into doing. People get frustrated and eventually become jaded because they are told to follow a process, but the transformation does not reflect the Agile values or principles. They are, therefore, limited to simply process. Helping organizations achieve a balance of both process and servant leadership is Agile Transformers’ core strength.

Agile Transformers was formed in 2015 with a purpose-driven mission by the CEO/Co-founder, Kai LaMadeleine, to leverage and scale her 11+ years of learnings and proven techniques to help as many organizations as possible to address the gaps that are preventing them from achieving their full potential of Agility. Through the years, Kai and her team of Agile coaches have conducted and documented thousands of one-on-one interviews with individuals from various backgrounds and roles of their challenges and pain points as well as desired future states/ outcomes. The predominant theme in regard to their challenges has been the lack of leadership engagement and support. This is not about pointing blame but rather highlighting where the organization should prioritize their focus in order to reap the most value and inherently address the low hanging fruits. Through our discovery and findings, we have collaborated with organizations to build a bridge to that better future.

As part of the bridge construction, setting a solid foundation is imperative to support and sustain the organizational transformation. It is through our Agile Leadership Development Program (ALDP) that organizations had realized the most value in addressing the root cause that was impeding their progress towards becoming a higher performing organization. The program includes the Certified Agile Leader training, workshops, and one-on-one coaching.

The training raises awareness of the participant’s innate servant leadership traits (balancing leadership and servitude) that ultimately reinforces organizational core values and influences a culture of innovation and continuous learning.

They also gain insight into THE key to successful transformation outcomes. The workshops and one-on one coaching help to equip the participants with both the understanding and practical skills of how best to lead, guide, and support at the portfolio, program, and/or team level.

“Agile Transformers’ Overarching Goal Is To Empower Organizations To Be Self-Managing And Self-Sufficient At The End Of The Pilot”

As organizations advance further in their Agile journey, we collaborate with the leadership team to explore Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure against desired outcomes of their Agile program. The leadership team undertakes a critical thinking exercise to develop the KPIs so that they are used to inspire and motivate rather than to demoralize the teams’ spirit. The “People Happiness Factor” is at the forefront of the list. Experimental outcomes evidence that when employees are happy, they are intrinsically motivated and more productive, and as a result, organizations thrive.

Equipped with the KPIs, we partner with key stakeholders to develop/refine their Agile transformation strategy and derive an actionable roadmap. Regardless of where the organization is within their Agile journey, we guide them through a pilot utilizing our holistic approach, which includes the Optimization of People, Processes, and Tools to support the new ways of working. Through our agnostic approach to frameworks, practices, and tools, we tailor and customize the Agile practice to each organization’s unique culture, value streams, and industry, while still adhering to the Agile values and principles. We help teams learn and grow through the continuous cycle of experimentation and improvement throughout the pilot by leveraging the retrospective and empirical data. Based upon the outcomes of the pilot, a scaling strategy is developed to scale the practice to other teams and programs.

Agile Transformers’ overarching goal is to empower organizations to be self-managing and self-sufficient at the end of the pilot. To enable teams at every level to rely internally for continued support, we include two offerings as part of the pilot. The first offering is the Agile Coach Development Program to help develop a team of internal Agile coaches. This effort not only enables the development of T-shaped skills but also reduce/eliminate the reliant on external consultants, resulting in cost-savings. The second offering is the Agile Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Tools Optimization. The highest value gained as told by many organizations were: visibility and transparency into the portfolio, program, and team progress thus enabling key stakeholders to make informed decisions and mitigating risks early.

The secondary value gained, but just as important, was enabling the teams to continuously improve by utilizing real-time and empirical data.

What is it that keeps us doing what we do at Agile Transformers? Seeing people happier and working together in a more collaborative spirit. Seeing their voices not only being heard but also being valued. Hearing that they feel respected and appreciated for their work. Agility is truly about valuing people OVER process.

One pivotal moment that became a catalyst for the formation of Agile Transformers was how Agile had a positive impact on one organization (a U.S. pharmaceutical outsourcing services company). Little did the stakeholders know that shift would have a significant effect on their people’s work-life balance. Prior to the implementation, an Agile team member was working 65+ hours a week and at many times sleeping overnight at his desk to complete his work. Both his health and marriage were deteriorating with little notice from within the organization.

Once Agile was implemented, the organization had visibility and transparency into the work as well as being able to balance the workload for team members through capacity planning. The retrospective gave the teams a safe environment to speak candidly about what can be improved upon. At the end of the pilot, that team member came up to LaMadeleine with tears in his eyes and said, “Agile saved my marriage. I was on a verge of a divorce… Thank you.” This success story is the reason why we continue on this mission to help as many organizations as possible whether they are in contemplation stage or need to optimize their current Agile practice.

When Measuring Agility, The Happiness Of Your People Should Be The Most Important. By Valuing People, Their Thoughts and Ideas, You Will Inspire A Culture of Innovation and Continuous Learning

I would like to share the honor of Agile Transformers being named as a “Top 10 Emerging Agile Companies” with those that had inspired me to go after my dream of building this company to better the lives of the people that we work with directly and indirectly. To my husband and co-founder, Jason LaMadeleine, thank you for always believing in me and being there to celebrate the wins, no matter how big or small and to see failures as opportunities to learn, improve, and grow. He told me to find and grow the company with a team of people that share the same fire, passion, and ethical values in how we treat our clients. To my fellow coaches, thank you for the collaboration and for adding value to my life. To my clients, thank you for your trust. Last but not least, to my mother and father, thank you for instilling in me a burning desire to make a difference in the world.

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