Agile + DevOps East 2021 Concurrent Session : Agile Transformation : Managing the Devout and the Doubters

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Thursday, November 18, 2021 - 3:00pm to 4:00pm

Agile Transformation : Managing the Devout and the Doubters

You are leading an Agile transformation. There will be some people who resist, who doubt, and you’ll need to care for them. There will also be some people who are very supportive—perhaps too supportive. They will need some attention too, or they can actually damage efforts to mature your organization’s transformation. As part of the leadership team in an organizational transformation effort, you are a pragmatic prophet. There are truths and principles to get across to your people, but also, there is reality and pragmatic considerations to manage. While the principles should hold fast, the practices can bend – and should. Those who doubt may challenge both principles and practices. That’s obvious. But those who are too supportive may become disillusioned if the pragmatics require practices to bend from what they’ve learned as the “straight and narrow”. Your staff are good people, or they wouldn’t be on your team. This presentation will provide some guidance in identifying both the doubtful and the enthusiastic, and provide techniques for bringing both to a supportive, mature position within the transformation journey.

James Porter
IBM

Jim has over 35 years in the IT industry, ranging from junior programmer, to Systems Architect and Engineer, to Agile and Business Transformation Consultant. He has been active in the Agile space for over 15 years, as a coach, consultant, trainer, and practitioner, and has seen the struggles of transforming from classic methods to newer ones, whether they be “management fad of the day” or real transformations. Along the way, he has worked with some of the largest organizations in both commercial and government arenas. In his small amount of spare time, he is a Shakespearian actor in community theater, and a proud playmate to his brilliant granddaughter.