Change Management

Oceans are red, oceans are blue

Or was it roses and violets?

We hear a lot of arguments on how agile makes organizations more competitive in an ever changing, complex environment, in these times of uncertainty and of course all interpretable by contradicting recipients. By following agile principles, by adapting to change etc. Let’s assume that is true for a moment.

Although we should be careful using the term VUCA, since the letters VUA are just derivatives of C, the main message behind it should be in our general interest.

The question is: How is sailing a blue ocean possibly achieved by applying formal systems where all is measured, managed, committed and accounted for?

Or: How is that a blue ocean while doing what everybody does, but too late and for no real reason?

Blue Ocean

Let’s look at a selection of concepts that might let us set the right sail:

1. Being inventive enough to produce radical innovation.

2. Repurposing your means of production for faster time to market of new desired products.

3. Early adaptation. You find trends first and run with them.

Preferably, of course, in combination. And there is no guarantee your activities are worth the effort. But what is certain is that copying from blueprints only because everyone else does is doing it clearly is in the deep red.

Innovation

Innovation cannot be steered; it cannot be ordered. It can be rooted, fostered.

Collaboration, flow, liking what you do, playing team, trying new things, thinking out of the box, doing parallel experimenting; these things lead to innovation.

Objectives don’t. If you focus on objectives, you don’t see opportunities. How would you. There is no incentive.

Repurpose

That is a pattern for dated knowledge that can be reused. Experienced people, old and oiled functioning machinery. There is a danger of falling into old routine and being resistant to change, though. It is a matter of balance and flight levels. It’s not trivial to combine experience with tryouts.

Early adaptation

That is a practice that just doesn’t fit in with applying a heavy weight formal system. Instead, it’s more advisable to go to all possible social events to breathe in grooves and the pulse of the community. Doesn’t fit much to what we see in projects nowadays, correct me if I’m wrong.

The possibilities of a sociology are limited by its force of imagination. And so is its ability to be agile. No formal system can help with it. Au contraire. We are being gaslighted, as it seems.

Red Ocean

The issue is not just about following the one rule set. It could be the good one for your case. But it’s highly improbable – and it’s just not any of the above principles. It’s still ok to force your way through it, but there is resistance. That is a strategy, it does work in many cases. Reserves also are resilience in the end. But it’s not making many people happy. And are you?

How to get there, another three principles?

Well, for starters, yes.

First of all, it’s not just true only because it’s practice. Factoids led us here. Leading questions and extrinsic motivators. Ask why Fibonacci is important, saying the rabbits multiply along those numbers – or pinecones patterns – has nothing to do with what we are doing. Secondly, we need to get back to collaboration. And last but not least: Quality first. Nobody cares for that anymore. Or have we ever understood?

Scientific approaches

Everything you trust should be either mathematically proven or empirically solid to be scientific. Hardly any – or none, especially no book on fair participation, reinventing stuff or scaling (challenge me) gives you evidence.

Quality

Reconsider what quality really is or if you know anyone knows what it actually means and if you are measuring scientifically.

Collaboration

Even the simplest approach will not work if not thought though in a common thinking model. Nothing is proven if not shown.

Aren’t violets violet?