Last time we talked about a definition of agility: The capability of being flexible and responsive to changes in the world around you. And I suggested that Well Managed Agility is one part of the solution for the question of “How much agility is enough?”
Is Managed Agility an oxymoron? It can sound like one. And some people equate agility with a lack of management, a free-for-all. That can be true when agility is taken to the extreme and poorly implemented. But agility certainly can be managed in many ways.
The first step to managing agility is simply acknowledging that agility can and must be managed.
I once joined an organization where there was major project in process that was getting later every day. The later it got, the more the stakeholders realized that the originally planned results would no longer meet their needs. So the stakeholders insisted on changes. The organization, who felt bad about the late delivery, almost always said yes in a futile attempt to placate the customers. Unfortunately, the more changes that were accepted, the later the project became. My job was to bring the project back on schedule.
One aspect to getting a project back on schedule (we will discuss others in future blogs) is learning to say no. In this case I changed the process so that all major decisions, and all communications with the stakeholders, went through me. This was not because I was any kind of an expert. Quite the contrary – I was a novice at the subject matter. But I did know how to get the right people involved to exercise good judgment. And I did have the guts to say no when it needed to be said.
The salesperson involved was livid – “You CAN’T say no to a major stakeholder.” My response: “Watch me!” The alternative of saying “yes” with the knowledge that delivering is not possible, is just flat out lying to your stakeholders. While no one wants to be told no, I think that most people would prefer an honest “no” to a dishonest and meaningless “yes”.
As expected, the primary stakeholder was initially angry when he was first told no. But he soon realized that this was the first time he had been given an honest answer. And this was actually the start of what later became a great and very positive relationship. The salesperson also became a friend for the same reason.
Next time I’ll talk about other steps to managing agility. In the mean time, if you are working on a project that is behind schedule, start practicing the word “no”.
Dave Sturrock
VP Products – Simio LLC