May 29, 2020
This week, Dan Neumann is joined by repeat guest and AgileThought colleague, Quincy Jordan! Quincy is a Principal Transformation Consultant and Agile Competency Lead who has been with AgileThought for just over two years. Prior to AgileThought, Quincy was the transformation lead for Pivotal’s Atlanta office, where he consulted with clients to help them reach enterprise scale. Quincy also served as a principal consultant and agile coach at SCRUMstudy.com for over six years.
In their discussion today, Dan and Quincy are talking all about disruptions in these unprecedented times. Right now, disruptions, especially in the transformation space, are incredibly challenging. Though, there is a silver lining given the circumstances; Disruption can also lead transformation where there wouldn’t have been without the push. So in this episode, Quincy and Dan highlight some of these transformations that they’re seeing currently happening within companies and the silver lining of what it could mean for these companies in the long term.
Key Takeaways
Transformations currently happening within organizations:
Airlines have had to revisit their business model and reward programs (such as extending reward points)
Companies are making very quick adjustments and shortening their feedback loop
Companies also have to respond very quickly which is causing them to figure out what they need to respond to and prioritize
Companies have a new focus that has emerged: they need to figure out the true important problem that they are solving
Companies are needing to figure out creative ways to continue operating during this time
They are adding services (like curbside pickup) and figuring out what services to subtract (such as offerings that are not applicable or appropriate during this time)
Obtaining professional certifications have gone remote as well (such as on Scrum.org)
Companies and individuals are understanding what is important to focus on now and moving more quickly to get it in place
They are figuring out how to limit their risk by figuring out what to respond to and what not to
They are limiting risk by shortening their feedback loop (sometimes to even a matter of days)
They are leveraging their infrastructure and their ability to use Cloud technologies to scale up and roll out new changes
They are making sure that the company’s values stay central to the decisions
Final thoughts and questions around transformation:
COVID-19 has really challenged the agile space as many of its principles are grounded in being in person/communicating in person
It has proven that remote facilitation and coaching is possible
When someone’s back is pushed against the wall all of a sudden new solutions arise because you have to
It’s not just about being Lean or Agile; it’s about figuring out the right problems to solve as quickly as possible
‘What are the things that are being disrupted that will lead to true transformation and then what things are being disrupted that are being put on pause and will be revisited later?’
‘What disruptors that are happening now as a result of all of this will create a new norm that becomes what we have transformed into?’
Are we changing for now and then going back or is it a permanent change in how we do things?
There is more need and delivery on remote agile coaching and remote transformation consulting due to not being able to go on-site (will this be more of a permanent offering going forward or is it just transient until everything settles down?)
Mentioned in this Episode:
“Amazon temporarily suspending Amazon Shipping service”
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