In this chapter, we started by looking at modern leadership and the case for managing systems, as complex problem solving requires a more subtle form of control than we have perhaps considered in the past.
To make this subtle system of control work, we need to set up meaningful feedback loops at various levels which provide information to help tune and tweak our approach to make sure we're all heading in the desired direction. The simplest and most powerful way to do this is to empower the individuals and teams operating within the system to create a living, breathing, learning ecosystem that evolves as it needs to.
We looked at how can set up our system so that it becomes self-governing as we shift to a more dynamic organizational structure that relies on clear objectives and a network of teams who carry out tasks they've been assigned. Devolving command and control structures will enable the teams in the network to get to the source of the information that they need faster, enabling more informed decision making at the point where it's most relevant.
It's not that the hierarchy goes away, it just becomes less and less traversed in order for the teams to obtain information. People will start to feel redundant; the nature of their work will change significantly.
When you're trying to create a system that makes more sense, you have to be sensitive to the impact this will have on people's working lives. The nature of their work is going to change, and some will see this as an opportunity for growth. Others will see it as a threat and will react with resistance. Both are legitimate responses and we have to be able to guide both groups of people, as well as those in between.
Start with why. Communicate why over and over. When you feel you've said why enough, say why some more. If our people understand why, it will empower them to be part of the solution.
In the final section, we looked at alternative approaches to organizational operating systems. One thing is clear, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. We certainly shouldn't try to blueprint the organizational structure of another company and superimpose it on ours.
Organizations are too complex for that; we'll need to discover what works for us and what doesn't. So while it's fine to take ideas from other companies and try them out for ourselves, anything we do try should be set up as an experiment so that we can measure whether it will take us in the direction we want to go.
The aim of this book was to take you on a journey and give you a feel for the types of Agile practice we need to adopt and practice in order to become Agile. Every team's journey is different, as is every individual's. Agile is not something we can transplant, it's something we need to study and experiment with daily.