Navigating future of work

March-2025

The software industry shifted from “waterfall” to Agile to keep pace with rapidly evolving customer expectations and emerging technologies. As technology permeates every industry, disruptions are no longer confined to tech companies. No wonder agility is now a priority for CEOs across sectors like manufacturing, healthcare, education, and even government.

But how does the non-software world implement Agile? In our view, they don’t—they adopt agility instead.

So, how can they build agility? By decoding, understanding, and applying Agile’s foundational principles to reshape their organizations.

And how exactly? That’s the focus of this month’s nudge letter. Read on as we explore the difference between “Being Agile” and merely “Doing Agile.”

SUCCESS IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING WORLD DEPENDS ON AGILITY — THE ABILITY TO RAPIDLY ADAPT, PIVOT, AND SEIZE OPPORTUNITIES.

– SATYA NADELLA

Agile was originally defined as a set of values and principles aimed at helping organizations adapt swiftly and effectively to change.

Five of the twelve Agile principles emphasize mindset and culture. That is the foundation. While methodology is merely a wrapper around it. Yet, over time, implementation remained focussed on rituals reducing it to a set of prescribed practices. As if, that is all you need to become Agile.

True agility isn’t about terminology or rituals—it’s about fostering adaptability, collaboration, and a culture where people thrive.

Instead of merely “implementing Agile,” here is how leaders can focus on embedding its core cultural principles to drive agility, using Agile as a tool to cultivate responsiveness and innovation within their organizations.

Build Trust in your Teams

Share information transparently, foster open communication and allow teams to make decisions to instil trust in the team.

Maintain Sustainable Pace

Pay attention to burn-outs, and encourage healthy work-life balance. Check out what SMART goals should look like in this era and as a leader how you can set them to deliver at a sustainable pace.

Allow The Teams to Decide How

Autonomy works best when you allow teams to be self-organizing. Shift focus from setting and tracking output. Instead, set clear outcomes but let teams decide how to achieve them.

Encourage Continuous Learning

As a leader, ensure a rhythm where teams have dedicated time to reflect on progress (or lack thereof). Bias for action sometimes leads to teams downplaying time spent on retrospection. A space to discuss challenges, and capture and share lessons learned across teams is key to building a learning organization.

Promote Collaboration

Create, where possible, cross-functional teams. When that is not possible, design forums where cross-functional teams often come together to discuss, share and progress. As long as they all share the same goal, are aligned to the same objective and keep their personal or departmental agendas at the door, the teams will do well.

Agility gives Organizations a competitive edge by fostering a mindset of adaptability and continuous learning. Successful organizations don’t just “do Agile,” they become Agile.

Success stories from companies like Tesla, Spotify, and ING only validate that Agile is for everyone. So, go for it.

FROM AROUND THE WORLD

DOING VS BEING: PRACTICAL LESSONS ON BUILDING AN AGILE CULTURE

Four global success stories offer insights and lessons learned on achieving organizational agility shared by McKinsey & Company

FROM THE WORLD OF SEMCO STYLE

DRIVING BUSINESS RESULTS BY BUILDING AGILITY

Story of how an FMCG achieved business results by leveraging core Agile principles and made the shift from one that reacts to one that re-ACTs, driving agility.

READ FULL STORY HERE

TRIVIA FOR YOU

DID YOU KNOW 93% OF BUSINESS UNITS THAT ADOPTED AGILE SAW BETTER OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE?

According to a McKinsey report, Agile organizations are 1.5x more likely to outperform competitors in customer satisfaction and financial performance.

Navigating future of work – March 2025