So those expensive consultants helped you roll out an agile method like Scrum or DSDM across a number of teams, and if we’re honest the results have been mixed at best. Some people “get it”, some are just doing what they always did but dressing it up in the new terms, others are actively disengaged. The business stakeholders are getting fed up hearing teams tell them “We’re agile so we don’t do dates” or “You’ll get it when it’s ready”, and your senior management are on your back about governance and assurance. This doesn’t sound like the dream they sold you!

The problem is that an agile organisation needs to think and act differently, and that agile methods are only part of the story. Each organisation is different and any change on this scale is going to have to adapt to emerging conditions. How can your organisation get the predictability it wants for planning and budgeting, and still benefit from the rich feedback of iterative agile delivery? And how can your staff develop and build a career in a flat organisation?

Tony Grout and Chris Matts think the answer might lie in the emerging areas of Business Mapping and Skills Liquidity. Combining your business strategy with the abilities and aspirations of your people can create a rich landscape of options for achieving genuine business agility, and lead to rich collaboration between business and technical stakeholders. And yes, we do do dates!