As more organizations realize the need to be adaptive in the marketplace, "Agility" as an organizational concept has increased in popularity. Organizations in every industry in every corner of the globe are searching for ways to make themselves more "Agile." While this is excellent news for those of us that want to see these practices adopted for the benefit of everyone in all organizations, the increased popularity doesn't come without drawbacks. This increased focus on organizational agility has created a paradigm in which many leaders see "agile transformation" as necessary to keep their jobs even if they don't fully understand what organizational agility looks like or the sacrifices required to move in that direction.

If you are considering leading an effort to increase agility in your organization, here are some questions that are vital to ask before heading out. The answers your senior leadership team gives you to these questions can help you understand if you have the support to make agile practices stick in your organization.

1. What do we hope to achieve from our move to agility?

This question provides an opportunity to understand if expectations align with reality. A shift to agility in most organizations has much more to do with culture change than a process change. Culture change is difficult and takes a long time. If your leadership team expects something along the lines of "Convert our entire organization to agile within the next 12 months.", you've now identified an opportunity to have a more in-depth conversation and guide expectations.

2. How will we measure progress?

A common issue I've observed in organizations that have attempted to make the shift to agility and failed is the loss of momentum due to a lack of demonstrable results. These efforts didn't fail because the changes made in the name of agility weren't helping the organization to execute more effectively. Instead, the agile champions could not demonstrate precisely how those practices had benefited the organization because they failed to set clear expectations and gain consensus on how those results would be measured. As I mentioned earlier, a shift to agile is a culture change. You will meet resistance. While it's true that many leaders see Agility as something they're required to pursue, many of them are fearful of the change and looking for an opportunity to show that this new way of doing things doesn't work in their organization. Generating small wins and showing how the shift to agile practices has directly contributed to the organization being more successful is your best defense.

3. What level of urgency for change exists in the organization?

Before spending your political capital championing any significant change, it's crucial to understand how much support you have in the organization. Any change to the way an organization functions will create some amount of friction and disruption. While that might be just what the organization needs, you won't get much traction for your initiative if the rest of the organization doesn't agree. If you don't sense a broad level of agreement that something is wrong and things need to change, you should spend more time amassing allies before pursuing any organizational change. The answer to this question will also help you understand how fast and broad you want to go with your initial foray into agility. While big bang agile transformations are highly visible and have a significant impact right away, without a sense of urgency and broad support, that approach will likely fail to achieve the results you've promised. The organization will resist any change if few people see the need for it. The big bang approach is best for organizations in crisis; where failure is imminent, the organization needs a significant internal disruption to survive, and everyone knows it. Another reason to consider a big bang approach is the anticipation of significant leadership changes soon. Many successful Agile initiatives have stalled out after a new leader who doesn't support Agile principles enters the organization. Sometimes agile transformations are most needed in organizations that don't see a problem on the horizon. Revenue is good, customers are happy, why would we change anything? While you, as the champion for change, may see that the organization needs a more adaptive model to survive the next bug disruption, others may not agree amid a successful period in the business. In that case, a slower, more methodical approach is best. Start with a few teams, use the results as proof of efficacy, then seek to expand where it makes sense. The key to this approach is to make sure you're going big enough that people will care. Too small an effort is likely to go unnoticed and won't result in a business case compelling enough to generate the support for a broader effort.

4. What do you think you'll need to change about the way you lead for this to work? Are you sure you're willing to do that?

Okay, so this is a two-part question, but it's essential to make sure your leadership team understands the personal commitment they are making. Another typical risk to organizational adoption of Agile practices is the idea that agility is something that happens at the individual contributor level. The reality I've often observed is that those people are usually working pretty effectively, given the organizational constraints placed on them. As W. Edwards Deming famously said, "People are already doing their best. The problem is with the system..." It's usually not the people on your teams that are preventing the organization from being fast and responsive; it's the processes and incentives that control their environments that are the real culprits. To change the context, leaders must change the way they run the organization and the way they govern themselves. Make sure your leadership team understands that before you set out on your agile journey.