, Rethinking Agile
Copyright © 2019, LEANability GmbH, Vienna, Austria
Print Version: December 2018
eBook Version: September 2019
Author: Klaus Leopold
Text: Dolores Omann
llustrations: Matthias Seifert
Graphic Design: Mario Simon-Hoor
English Translation: Jennifer Minnich
eBook: Marina Grosser
Foto: Christian Kollarovits
All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this book may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the
written permission of the publisher.
Visit us at www.LEANability.com or contact us at
for legal information, other inquiries and bulk
orders.
Learn more about Flight Levels and Business Agility at
www.LEANability.com/en/flight-levels-training
ISBN (print) 978-3-903205-39-0
ISBN (LeanPub) 978-3-903205-40-6
ISBN (Kindle) 978-3-903205-41-3
,FOREWORD
You can turn any problem into a mystery. There are now enough
agile templates and frameworks to turn any simple insight into a
challenge that naturally can only be resolved with this or that method
or framework. Yes, I am sitting in a glass house. I make my money
giving companies valuable tips and my name is associated with
Kanban. However, my goal is to never make things more
complicated than what they really are. And a simple insight goes
along with this: An agile organization is not created by completely
optimizing elements isolated from one another—in most cases this
involves teams. Often, though, Agile odysseys start with this local
(sub-)optimization, where at the same time their chosen agile
method becomes the golden calf. Then the only attempt is to do the
method justice rather than asking what creates more value for the
customer. Typically, collaboration between the development areas of
an organization and the business decision makers isn't taken into
consideration.
In this book, combined with the power of illustration, I want to make a
clear and meaningful point about this simple insight, which you can
neither certify nor trademark. In the past two years, I have gone from
conference to conference with my presentation "Why agile teams
have nothing to do with business agility". Over and over, I receive
feedback from people in the audience about how they have found
themselves in the same trials and tribulations during agile
transformations.
Do not expect this book to delve deep into theory. What you will read
here is a general view of what goes wrong in many agile change
projects and simple suggestions about how you can avoid these
dead ends or correct your course. I do not present any solutions that
are absolutely correct for every organization. Do not consider my
wisdom the ultimate wisdom. Thinking for yourself is expressly
permitted.
, Hence, this book presumes a fundamental knowledge about agility
and the mechanisms behind it. Perhaps your company has just
started down the path of becoming agile, or you are already stuck
knee-deep in the transformation and are asking yourself what the
heck has gone wrong. In this case, you will probably find useful hints
in this book. And perhaps while reading this book you will realize
something that makes you smile to yourself, which means my goal
has been achieved.
Enjoy!
Klaus Leopold
Copyright © 2019, LEANability GmbH, Vienna, Austria
Print Version: December 2018
eBook Version: September 2019
Author: Klaus Leopold
Text: Dolores Omann
llustrations: Matthias Seifert
Graphic Design: Mario Simon-Hoor
English Translation: Jennifer Minnich
eBook: Marina Grosser
Foto: Christian Kollarovits
All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this book may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the
written permission of the publisher.
Visit us at www.LEANability.com or contact us at
for legal information, other inquiries and bulk
orders.
Learn more about Flight Levels and Business Agility at
www.LEANability.com/en/flight-levels-training
ISBN (print) 978-3-903205-39-0
ISBN (LeanPub) 978-3-903205-40-6
ISBN (Kindle) 978-3-903205-41-3
,FOREWORD
You can turn any problem into a mystery. There are now enough
agile templates and frameworks to turn any simple insight into a
challenge that naturally can only be resolved with this or that method
or framework. Yes, I am sitting in a glass house. I make my money
giving companies valuable tips and my name is associated with
Kanban. However, my goal is to never make things more
complicated than what they really are. And a simple insight goes
along with this: An agile organization is not created by completely
optimizing elements isolated from one another—in most cases this
involves teams. Often, though, Agile odysseys start with this local
(sub-)optimization, where at the same time their chosen agile
method becomes the golden calf. Then the only attempt is to do the
method justice rather than asking what creates more value for the
customer. Typically, collaboration between the development areas of
an organization and the business decision makers isn't taken into
consideration.
In this book, combined with the power of illustration, I want to make a
clear and meaningful point about this simple insight, which you can
neither certify nor trademark. In the past two years, I have gone from
conference to conference with my presentation "Why agile teams
have nothing to do with business agility". Over and over, I receive
feedback from people in the audience about how they have found
themselves in the same trials and tribulations during agile
transformations.
Do not expect this book to delve deep into theory. What you will read
here is a general view of what goes wrong in many agile change
projects and simple suggestions about how you can avoid these
dead ends or correct your course. I do not present any solutions that
are absolutely correct for every organization. Do not consider my
wisdom the ultimate wisdom. Thinking for yourself is expressly
permitted.
, Hence, this book presumes a fundamental knowledge about agility
and the mechanisms behind it. Perhaps your company has just
started down the path of becoming agile, or you are already stuck
knee-deep in the transformation and are asking yourself what the
heck has gone wrong. In this case, you will probably find useful hints
in this book. And perhaps while reading this book you will realize
something that makes you smile to yourself, which means my goal
has been achieved.
Enjoy!
Klaus Leopold
