With discussions on the ‘death of agile’ circulating and many calling for a ‘return to basics,’ it’s essential to recognise the pivotal role leadership plays in either accelerating or impeding agile success. Agile, at its core, is about fostering an environment ripe for innovation, with high talent density and rapid delivery of customer value. However, without leadership fully committed to understanding and applying agile principles, transformations risk becoming empty gestures. 

Agile is increasingly adopted across organisations in the GCC region, expanding well beyond software development. Yet, terms like Agile Adoption, Agile Transformation, and Digital Transformation are often used interchangeably, creating confusion around their implications and value. In this article I’ll unpack: Agile Adoption vs. Agile Transformation, Agile Transformation vs. Digital Transformation, Why mindset matters as much as methodology and How agile practices can drive effective digital transformation.

Agile-Leads has partnered with Agility Arabia to explore how agile ways of working are expanding beyond IT teams. With extensive experience in agile adoption, digital delivery, and business transformation, I joined forces with Agility Arabia to share our perspectives as like-minded leaders on the future of agility.

At the core of this article, we posed a question: Is the focus on scaling agility beyond tech teams increasing or declining?

Imagine an HR department where cross-functional collaboration is the norm, not the exception. In my latest article, I explore how Agile HR is breaking down silos, transforming talent sourcing, and empowering teams to work in sync toward innovation and efficiency. Agile HR is more than just a buzzword, it’s a game-changer for organisations looking to foster speed, adaptability, and a people-first culture. 

With ICT investment and digital transformation efforts growing across the GCC, driven by initiatives like the ‘We are the UAE’ 2031’ Vision, many organisations still face challenges with legacy systems and rigid processes. As we move beyond a quieter-than-expected summer in the UAE, it’s worth reflecting on how businesses in the region can build resilience and agility through digital transformation, especially in today's uncertain economic landscape.

Are we stuck in 'change' inertia?  Reading through 2022 & 2023 reports from the Business Agility Institute, I was struck by a recurring theme: the top challenges companies face in their business agility journey have remained consistent over the last five years.

This could be seen as a grim reality. However, the new challenges highlighted in the 2023 report reveal that we're making progress, even if it’s not always apparent.

Having a recent frustrating experience with my business banking provider made me question whether traditional banks are truly prepared to navigate the evolving landscape of banking and financial services. Which banks will ride the wave of change and flourish, and which will falter or fail?

John Deere was facing some significant challenges in 2019, and so decided to launch an agile transformation initiative.  Implementing Agile IT Manufacturing with Scrum@Scale, Scrum, DevOps and a modernised Tech stack. Results far exceeded targets.

In this series of articles we explore how global businesses have adopted Agile Manufacturing to embrace an Industry 4.0 world. In this article we look at Novo Nordisk and explore how an agile transformation helped meet demand surges in a rapidly shifting pharma industry, to reach a market value of $500bn.

Novo Nordisk needed to shift their approach to business operations to tackle some of their greatest business challenges including…

Agile manufacturing evolved from Toyota's just-in-time (JIT) concept, expanding into lean manufacturing, cycle time management, time-based competition, and quick-response manufacturing.

Unlike JIT's focus on production systems, agile manufacturing encompasses both factory floor operations and the growing significance of software in the industry. Its prerequisites hinge on robust digital transformation, emphasising software development facilitating seamless interaction among humans, computers, and production machines.

What fuels real innovation? Why do some household names fail to keep up with the market? In traditional organisations companies may adopt an accelerated innovation pipeline, or host Ideation competitions. Some incumbents build Greenfield digital teams to support rapid innovation. However, these models tend to have varying success and short-lived results.

The main impediment to agile adoption is often the behaviour and mindset of executives and leaders in an organisation. There is a need to understand, embrace, and support agile principles to enable its successful adoption and reap its benefits. Here I’ve covered some of the impediments to a successful adoption of agile, which leaders should tackle when implementing agile ways of working.

As detailed in the excellent HBR article by Darrell Rigby, Jeff Sutherland, and Hirotaka Takeuchi ‘Embracing Agile’, innovation is what agile is all about.

In this article I summarise the six practices Rigby et al discerned through their study and analysis, that are crucial in capitalising on agile’s potential.

We’re at an exciting time of evolution in the Middle East economy. A time when businesses & governments must look to future-proof themselves and their people. Transforming a ‘workforce’ into a future-proofed talent-base fuelled by ongoing investment in upskilling and cross-skilling, can evolve businesses into learning organisations. This creates the right environment for innovation to future-proof companies.

I am part of the ‘Agile Industrial Complex’. However, I’ve always had the same frustration - knowing that what works will only be determined by listening to teams, and frequently seeing this not happen.

In this article I explore what is meant by ‘The Agile Industrial Complex’, and how we can shift the needle back towards the true principles of agile, and away from off-the-shelf models.

Why would teams buy-in to something that they haven’t helped shape? Especially when the benefits have not been made clear or worse, there are no clear benefits to them. In the context of agile adoption at a team level, or agile transformation at a department or company level, a culture shift is involved. This can be hard to define.

In this article I’ll look at some tools and approaches to support agile adoption through sensitive change management.

Agile is gaining increasing adoption throughout organisations. Agile methods have moved beyond just software development. However, there’s ongoing confusing as to what is meant by Agile Adoption vs. Agile Transformation and Digital Transformation vs. Agile Adoption or Transformation. In this post I’ll try highlight the differences and interrelationships between them, in simple terms.

There are a dizzying array of methodologies and frameworks which fall under the umbrella of Agile. Trying to dissect the frameworks and understand the subtle differences between each can be confusing. I’ve created some infographics to cut through the confusion and provide some context to the world of agile.

Rebecca explores the correlation between the commoditisation of people in business, to organisation’s failing to adopt agile. Catching up on ACN (#AgileCoachingNetwork) podcast episodes, I was inspired to write a piece after listening to their 20 May episode ‘What about the people!!!’.

The latest podcast episode from the Agile Coaching Network really resonates - 'HAS AGILE JUMPED THE SHARK?'. Explore how managing the amount of process vs. embedding agile mindsets / values should be a point of reflection for companies, to understand whether they’re getting it right.