The difference between the production of a movie and on-demand television is dramatic. If movie producers decide halfway through production an actor isn’t working, the entire project is put on hold. Scripts rewritten, scenes re-filmed and the movie’s delivery date pushed back months, maybe even years. On the flip side, today’s on-demand television shows can drop a character from one episode and change story arcs for the next. They get constant ratings from consumers and can adjust the series based on real-time feedback.
On the whole, organizations have spent too much time working like a film. But, many are trying to change. The film process discourages iteration, creativity and the reviews needed for incremental improvement. As leaders speed up their organization’s digital transformation, data and tech-enabled solutions become ubiquitous, and the creative process accelerates. Ideas will multiply. Time to market will shrink. Organizations need Agile teams designed to create quickly and harness change for competitive advantage.
“One of the fundamental characteristics of Agile is fast learning that is shared and made transparent for team members across the system. This learning fuels accelerated progress for the whole group,” says Mandy Sutherland, senior consultant, Steelcase Applied Research + Consulting.
These Agile teams operate in a very different way than those at many organizations designed for efficiency. “Agile teams are cross-functional, empowered to make decisions and extremely productive,” says Sutherland. (Read more: Six Ways to Support Agile Teams)