Ep. 161: Vanguard's Amy Cribbs | Uncovering the Unexpected through Agile

When veteran leader Amy Cribbs took on the challenge of improving customer experience at Vanguard, the world’s largest mutual fund company, she felt ready for the challenges of adopting new, Agile ways of working. But her experience proved to be full of surprises. A expected, the new cross-functional teams helped Vanguard design better customer experiences and deliver them faster. But there was a lot more. In a previous episode, Amy described how the Agile approach had revealed unexpected insights about what really mattered to customers, which helped the teams design even better customer episodes. As it turns out, the new insights extended well beyond customer needs. The biggest and most rewarding surprise, says Amy, came when she saw individual employees blossom. The unexpected customer insights the Agile approach delivered also reinforced the need for humility when it comes to thinking she understands what customers want. Similarly, she says, she has learned the importance of being a servant leader so she can nurture, not control the new ways of thinking that Agile encouraged on her teams.