In June of 2020, I posted an interview with Karim Harbott about his Business Agility Canvas. During the interview, he mentioned that he was working on a book, The 6 Enablers of Business Agility: How to Thrive in an Uncertain World. The book was released earlier this year and I recently started reading it. Karim does an excellent job of breaking down the 6 different areas he has identified as being critical to successfully adopt the practices necessary to achieve business agility. I am truly enjoying the book and I highly recommend it. Even if you are a seasoned transformation coach, you are going to find value in this book.

I came across one passage in particular recently that stuck out to me so I reached out to Karim to ask if we could do another podcast on it. The passage is below and it identifies a conversation that I wish more organizations would have. All too often senior leadership declares that Agile is “the way”, they train teams, and then completely fail to provide them with an environment in which they can be successful. The question is, why does that keep happening?

Here is the passage:

"What I do find surprising is that many organizations that embark on an “agile transformation” have strong Control and Compete cultures as their current profile, and seem to have no desire to change. What this says to me is that the things they value most are stability and control. Why, then, try to adopt a model designed for the exact opposite, adaptability? Is it any wonder, in such cases, that there is friction, resistance, and an unwillingness to make the necessary structural changes? These places do not make the necessary changes because they do not truly value the outcome those changes will deliver. By moving toward flexibility and adaptability, they are moving away from stability and control, the things they value most. This is not an acceptable trade-off to them, and that is when the organizational antibodies, as I think of them, move in to destroy the change agents. This is why so many transformations fail. Agile transformation without corresponding cultural transformations will create nothing but frustration."

(Harbott, Karim. The 6 Enablers of Business Agility (pp. 102-103). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kindle Edition. )

During the interview, Karim and I dig into why this occurs, why it is such a big deal, and steps you can take to try and protect yourself and your organization from falling into this trap.

LINKS FROM THE PODCAST

- The 6 Enablers of Business Agility: How to Thrive in an Uncertain World https://amzn.to/2Zn4aLh

- Interview on Business Agility Canvas with Karim Harbott https://bit.ly/3CeDk60

Contacting Karim

- Web: https://www.karimharbott.com

- Email: [email protected]

- Karim's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPMe5Wmii9YBtw1FD0De1fQ

- Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarimHarbott

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karimharbott/