Adopting Agile is Never Really About Agile

Why Adopt Agile?

We adopt Agile because we want to solve our problems and deliver better business outcomes. But the truth of the matter is that Agile is often applied at the team level, as a set of practices that don’t account for the underlying business drivers organizations and executives actually care about, the ones that drive the best business outcomes.

What business problems are we trying to solve? What outcomes are key for your organization to reach its goals?

The business problems we’re trying to solve have to be big enough for executives to agree to make an investment in them in the first place. And while every organization is focused on solving different kinds of problems, we’ve found that there are six common business drivers for adopting Agile that executives care about the most:
predictability, quality, cost savings, early ROI, product fit, and innovation.

Some executives value some of these drivers more than others, or they may want to eventually see gains in all six areas. Either way, it’s important to know which ones are most valuable to your organization before you get started with your Agile Transformation so you can develop an appropriate business case.

When you know the business case for why and what you want to adopt Agile, you can begin your Transformation with the right goals that will get you the outcomes you want, and also get the executive buy-in you need to continue your Transformation initiatives.