In my previous blog Are you familiar with Agile Organization Design?, I introduced the Star Model. In this post, I build on that to show aligned and unaligned organization design.
Developing Agile capabilities requires unlearning ineffective practices and adopting new ones. Over time, these new practices replace old habits and become ingrained in the organization’s culture. To achieve this, it’s important to create the right working environment.
A useful analogy is the process of developing a healthy lifestyle. If someone wants to be able to party all night, have energy for daily life, and look good on the beach, they might start with a daily full-body workout. However, if they continue to eat fast food and get only three hours of sleep per night, progress will be slow. Instead, they need to combine their workout with a healthy diet and regular sleep to see real improvements. Over time, these elements reinforce one another, leading to better results.
In the same way, an organization needs to align its structure, processes, people practices, and reward systems to build Agile capabilities. The example below shows a poorly aligned design might make it difficult to be Agile.
Example of poorly aligned organization design components
Instead, a well-aligned design as shown below should be created to ensure that all components work together to reinforce the desired Agile capabilities.
Example of properly aligned organization design components
The longer and more you work in the correct design, the better the result.
In summary,
Developing Agile capabilities within an organization requires unlearning ineffective practices and aligning the company’s structure, processes, people practices, and reward systems. The importance of these different components to reinforce each other is illustrated through the analogy of developing a healthy lifestyle.