Even before agile work organizations had the chance to comprehensively demonstrate their performance, the first companies began turning their backs with disappointment. The reason: They have not managed to change the mindset of their employees and executives beyond the initial introduction of agile methods. How companies can make the step from “Doing Agile” to “Being Agile” was one of the main topics at the BestPractice Day this year held by business consultancy Staufen. More than 330 executives came to Darmstadt this year again for Europe’s leading Lean Congress.
“Agility is a company’s ability to quickly respond to change and adapt to new challenges,” Dr. Andreas Romberg, who as Senior Partner at Staufen is responsible for the topic of agility. “Simply put, agility will legitimize the informal structures that were previously used to remove coal from the fire,” says agility expert Romberg. “A company will not be able to cope with shifting from hierarchical structures to team circles if topics such as world view, understanding of people and attitude are not tackled at the same time.”
More than 330 participants were able to check how far along their business is on this path to agility using a smartphone app during a live Agility Maturity Check. Result: Companies know very well that they have to work on their organizational and management structures in order to unlock the real potential of agile ways of working. Another important insight: Agility is not the answer to complicated tasks, but rather to complex issues.
In lectures and workshops at the BestPractice Day, numerous companies clearly illustrated which complex challenges the economy is currently facing. For example, Rainer Rueß, Head of Worldwide Production Planning at Mercedes-Benz Cars, explained how his company will not only digitize production, but will also use many smaller plants spread all over the world to better respond to the consequences of international trade conflicts. Joerg Alois Blunder, who as Vice President of Organizational Culture at Coca-Cola European Partners most recently managed the merger of German, British and Spanish bottling companies: “Cultural change is not a project but a journey.”
If you want to get generations Y and Z onboard for this trip, there is still a great way to go. Successful as a podcaster (“Mein iPhone und Ich”), Philipp Riederle, born in 1994, made it very clear that he and others his age can’t be lured with football tables, XXL cushions and a touch of loft atmosphere. His appeal to the German economy can therefore also be understood as the conclusion of BestPractice Day 2019: “Be open! Break down barriers! Have no fear!”
Agility Maturity Check
If you are interested in an Agility Maturity Check from Staufen AG that is more in-depth than the live app, please contact Dr. Ing. Andreas Romberg (a.romberg@staufen.ag)
