Almost every organization has some room for grassroots Agile initiatives; projects for which no mandatory process has been defined or organizational units where managers are less interested in how their teams work than in whether they deliver expected results. Launching an experiment with an Agile delivery process is therefore relatively simple. It takes a project, a team motivated to try (or demonstrate) how an Agile approach works, and a project sponsor willing either to play the role of product owner or to appoint one. Such a project does not really challenge the status quo; its results are uncertain, so even naysayers tolerate it. In this Advisor, we share some of the challenges of taking such an initiative.

In light of the changing landscape of cyberattacks, it is critical that organizations change the way they address cybersecurity. Relying only on traditional methods of blocking attacks with firewalls, antivirus software, and passwords will be a mistake. Organizations instead need to implement cybersecurity measures that are capable of handling the new breed of cyberattacks. This is where artificial intelligence (AI) comes into play. AI-based cybersecurity solutions use machine learning (ML) techniques, which are a subset of AI. In this Advisor, we explore two broad categories of ML algorithms: supervised learning and unsupervised learning.

Innovation at its core relies on focused creative thinking, which allows organizations to respond successfully to situations that do not have easy answers or readily apparent solutions and drive results in a collaborative emergence of novelty and marketable value. This focus originates within teams staffed and equipped to apply their collective creativity and experience to business challenges, which fosters the opportunity to make enhanced real-time decisions that benefit both the enterprise and its stakeholders. As we explore in this Executive Update, it is the creative collaboration of organizational teams, in concert with end-user sentiment, that drives the most effective innovation.

With so many variants of the core components of the blockchain definition — like validation, distribution, opportunities, and challenges — it becomes clear that exec­utives may need a matrix or rubric to decide if/how to adopt blockchain based on industry and objectives. Even if your company is not considering automating processes via blockchain, your competitors may be doing so, and government entities may even force your hand. Therefore, it is important to start the internal discussion now. In this Advisor, we’ve shared some questions to help your organization quickly engage in deep discussions.

Industry proponents have been pushing the idea that artificial intelligence (AI) is set to have a major impact on customer experience (CX) practices. But how do end-user organizations feel about AI’s potential for facilitating CX? After all, they are the ones who will or will not utilize the technology. In this Advisor, we share some initial results from our ongoing CX management survey offer some insight into organizations’ attitudes toward AI’s potential impact on CX practices.

In the post-Agile world, the Agile mindset is so natural that people don’t even need to reference it anymore; they look at the larger picture. Where should we be directing our energy, and will we get there? In the fifth piece, Gabrielle Benefield and Kubair Shirazee tell the story of using the Mobius framework, with its double-loop learning and ultra-rapid feedback, to help small business owners in Pakistan and perhaps stop the spread of radicalization and extremism.

In her article, Andi Graham describes how those at her digital marketing agency started working actively with clients, co-planning and co-designing with them. These new behaviors required her staff to expose their doubts and uncertainties to clients. Resistant at first, employees saw the difference in speed and quality of feedback, improved client relations, and higher efficiency. This story shows Agile adoption through small steps with wide-ranging effects.

One of the most exciting ideas percolating through the Agile community is “solutions-focused” thinking, advancing through micro changes. In the next piece, Géry Derbier and Soledad Pinter tell stories of using solutions-focused thinking over several years, in the large — across an organization — and in the small — at the single-person and single-team level.

The Agile Manifesto and its obvious extensions don’t address issues needed at the organizational level. In their article, Jutta Eckstein and John Buck augment Agile with Beyond Budgeting, Open Space, and Sociocracy, something they call “BOSSA nova,” and link those with strategy, structure, and process to cover key organizational issues.

Andy Hunt and Alistair Cockburn were part of the group that wrote the Agile Manifesto, and Joshua Kerievsky was practicing Industrial XP at the time. We, as foundational members of the Agile movement, are among those who feel that Agile has become overly complicated over the years, and we are now working to simplify things; to make sure the core ideas work in all fields, not just software. As we describe in the first article of the issue, it is time to reboot Agile.

We are now in the “post-Agile” age. This issue of CBTJ covers some of the cutting-edge ideas emerging from the Agile community, including Heart of Agile, Modern Agile, the GROWS Method™, BOSSA nova, solutions-focused thinking, and goes further with stories of politics in Zimbabwe, entrepreneurship in Pakistan, and running “agile classrooms” in several countries.

Finding the right approach for effective serial breakthrough innovation has become the holy grail for today’s companies. However, our survey shows that there is still a long way to go before companies’ efforts match their aspirations. Although nearly 90% of companies recognized the importance of defining specific strategic objectives for breakthrough innovation, only about half of them currently do so. Those that do define specific breakthrough objectives and goals are, on average, nearly four times more satisfied with the results than those that do not, and the more explicit the goals are, the higher the success rate. While there is no single formula for success, it is clear that there are some important key factors. In this Advisor, we share some of those key factors as well as four organizational models that have proven effective in different situations.

The challenge of digitalization (which is the main disruptive force pushing enterprise Agile transformation) requires companies to acknowledge that the rate of learning is more important than the return on investment. So the ability to produce continuous learning is today’s main currency. In this Advisor, we share some thoughts on encouraging a scientific approach to ensuring continuous, long-term learning and improvement.

This Executive Update asks whether teams can use AI to increase the performance of Agile teams. Data collection, analysis, prediction, and reporting tend to make up a large proportion of the AI capabilities used in the project and portfolio management disciplines. Most tools are not uniquely oriented toward Agile delivery; this Update will concentrate on the Agile dimension. (Not a client? For a limited time, you can download a complimentary copy of this article here.)

This Executive Update asks whether teams can use AI to increase the performance of Agile teams. Data collection, analysis, prediction, and reporting tend to make up a large proportion of the AI capabilities used in the project and portfolio management disciplines. Most tools are not uniquely oriented toward Agile delivery; this Update will concentrate on the Agile dimension. (Not a client? For a limited time, you can download a complimentary copy of this article here.)

In this webinar, you'll discover the 4 key questions your organization should consider in order to successfully transform.

Design thinking provides a structured approach to uncover the human factors in smart automation. It is also important to understand the design considerations involved. We explore those as well as the systems/technology and business processes involved in this Advisor.

Many organizations are now focusing on a hybrid cloud strategy: moving part of their IT capabilities to the cloud, while maintaining core elements in-house, hosted on-premises. The hybrid model is becoming immensely customary among orga­nizations, as it enables them to optimally allocate their resources while keeping their current IT infrastructure operating at low risk. A hybrid cloud strategy not only prepares an organization for the future but also protects its investment today. In this Advisor, we explore the benefits of a hybrid cloud strategy.

A major consideration in this world of complex­ity of choice is to figure out how to achieve business agility at scale. This Advisor discusses using a framework to achieve that.

Change often creates challenges. Inherent in many challenges are one or more oppor­tunities. Resolving challenges associated with implementing decision automation and sensors can help identify opportunities for digital transformation and operations renewal. As we explore in this Advisor, managers must assess what is needed, what is cost-effective, and what is most useful with new decision automation technologies.

The growth of automated and cognitive systems drives the need for more expressive and adaptive forms of metadata to enable and underpin such AI, which, in turn, raises questions about the traditional role of such metadata components as the data catalog, the business vocabulary, and the data model. This Advisor explores the data warehouse’s evolving role in digital business.

In this on-demand webinar with Cutter Consortium Senior Consultant Dr. Patrick Haibach, you’ll find out how RPA is augmenting the workforce in a variety of companies. You’ll learn the ways organizations are using the bot-technology. And you’ll discover what the next era of automation will look like.

In this on-demand webinar with Cutter Consortium Senior Consultant Dr. Patrick Haibach, you’ll find out how RPA is augmenting the workforce in a variety of companies. You’ll learn the ways organizations are using the bot-technology. And you’ll discover what the next era of automation will look like.

One important indicator of just how far along in the adoption cycle a new technology (or practice) is depends on whether organizations have developed detailed plans or roadmaps for its adoption and dissemination across the organization. In this Advisor, we share some preliminary results from our ongoing customer experience (CX) management survey that offer some insight into current and future trends pertaining to the establishment of enterprise CX strategy plans.

Many IT shops often manage dozens and hundreds of active projects. This project-planning work tends to be distributed well beyond a central project management office. There are only so many project managers in the world, and there are often too many project plans to create and manage. To help both our project managers and those in IT (or elsewhere) who operate as project managers without the deeper training project managers often have, we have drafted a rubric that make clear what we are looking for in a project and a project plan.