Jonathan Smart

Want to scale agile? Don't. Descale the work. Want to do an agile transformation? Don't. Focus on Flow, Quality, Happiness and Value

See you on Bluesky 🦋 bsky.app/profile/jon.bv…

@British_Airways your website is not allowing customers to be customers. I see others reporting this too. Trying another device or browser will not help. This is BA server side. downdetector dot com is reporting issues. Any insight?

@nytaffy @ianharveyOT Create the rebel alliance. Join the bubbles in the org. A voluntary Community of Practice is a good way to start this.

@ianharveyOT @jonsmart @ianharveyOT - thoughtful as ever my friend. How do you start small without sponsorship in a large org ? I believe the answer is you don’t. You consider what principles you are prepared to compromise and if I fact the org works for you.

When it comes to the enhancement of organizational productivity - have folks seen ideas which they can honestly say consistently work in scale and dare I say , super scale ?

@ianharveyOT @nytaffy Grass roots hits a grass ceiling. Identify the selfish gene for improving How. It’s a series of cultures hacks and ninja moves :)

@nytaffy And nested OKRs (3 yr, 1 yr, 3 m) can help to align on shared goals, which can help to align incentives. With multidisciplinary teams, ToT, … So long as no competing incentives coming down role silo.

@nytaffy Tone from the top is key. Being intentional about leadership behaviours. Guiding principles with teeth, with a feedback loop. In appraisals, promotion, hiring. Amazon are good at this IME. And leading by example, so that not just words on a page.

I don’t know why I didn’t notice - but for years I’ve worked with senior leaders who constantly compromise their core principles because they want the gravy train to remain for them. Some worse than others but a superpower is recognition of severity and regularity of compromise!

@ianharveyOT @nytaffy Thanks for the kind words @ianharveyOT 🙏 @nytaffy happy to chat if you’d like to

There is no such thing as a failed experiment. There is learning. Those learnings should happen on a small, safe-to-learn scale. New piano players don’t play their first concert with the philharmonic They start by performing short renditions in front of family and friends #BVSSH

Optimise for the fast flow of value, end to end. #BVSSH

Install transparency: do you have a balanced set of data insights into the system of work, end-to-end? Or is your org flying blind (or partially sighted)? If it's not being measured, it's not possible to inspect & adapt and it's not possible to articulate progress. #BVSSH

How do the first complex societies connect to where we are now? What was the original meaning of the word tribe? Read the blog here: buff.ly/3GlkspA

You can now read my second blog on Organising for Outcomes to learn how we got where we are now. What have we learned over the two million years of experience we've had as humans? We humans have evolved over the past 2 million years in multidisciplinary teams and teams of teams.

Improving how we do what we do, ideally should be articulated as a priority from the ExCo, to maximise outcomes. If not there will be bubbles of improvement anchored at the top by the most senior leaders supporting change. #BVSSH

Leverage emergence to maximise outcomes. #BVSSH

Business architecture = people architecture = technical architecture = business architecture... Antipattern: org design without consideration of the flow of value or the technical architecture. #BVSSH

Start small and start, minimise time to learning and value. Perfect is the enemy of good. Rule of One: 1 experiment 1 consumer 1 location in production #BVSSH

Listen to this episode on: Spotify:buff.ly/40pnvGx Apple Podcasts: buff.ly/49afFol Youtube: buff.ly/49mXg7S #BVSSH

Have you listened to the new episode of the Sooner Safer Happier Podcast yet? I really enjoyed my conversation with ABSA's CIO of Corporate Bank and Group Payments, Nick Manterfield. Listen to find out about the journey ABSA is on when it comes to ways of working. #BVSSH

From PMO to VRO. From the Project Management Office, to the Value Realisation Office. Servant leaders, supporting the organisation to realise the most value, in the shortest time, with the least effort. For more, here is the mentioned video: buff.ly/3um0Cbh #VRO #BVSSH