Mike Burrows's Blog, page 12

On one slide, a five-way mashup

The slide in question:

In the background, two models:

Klaus Leopold’s Flight Levels, described in his book Rethinking Agile (2020)The Deliberately Adaptive Organisation, my 21st-century take on Stafford Beer’s Viable System Model, and here in particular, what’s happening in the relationships between different scales (between team and team-of-teams, for example)

And in the foreground, two more:

A phrase (“Reaching…”) borrowed from the opening question of my Outside-in Strategy Review, as described in my book Right to Left: The digital leader’s guide to Lean and Agile (2019, audiobook 2020), and below it, four questions: Who, Where, What, WhenFrom his book The Fractal Organisation (2009), Patrick Hoverstadt’s four dimensions/axes of organisation (lower left) – how to understand an organisation structure that is at least trying to be good fit for its business environment

Not shown, but we’ll come to it in a moment:

Bob Moesta’s Demand-Side Sales 101: Stop Selling and Help Your Customers Make Progress (2020) – ostensibly about sales but really a great book on jobs-to-be-done (JTBD), a book I keep finding myself recommending

Let’s take the last three of those more slowly. The Outside-in Strategy Review – free template here, and the corresponding Leading with Outcomes module here – takes you from the outside of the organisation through to its inside, walking you through the five layers of Customer, Organisation, Product, Platform, and Team(s).

The challenge question for the Customer layer goes as follows:

What’s happening when we’re reaching the right customers, meeting their strategic needs*?

*strategic needs: their needs, our strategy

By design, facilitated dialogue around that question can explore any number of issues. Not to prejudge anything but to help ensure that nothing crucial gets overlooked, we like to unpack it explicitly, hence the Who, Where, What, When questions on the slide.

Notice the correspondences between those customer-related questions and Patrick’s axes/dimensions. These are about how you structure your organisation to best fit your business environment:

Where you have different teams serving different user personas or customer segments, you are organising in the Customer dimensionWhere different teams serve different locations, you are organising in the Geography dimensionWhere different teams provide different solutions to different customer needs, you are organising in the Technology dimension (technology used in its broadest possible sense here)Where different teams work at (for example) different stages of a product’s lifecycle, or simply at different times of day, you are organising in the Time dimension.

Organisations don’t need to be enormous before using each of those. I once managed a global department of around 100 people; its structure divided along the time axis first, then geography (with some regulatory accountabilities reaching in from higher up too), then customer and technology together, those last two in an informal matrix. On top of all that, we had a time & geography follow-the-sun thing going as well!

Technology and time come together in jobs-to-be-done (JTBD), hence the Bob Moesta reference. In fact, they come together in at least two ways:

There’s the ‘when’ of what Bob calls a “struggling moment”, or what in one of my more successful posts I called an “ authentic situation of need “. This is when the need arises, creating the job-to-be-done and your opportunity to be there for your customer.There’s another lifecycle, that of the customer’s relationship with you. How do they go from not knowing of your existence to being your champion? Between those extremes, through what stages to they pass, and what are their needs at each stage? Crudely, you can think of the functional separation of things like marketing, sales, and support as organising along this dimension, but read Bob’s book to understand this dimension more deeply in customer and product terms.

Bottom line, if your organisation’s structure doesn’t help it enjoy a healthy and productive relationship with its business environment, it’s going to struggle. Being able to understand its structure in the above terms is a good sign, and a much better starting point I think than the one that emphasises bigger structures and bigger processes for bigger projects, which both sadly and ironically is where Agile seems to be these days¹.

All five models of the complete mashup are brought together in Adaptive Organisation: Business agility at every scale, the fourth and final module of Leading with Outcomes (more on that in the informational section below). The first two models, Flight Levels and the Deliberately Adaptive Organisation are emphasised in my upcoming meetup talk (already two iterations on from the March version as I’ve done it privately since, and I’m aiming for keynote quality):

27 April, online meetup, 18:45 BST, 19:45 CEST, 1.45pm EDT:
Between spaces, scopes, and scales: What the scaling frameworks don’t tell you

I’m delighted that Flight Levels creator Klaus Leopold joins me for May’s webinar session:

15 May, online webinar, 15:00 BST, 16:00 CEST, 10am EDT:
With special guest Klaus Leopold: Between and across scales

And looking ahead to June, it’s all covered on days two and three of this three-day event – book your place now!

20-22 June, London, UK – 1-day, 2-day, and 3-day tickets available, each day certified: Leading with Outcomes: Foundation and Adaptive Organisation (I) & (II)

As always, there are discounts available to employees and employers in the government, healthcare, education, and non-profit sectors – and of course to Academy subscribers. If in doubt, ping me for a coupon code!

¹In times of change, what scales better than process? (youtube.com) ​​

[This post shared on LinkedIn here – interaction of any kind appreciated!]

Leading with Outcomes from the Agendashift Academy
“Leadership and strategy in the transforming organisation”

Leading with Outcomes is our modular curriculum in leadership and organisation development. Each module is available as self-paced online training or as private, instructor-led training (online or in-person). Certificates of completion or participation according to format. Its four modules in the recommended order:

Leading with Outcomes: Foundation Inside-out Strategy: Fit for maximum impact Outside-in Strategy: Positioned for success Adaptive Organisation: Business agility at every scale (parts I and II, a certificate for each)

Individual subscriptions from £24.50 per month, business subscriptions from £269 per month, with discounts available on both kinds of plan for employees and employers in the government, healthcare, education, and non-profit sectors.

See Upcoming events for public training events. These are discounted for subscribers when the event is operated by us.

To deliver Leading with Outcomes yourself, see our Authorised Facilitator and Trainer Programmes. Our next TTT/F training takes place in May.

Upcoming events

With me (Mike Burrows) unless otherwise indicated:

27 April, online meetup, 18:45 BST, 19:45 CEST, 1.45pm EDT:
Between spaces, scopes, and scales: What the scaling frameworks don’t tell you 15 May, online webinar, 15:00 BST, 16:00 CEST, 10am EDT:
With special guest Klaus Leopold: Between and across scales 16-24 May, Online training, Tuesday & Wednesday mornings (UK time):
Leading with Outcomes: Train-the-Trainer/Facilitator (TTT/F) 6-8 June, online training, UK afternoons 14:00-16:30 BST:
Leading with Outcomes: Foundation 20-22 June, London, UK – 1-day, 2-day, and 3-day tickets available:
Leading with Outcomes: Foundation and Adaptive Organisation (I) & (II)

Agendashift: Serving the transforming organisation
Links: Home | Subscribe | Events | Media | Contact | Mike
Agendashift  Academy: Leading with Outcomes | Facilitator and Trainer Programmes

We help leaders and engaged team members at every level to gain fluency in the language of outcomes – developing and pursuing strategies together, innovating, learning, and adapting as the organisation renews and transforms itself from the inside.

Agendashift roundup, March 2023

In this edition: Adaptive Organisation (I) and (II); Three days in sunny June (date change); The questions that drive us (Webinar/AMA); Top posts; Events, self-paced training, and media

Adaptive Organisation (I) and (II)

Three related news items:

Adaptive Organisation (I) part I of Adaptive Organisation: Business agility at every scale has been out a few days now Chapter 4. Between and Across Scales: What the scaling frameworks don’t tell you , the first chapter of part II is just outApril 27th meetup: Between spaces, scopes, and scales: What the scaling frameworks don’t tell you

Just two more chapters to go now! You can start part I now, claim your certificate for that, and you’ll be well placed to finish part II by the end of April.

Three days in sunny June (date change)

Please note: To accommodate two anticipated block bookings, we’ve pushed this event back by a week.

Three days, each available separately, each certified. Buy two consecutive days and save 20%. Buy all three together and save 30%:

Day 1. Tuesday, June 20th: Leading with Outcomes: FoundationDay 2. Wednesday, June 21st: Adaptive Organisation (I): Business agility at every scaleDay 3. Thursday, June 22nd: Adaptive Organisation (II): Between spaces, scopes, and scales

Save a further 10-40% with the discount code shown on your Agendashift Academy subscription – see the What’s included page of your Welcome course in your Academy library.

Book your 1, 2, or 3 days here:

Leading with Outcomes: Foundation and Adaptive Organisation (I) and (II)  (eventbrite.co.uk)The questions that drive us (Webinar/AMA)

The next of our monthly webinar/AMA sessions approaches quickly – it’s this coming Tuesday:

04 April, online, 15:00 BST, 16:00 CEST, 10am EDT:
Free webinar/AMA: How do we keep bringing outcomes to the foreground?

For May I’m thrilled to announce a special guest (we compared diaries only a few minutes ago):

15 May, online, 15:00GMT, 16:00CET, 10am ET:
With special guest Klaus Leopold: Between and across scales

If you missed it, February’s was recorded:

March webinar: Stephen Dowling and Deepak Ganga on unlearning, interviewed by Mike Burrows Top posts Balance, constraint, and freedom (March) Three days in sunny June, London (updated) (March) Sell the pain, not the solution, the theory, or the blame (December) Between spaces, scopes, and scales (February) Your organisation in 5 networks (November)Events, self-paced training, and mediaUpcoming events

With me (Mike Burrows) unless otherwise indicated

04 April, online, 15:00 BST, 16:00 CEST, 10am EDT:
Free webinar/AMA: How do we keep bringing outcomes to the foreground? 27 April, 18:45 BST, 19:45 CEST: 1.45pm EDT:
Between spaces, scopes, and scales: What the scaling frameworks don’t tell you 15 May, online, 15:00GMT, 16:00CET, 10am ET:
With special guest Klaus Leopold: Between and across scales 16-24 May, Online, Tuesday & Wednesday mornings (UK time):
Leading with Outcomes: Train-the-Trainer/Facilitator (TTT/F) 6-8 June, 6-8 June, online (Zoom), 14:00-16:30 BST:
Leading with Outcomes: Foundation 20-22 June*, London, UK:
Leading with Outcomes: Foundation and Adaptive Organisation (I) & (II) 20 June*, London, UK:
Leading with Outcomes: Foundation (London) 21 June*, London, UK:
Adaptive Organisation (I): Business agility at every scale (London) 22 June*, London, UK:
Adaptive Organisation (II): Between spaces, scopes, and scales (London)

*For the June events indicated with an asterisk, see Three days in sunny June, London – and note the recent date change!

Self-paced training

Leading with Outcomes from the Agendashift Academy
“Leadership and strategy in the transforming organisation”

Leading with Outcomes is our modular curriculum in leadership and organisation development. Each module is available as self-paced online training or as private, instructor-led training (online or in-person). Certificates of completion or participation according to format. Its four modules in the recommended order:

Leading with Outcomes: Foundation Inside-out Strategy: Fit for maximum impact Outside-in Strategy: Positioned for success Adaptive Organisation: Business agility at every scale (parts I and II, a certificate for each)

Individual subscriptions from £24.50 per month, business subscriptions from £269 per month, with discounts available on both kinds of plan for employees and employers in the government, healthcare, education, and non-profit sectors.

See Upcoming events for public training events, discounted for subscribers when operated by us.

To deliver Leading with Outcomes yourself, see our Authorised Facilitator and Trainer Programmes. Our next TTT/F training takes place in May.

Media2023-03-08, video, webinar:
March webinar: Stephen Dowling and Deepak Ganga on unlearning, interviewed by Mike Burrows
Agendashift Academy’s webinar series: The questions that drive us2022-12-14, video, podcast:
Leading the change: Strategies to achieve enterprise agility
Mike Burrows interviewed by Jeff Keyes of Atlassian2022-11-07, video, conference talk:
In times of change, what scales better than process?
SEACON GLOBAL 2022 PT22022-09-09, video, podcast:
Agendashift Surveys
Steven Mackenzie interviewed by Dan Gibson for Add Agility2022-09-09, video, interview:
Agree on outcomes before solutions: How to connect agile delivery with organisational strategy
Mike Burrows interviewed by Tony Ponton for remote:af

Agendashift: Serving the transforming organisation
Links: Home | Subscribe | Events | Media | Contact | Mike
Agendashift  Academy: Leading with Outcomes | Facilitator and Trainer Programmes

We help leaders and engaged team members at every level to gain fluency in the language of outcomes – developing and pursuing strategies together, innovating, learning, and adapting as the organisation renews and transforms itself from the inside.

Adaptive Organisation (I)

Announcing Adaptive Organisation part I (00:01:53)

Out now: chapter 3 of Adaptive Organisation, the fourth and final module of Leading with Outcomes. This latest chapter, Mutual Trust Building, completes part I, for which a certificate of completion applies.

Part I, Business agility at every scale covers the three overlapping “spaces” of the Deliberately Adaptive Organisation, an accessible, “start where you are”, and complexity-conscious rendition of the Viable System Model:

Delivery, Discovery, and Renewal:Inside value creation’s inner learning loopTurning intent into progress, and experiments into intelligence and insightsReconciling Agile and business agilityAdaptive Strategy:Making organising commitments, autonomy at every scope and scaleUnderstanding self and environment, creating and managing options accordinglyActively maintaining coherent identity, purpose, and values Mutual Trust Building:Models of trust-building leadershipThe systemic role of trustSensemaking – making meaningful progress in the presence of ambiguity

The Deliberately Adaptive Organisation as described in part I is already a fractal, “every scale” model. Nevertheless, when it comes to challenges of scale, there is still plenty to talk about that is not well covered elsewhere. What should be happening between scales? How can we think less statically about structure and process? How do we get the organisation engaged on all of this?

With all of that on the agenda, Part II, Between spaces, scopes, and scales should begin its rollout in the coming days, one chapter at a time:

Between and across scales:Navigating formal structureYour organisation in 5 networksBetween and across scales: Structuring, connecting, translating, and reconcilingOrganising at human scale Thinking in circles – organising without reorganisingTeaming and re-teamingThe developmental organisation Possibility and purposeConversations on organisation in the language of outcomesDeveloping and pursuing strategy

Read on to find out how to access Adaptive Organisation!

Leading with Outcomes from the Agendashift Academy
“Leadership and strategy in the transforming organisation”

Leading with Outcomes is our modular curriculum in leadership and organisation development. Each module is available as self-paced online training or as private, instructor-led training (online or in-person). Certificates of completion or participation according to format. Its four modules in the recommended order:

Leading with Outcomes: Foundation Inside-out Strategy: Fit for maximum impact Outside-in Strategy: Positioned for success Adaptive Organisation: Business agility at every scale (parts I and II, a certificate for each)

Individual subscriptions from £24.50 per month, business subscriptions from £269 per month, with discounts available on both kinds of plan for employees and employers in the government, healthcare, education, and non-profit sectors.

See below for public training events, discounted for subscribers.

To deliver Leading with Outcomes yourself, see our Authorised Facilitator and Trainer Programmes. Our next TTT/F training takes place in May.

Upcoming events

With me (Mike Burrows) unless otherwise indicated

04 April, online, 15:00BST, 16:00CEST, 10am EDT:
Free webinar/AMA: How do we keep bringing outcomes to the foreground? 16-24 May, Online, Tuesday & Wednesday mornings (UK time):
Leading with Outcomes: Train-the-Trainer/Facilitator (TTT/F) 6-8 June, 6-8 June, online (Zoom), 14:00-16:30 BST:
Leading with Outcomes: Foundation 20-22 June*, London, UK:
Leading with Outcomes: Foundation and Adaptive Organisation (I) & (II) 20 June*, London, UK:
Leading with Outcomes: Foundation (London) 21 June*, London, UK:
Adaptive Organisation (I): Business agility at every scale (London) 22 June*, London, UK:
Adaptive Organisation (II): Between spaces, scopes, and scales (London)

*For the June events indicated with an asterisk, see Three days in sunny June, London – and note the recent date change!

Agendashift: Serving the transforming organisation
Links: Home | Subscribe | Events | Media | Contact | Mike
Agendashift  Academy: Leading with Outcomes | Facilitator and Trainer Programmes

We help leaders and engaged team members at every level to gain fluency in the language of outcomes – developing and pursuing strategies together, innovating, learning, and adapting as the organisation renews and transforms itself from the inside.

Balance, constraint, and freedom

An inspiring taster of something big clearly brewing

Ryan Behrman, organiser of the Systemic Agility meetup

Thank you Ryan! That “something big” is the Leading with Outcomes module Adaptive Organisation: Business agility at every scale and the model behind it, the Deliberately Adaptive Organisation. By happy coincidence, chapter 2 of the module’s latest iteration (beta 2) is released today.

What prompted Ryan’s comment was a talk I gave last week at the abovementioned meetup – see below for the recording. It draws from chapter 4 of beta 1, which remains available to subscribers until beta 2 gets that far, which shortly it will. Thanks in no small part to the conversations that my talk spawned, I’ll be updating both the talk and the training module – the talk iterating towards a keynote I’ll be giving later in the year, the training material benefiting in the process.

The theme of “balance, constraint, and freedom” comes up both in the video and in a short interlude that follows chapter 2 and is released with it today. The module and its underlying model draw on two perspectives on organisation, namely complexity and systems, and it’s nice to bring the two together:

What does it mean to have things in balance with each other – in healthy and productive relationship? (In the talk I expand both what might be meant by “things” and what gets in the way of that kind of balance)What does it mean to have the right constraints – constraints of various kinds that in combination keep us away from unhealthy and unproductive states and steer us towards more desirable states, maintaining our organisation’s coherence all the while?And both the flip side of constraint and the product of those healthy relationships: what does it mean when we have freedom – freedom to do the right thing, freedom to collaborate creatively, freedom to find innovative solutions, freedom to reimagine who we are, freedom to redefine ourselves?

The complexity and systems perspectives each bring their own ranges of tools, but before we get technical, what does that right balance, constraint, and freedom feel like? Already, that’s a starting point for an interesting conversation. A more detailed and theory-informed conversation might be the next step, but don’t neglect the informal opportunities either – sometimes they’re the most revealing.

To the recorded talk specifically, if you detected the hint of a health warning in my mention above of updates and iteration, it is only that in this version I risk getting into more detail than I would want in a keynote. Not that it was a problem here – in fact the feedback was very encouraging. Not for the first time, I’m being told that I’m describing something that is both needed and timely – something that others have been grasping at but didn’t quite have the words for.

Watch to the end for a special offer, and watch out for later versions. I have a good idea already of what the next one will look like.

Stop press: see Upcoming events below, 27th April.

Between spaces, scopes, and scales: What the scaling frameworks don’t tell you

Related posts

Three days in sunny June, London (March) Start where you are (February) Your organisation in 5 networks (November) Leaders as keepers of context (September) What does it mean to lead in a wholehearted organisation? (August)

From the Agendashift Academy
“Leadership and strategy in the transforming organisation”

Leading with Outcomes is our modular curriculum in leadership and organisation development. Each module is available as self-paced online training or as private, instructor-led training (online or in-person). Certificates of completion or participation according to format. Modules in the recommended order:

Leading with Outcomes: Foundation Inside-out Strategy: Fit for maximum impact Outside-in Strategy: Positioned for success Adaptive Organisation: Business agility at every scale

Individual subscriptions from £24.50 per month, business subscriptions from £269 per month, with discounts available for employees and employers in the government, healthcare, education, and non-profit sectors.

See below for public training events, discounted for subscribers.

To deliver Leading with Outcomes yourself, see our Authorised Facilitator and Trainer Programmes. Our next TTT/F training takes place in May.

Upcoming events

With me (Mike Burrows) unless otherwise indicated. For the June events indicated with an asterisk, see Three days in sunny June, London.

19 March, Bengaluru, in association with Agile India 2023:
Agendashift: Leading with Outcomes Foundation
Karl Scotland04 April, online, 15:00BST, 16:00CEST, 10am EDT:
Free webinar/AMA: How do we keep bringing outcomes to the foreground? 16-24 May, Online, Tuesday & Wednesday mornings (UK time):
Leading with Outcomes: Train-the-Trainer/Facilitator (TTT/F) 6-8 June, 6-8 June, online (Zoom), 14:00-16:30 BST:
Leading with Outcomes: Foundation 13-15 June*, London, UK:
Leading with Outcomes: Foundation and Adaptive Organisation (I) & (II) 13 June*, London, UK:
Leading with Outcomes: Foundation (London) 14 June*, London, UK:
Adaptive Organisation (I): Business agility at every scale (London) 15 June*, London, UK:
Adaptive Organisation (II): Between spaces, scopes, and scales (London)

More…

Agendashift: Serving the transforming organisation
Links: Home | Subscribe | Events | Media | Contact | Mike
Agendashift  Academy: Leading with Outcomes | Facilitator and Trainer Programmes

We help leaders and engaged team members at every level to gain fluency in the language of outcomes – developing and pursuing strategies together, innovating, learning, and adapting as the organisation renews and transforms itself from the inside.

Three days in sunny June, London (updated)

[Updated 2022-03-20 – dates changed to accommodate block bookings!]

London, UK, venue TBC. Three days, each available separately, each certified. Buy two consecutive days and save 20%. Buy all three together and save 30%:

Day 1. Tuesday, June 20th: Leading with Outcomes: FoundationDay 2. Wednesday, June 21st: Adaptive Organisation (I): Business agility at every scaleDay 3. Thursday, June 22nd: Adaptive Organisation (II): Between spaces, scopes, and scales

Save a further 10-40% with the discount code shown on your Agendashift Academy subscription – see the What’s included page of your Welcome course in your Academy library.

Book your 1, 2, or 3 days here:

Leading with Outcomes: Foundation and Adaptive Organisation (I) and (II) (eventbrite.co.uk)

Just in the last few days, I’ve had some capacity free up in April; please get in touch if interested in hosting any of the above privately. I will throw in a free 3-month Agendashift for Business subscription for up to 25 people, and as mentioned in last month’s roundup, while the self-paced version of Adaptive Organisation remains in beta (see below) I will be glad to discount the in-person version substantially. Please note that my ability to travel outside the UK remains somewhat limited.

Happening this week:

I’m excited also to announce that beta 2 of the self-paced version of Adaptive Organisation (parts I and II) begins its chapter-by-chapter release today; if you’re an Academy subscriber, you’ll be notified in the usual way. If you’re not yet a subscriber,  start here !Tomorrow (Wednesday), 09:30 GMT, 10:30 CET:
Free webinar with guests Stephen Dowling & friends: Outcomes before solutions? Thursday 17:30 GMT, 18:30 CET, 10:30am ET
Between spaces, scopes, and scales: What the scaling frameworks don’t tell you (meetup.com)

Agendashift: Serving the transforming organisation
Links: Home | Subscribe | Events | Media | Contact | Mike
Agendashift  Academy: Leading with Outcomes | Facilitator and Trainer Programmes

We help leaders and engaged team members at every level to gain fluency in the language of outcomes – developing and pursuing strategies together, innovating, learning, and adapting as the organisation renews and transforms itself from the inside.

Three days in sunny June, London

London, UK, venue TBC. Three days, each available separately, each certified. Buy two consecutive days and save 20%. Buy all three together and save 30%:

Day 1. Tuesday, June 13th: Leading with Outcomes: FoundationDay 2. Wednesday, June 14th: Adaptive Organisation (I): Business agility at every scaleDay 3. Thursday, June 15th: Adaptive Organisation (II): Between spaces, scopes, and scales

Save a further 10-40% with the discount code shown on your Agendashift Academy subscription – see the What’s included page of your Welcome course in your Academy library.

Book your 1, 2, or 3 days here:

Leading with Outcomes: Foundation and Adaptive Organisation (I) and (II) (eventbrite.co.uk)

Just in the last few days, I’ve had some capacity free up in April; please get in touch if interested in hosting any of the above privately. I will throw in a free 3-month Agendashift for Business subscription for up to 25 people, and as mentioned in last month’s roundup, while the self-paced version of Adaptive Organisation remains in beta (see below) I will be glad to discount the in-person version substantially. Please note that my ability to travel outside the UK remains somewhat limited.

Happening this week:

I’m excited also to announce that beta 2 of the self-paced version of Adaptive Organisation (parts I and II) begins its chapter-by-chapter release today; if you’re an Academy subscriber, you’ll be notified in the usual way. If you’re not yet a subscriber,  start here !Tomorrow (Wednesday), 09:30 GMT, 10:30 CET:
Free webinar with guests Stephen Dowling & friends: Outcomes before solutions? Thursday 17:30 GMT, 18:30 CET, 10:30am ET
Between spaces, scopes, and scales: What the scaling frameworks don’t tell you (meetup.com)

Agendashift: Serving the transforming organisation
Links: Home | Subscribe | Events | Media | Contact | Mike
Agendashift  Academy: Leading with Outcomes | Facilitator and Trainer Programmes

We help leaders and engaged team members at every level to gain fluency in the language of outcomes – developing and pursuing strategies together, innovating, learning, and adapting as the organisation renews and transforms itself from the inside.

Agendashift roundup, February 2023

I have had covid for most of the past week, and though I don’t feel seriously ill, coupled with the facts 1) that with my wife I’m part of a 24*7 care team for a vulnerable family member, and 2) that I’ve been called to jury service next month, I’ve had to make some changes.

So, in calendar order:

Next week’s Foundation is unfortunately cancelledNext week’s webinar (with guests) and meetup are still going ahead – and I’m greatly looking forward to bothIf you’re in India next month, don’t miss Karl Scotland’s Foundation My next public workshop is in April, by the kind invitation of Gervase Bushe and hosted by the Cape Code Institute, details here The May Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F) is now open for bookings – UK mornings, relatively APAC-friendly timings (less convenient for the Americas this time round)The June Foundation has moved from mornings to afternoons

If you’re wondering meanwhile how this month’s TTT/F went, check this out.

Adaptive Organisation: Business agility at every scale

There has been some impact on the not-quite-finished Adaptive Organisation module too, but I’m seeing it very much as a blessing in disguise. As agreed at a Zoom call yesterday with trainers participating in its beta programme, I will:

Release the existing videos to Academy subscribers as-is as “Beta 1” – without captions, workbook, or the final chapterRelease a greatly improved Beta 2 chapter by chapter

I gave a preview of Beta 2 at this month’s TTT/F, where one participant described it as “all I hoped it would be”. Yesterday’s Zoom was similarly encouraging, and I’m confident that it will be worth the wait.

From April onwards I will have capacity for private training. While Adaptive Organisation remains in beta it will be available in multiple formats at preferential pricing – so shout now if it could be of interest.

Top posts Start where you are (February) Sell the pain, not the solution, the theory, or the blame (December) Your organisation in 5 networks (November) Between spaces, scopes, and scales (February) Leaders as keepers of context (September)

Agendashift: Serving the transforming organisation
Links: Home | Subscribe | Events | Media | Contact | Mike
Agendashift  Academy: Leading with Outcomes | Facilitator and Trainer Programmes

We help leaders and engaged team members at every level to gain fluency in the language of outcomes – developing and pursuing strategies together, innovating, learning, and adapting as the organisation renews and transforms itself from the inside.

Upcoming events

With me (Mike Burrows) unless otherwise indicated:

08 March, online, 09:30 GMT, 10:30 CET
Free webinar with guests Stephen Dowling & friends: Outcomes before solutions? 09 March, online, 17:30 GMT, 18:30 CET, 10:30am ET
Between spaces, scopes, and scales: What the scaling frameworks don’t tell you (meetup.com)19 March, Bengaluru, in association with Agile India 2023:
Agendashift: Leading with Outcomes Foundation
Karl Scotland04 April, online, 15:00BST, 16:00CEST, 10am EDT:
Free webinar/AMA: How do we keep bringing outcomes to the foreground? 18-26 April, Live online, 12pm-4pm EST Tuesdays and Wednesdays, April 18, 19, 25, 26 2023:
Creating Generative Conversations by Leading with Outcomes
Part of the Cape Cod Institute’s BMI Series in dialogic organisation development16-24 May, Online, Tuesday & Wednesday mornings (UK time):
Leading with Outcomes: Train-the-Trainer/Facilitator (TTT/F) 6-8 June, online (Zoom), 09-11:30 BST:
Leading with Outcomes: Foundation

More…

Between spaces, scopes, and scales

Perhaps you’ve been wondering where I’ve been going with posts like Your organisation in 5 networks and Start where you are. Well, just in the last few days the Systemic Agility community have given me the perfect opportunity for the big reveal. I’ll be speaking at their meetup at 17:30 GMT on Thursday, March 9th:

Between spaces, scopes, and scales: What the scaling frameworks don’t tell you (meetup.com)

To set some expectations: Networks will of course play a role, but it’s not only about those. No, I won’t be ranting against any particular framework or against frameworks in general. Much more constructively, it’s about accessing some of the deep magic of organisation. Or should I say organising?

The previous day but in the UK morning for the sake of our Australia-based guests, it’s the next in our monthly webinar/AMA series The questions that drive us:

Wednesday 08 March, online, 09:30 GMT, 10:30 CET:
Free webinar with guests Stephen Dowling & friends: Outcomes before solutions?

Note that 09:30 GMT is not 10am ET as previously advertised. Apologies to our friends in the US if you were misled – 4:30am is early indeed!

It will be a busy week – there’s more! The next interactive Leading with Outcomes: Foundation begins on the Tuesday. Three sessions of two and a half hours each on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons (UK time) 7th-9th March, 14:00-16:30 GMT:

Session 1. (Tuesday 7th) Leading in a transforming organisation – introducing outcome-oriented changeSession 2. (Wednesday 8th) Meaningfulness, significance, and direction – two kinds of strategy and a virtuous circleSession 3. (Thursday 9th) Moving into action – ideas, experiments, feedback, and learning

We’re having a lot of fun with Foundation right now in the February Train-the-Trainer/Facilitator and I’m already looking forward to doing it again. Join us! And don’t hesitate to ping me for a discount code – public or non-profit sectors, un/under-employed, participants in previous events, yada, yada, they all count, and that goes for the self-paced version of Foundation too.

Agendashift: Serving the transforming organisation
Links: Home | Subscribe | Events | Media | Contact | Mike
Agendashift  Academy: Leading with Outcomes | Facilitator and Trainer Programmes

We help leaders and engaged team members at every level to gain fluency in the language of outcomes – developing and pursuing strategies together, innovating, learning, and adapting as the organisation renews and transforms itself from the inside.

Upcoming15-21 February, Online, Wednesday, Thursday, Monday, and Tuesday afternoons (UK time):
Leading with Outcomes: Train-the-Trainer/Facilitator (TTT/F) 7-9 March, online (Zoom), 14:00-16:30GMT, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday:
Leading with Outcomes: Foundation 08 March, online, 09:30 GMT, 10:30 CET
Free webinar with guests Stephen Dowling & friends: Outcomes before solutions? 09 March, online, 17:30 GMT, 18:30 CET, 10:30am ET
Between spaces, scopes, and scales: What the scaling frameworks don’t tell you (meetup.com)04 April, online, 15:00BST, 16:00CEST, 10am EDT:
Free webinar/AMA: How do we keep bringing outcomes to the foreground? 18-26 April, Live online, 12pm-4pm EST Tuesdays and Wednesdays, April 18, 19, 25, 26 2023:
Creating Generative Conversations by Leading with Outcomes
Part of the Cape Cod Institute’s BMI Series in dialogic organisation development6-8 June, 6-8 June, online (Zoom), 09-11:30 BST:
Leading with Outcomes: Foundation

More…

Start where you are

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

Arthur Ashe

“Start where you are” doesn’t have to be about process! Try this exercise:

Disregarding organisational boundaries, and in relation to the work you are already committed to (your “organising commitments”), who do you interact with? Then reflexively: who interacts with you regarding their organising commitments? And transitively: who do they interact with, who interacts with them, and so on outwards?Again disregarding organisational boundaries, and whether as an act of planning or of response to something unexpected, when your organising commitments need to change, who do you consult with? And again reflexively and transitively: Who consults with you, who do they consult with, and so on outwards?Now reflect on the relationships you have identified in those two networks. Whose relationships don’t you understand as well as you might? To the extent that it affects your own work, what context do you lack that others might be able to provide? Who else might be struggling for lack of context that you or someone closer to you might be able to provide? Is it time then for some trust-building conversations?

Related:

Your organisation in 5 networks (November) Leaders as keepers of context (September)

Agendashift: Serving the transforming organisation
Links: Home | Subscribe | Events | Media | Contact | Mike
Agendashift  Academy: Leading with Outcomes | Facilitator and Trainer Programmes

We help leaders and engaged team members at every level to gain fluency in the language of outcomes – developing and pursuing strategies together, innovating, learning, and adapting as the organisation renews and transforms itself from the inside.

Upcoming15-21 February, Online, Wednesday, Thursday, Monday, and Tuesday afternoons (UK time):
Leading with Outcomes: Train-the-Trainer/Facilitator (TTT/F) 7-9 March, online (Zoom), 14:00-16:30GMT, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday:
Leading with Outcomes: Foundation 08 March, online, 09:30GMT, 10:30CET, 10am ET:
Free webinar with guests Stephen Dowling & friends: Outcomes before solutions? 18-26 April, Live online, 12pm-4pm EST Tuesdays and Wednesdays, April 18, 19, 25, 26 2023:
Creating Generative Conversations by Leading with Outcomes
Part of the Cape Cod Institute’s BMI Series in dialogic organisation development6-8 June, 6-8 June, online (Zoom), 09-11:30 BST:
Leading with Outcomes: Foundation

More…

Agendashift roundup, January 2023

In this edition: February and March; Adaptive Organisation: Business agility at every scale; Top posts; Events, self-paced training, and media

February and March

Approaching fast, the next of our monthly webinar and AMA sessions takes place on Thursday. And starting on the 15th, the next Leading with Outcomes: Train-the-Trainer/Facilitator (TTT/F):

02 February, online, 15:00GMT, 16:00CET, 10am ET:
Free webinar/AMA: Where – and where else – could we be doing strategy? 15-21 February, Online, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons (UK time):
Leading with Outcomes: Train-the-Trainer/Facilitator (TTT/F)

The webinar is free of course – all welcome – and for TTT/F, discounts apply. If you’re an authorised trainer or facilitator, a partner past or present, an attendee of a past workshop, you’re a government/education/non-profit employee, or if you’re un/under-employed, don’t hesitate to get in touch for a coupon code.

Disappointingly, my trip to Berlin got postponed until April at the earliest – my sincere apologies if you were hoping to join me there. April is I think too soon for another public event, but if you have a core of participants ready to go, shout.

March sees our next Leading with Outcomes: Foundation (discounts as above), and for the webinar series, guests!

7-9 March, online (Zoom), 14:00-16:30GMT, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday:
Leading with Outcomes: Foundation 08 March, online, 09:30GMT, 10:30CET, 10am ET:
Free webinar with guests Stephen Dowling & friends: Outcomes before solutions? Adaptive Organisation: Business agility at every scale

I’m pleased to report that the fourth and final Leading with Outcomes module, Adaptive Organisation: Business agility at every scale is now in limited beta, with the self-paced version launching properly in the coming weeks. I am super-excited about this module – I still have a fourth book to publish, but I think this will lead to the fifth!

I’m ready now to offer also it in the form of interactive training over two days, ideally in person. My plan is to offer it initially with a heavy discount that decreases rapidly, disappearing entirely as soon the module is ready for other authorised trainers to use. If that sounds like an opportunity for your organisation or for a client of yours, do let me know.

Top posts It’s 10 years since the post that changed my career Your organisation in 5 networks (November 2022) What I really think about Kanban (April 2022)‘Right to Left’ works for Scrum too (July 2018) Better user stories start with authentic situations of need (October 2016)Events, self-paced training, and mediaEvents02 February, online, 15:00GMT, 16:00CET, 10am ET:
Free webinar/AMA: Where – and where else – could we be doing strategy? 15-21 February, Online, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons (UK time):
Leading with Outcomes: Train-the-Trainer/Facilitator (TTT/F) 7-9 March, online (Zoom), 14:00-16:30GMT, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday:
Leading with Outcomes: Foundation 08 March, online, 09:30GMT, 10:30CET, 10am ET:
Free webinar with guests Stephen Dowling & friends: Outcomes before solutions? 18-26 April, Live online, 12pm-4pm EST Tuesdays and Wednesdays, April 18, 19, 25, 26 2023:
Creating Generative Conversations by Leading with Outcomes
Mike Burrows, part of the Cape Cod Institute’s BMI Series in dialogic organisation development6-8 June, 6-8 June, online (Zoom), 09-11:30 BST:
Leading with Outcomes: Foundation Self-paced training – Leading with Outcomes at the Agendashift Academy

All included in your Agendshift for Individuals subscription, the four modules of Leading with Outcomes:

Leading with Outcomes: Foundation (available also interactively, see Events above) Inside-out Strategy: Fit for maximum impact Outside-in Strategy: Positioned for success Adaptive Organisation: Business agility at every scale (in limited beta, launching soon)

Highly affordable multi-user Agendashift for Business subscriptions are also available – please contact me for a brochure.

Media2022-12-14, video, podcast:
Leading the change: Strategies to achieve enterprise agility
Mike Burrows interviewed by Jeff Keyes of Atlassian2022-11-07, video, conference talk:
In times of change, what scales better than process?
SEACON GLOBAL 2022 PT22022-09-09, video, podcast:
Agendashift Surveys
Steven Mackenzie interviewed by Dan Gibson for Add Agility2022-09-09, video, interview:
Agree on outcomes before solutions: How to connect agile delivery with organisational strategy
Mike Burrows interviewed by Tony Ponton for remote:af2022-07-25, audio, podcast:
Mike Burrows – The Importance Of Focusing On Outcomes
Mike Burrows interviewed by Scott Fulton for Rebel Diaries

Agendashift: Serving the transforming organisation
Links: Home | Subscribe | Events | Media | Contact | Mike
Agendashift  Academy: Leading with Outcomes | Facilitator and Trainer Programmes

We help leaders and engaged team members at every level to gain fluency in the language of outcomes – developing and pursuing strategies together, innovating, learning, and adapting as the organisation renews and transforms itself from the inside.