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Agile IT Organization Design: For Digital Transformation and Continuous Delivery
To gain the full benefits of agility in any software organization, you need to extend it beyond developers to the organization as a whole. Now, pioneering ThoughtWorks software engineering expert Sriram Narayan shows how to do just that. Drawing on 15+ years working with leaders in telecommunications, finance, energy, retail, and beyond, he introduces a comprehensive agile approach to "Business-IT Effectiveness" that is as practical as it is valuable. Narayan demonstrates how to integrate agility throughout sales, marketing, product development, engineering, and operations, helping each function deliver more value individually and through its linkages with the rest of the business. Addressing people, process, and technology, he guides you in improving both the dynamic and static aspects of organization design, addressing team structure, accountability structures, organizational norms and culture, knowledge management, and more. Using real examples, Narayan helps you evaluate and improve organization designs to enhance autonomy, mastery, and purpose. You'll learn how to eliminate the specific organizational silos that cause the most problems... improve communication in organizations that claim to be (but aren't really) non-hierarchical... optimize the way you build teams, design office space, and even choose tools. Simply put, Agile IT Organization Design will help you improve improving the performance of any software organization by propagating agile wherever it makes sense and offers value.
304 pages, Paperback
First published May 30, 2015
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597 people want to read
About the author
Sriram Narayan
3 books10 followersAgile IT Org Design is featured as a must-read for CIOs and digital leaders. Sriram helps clients improve the performance of their digital, product and IT organizations.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
August 9, 2020
This book covers an extensive range of problems related to organizations and touches a lot of topics and concepts that I feel good about. But I have two main problems with it (well except for some ideas and concepts I plainly disagree with, such as advertising SAFE as something valuable).
The first problem is that this book tries to cover ALL POSSIBLE topics. It’s about how to organize hierarchy, how to organize work, how to organize desks, how to organize communications and so on. The outcome is that this book is all about breadth and no topics gets the depth it deserves. Its all superficial.
Connected to that is second problem - this book was imply hard to read for me, probably exactly because of that. Or maybe it’s just badly written. However the outcome is that it was not a pleasure for me to read it. It’s like a book written by a consultant about how he consults.
Initially after finishing it, I gave it three starts, because all of that good ideas that I highly value, that were mentioned here. But while writing this review I realized that hey - books are not about that. Hence I change my rating to two starts. This book is simply to shallow to cover what’s valuable.
The funny thing is (at least in my opinion) that this book actually it prescribes a medicine without taking into a consideration broader context, how organizations differ and how that influences things - while stating exactly the need for that in the content.
The first problem is that this book tries to cover ALL POSSIBLE topics. It’s about how to organize hierarchy, how to organize work, how to organize desks, how to organize communications and so on. The outcome is that this book is all about breadth and no topics gets the depth it deserves. Its all superficial.
Connected to that is second problem - this book was imply hard to read for me, probably exactly because of that. Or maybe it’s just badly written. However the outcome is that it was not a pleasure for me to read it. It’s like a book written by a consultant about how he consults.
Initially after finishing it, I gave it three starts, because all of that good ideas that I highly value, that were mentioned here. But while writing this review I realized that hey - books are not about that. Hence I change my rating to two starts. This book is simply to shallow to cover what’s valuable.
The funny thing is (at least in my opinion) that this book actually it prescribes a medicine without taking into a consideration broader context, how organizations differ and how that influences things - while stating exactly the need for that in the content.
January 25, 2018
Where he was on, he was really on. I read the early chapters of this book armed with a highlighter and with frequent, "hmmm, interesting"s and "oh, that's a good idea" but eventually, I felt his expanded scope took him out of the realm that he had expertise and plonked him into some murky waters. Professionally, I've trained as a project and program manager for over 10 years. I'm reading books like this to expand my thinking process and learn more but when he says things paraphrased like project managers must adapt or die, my hackles come up a bit. I am willing to see that there are other viable methods of doing things like tracking metrics and managing projects but I did not like the tone and I didn't appreciate how he spoke as if he was coming from a place of knowledge regarding project management and its intricacies when after a quick google, he was shown to have 0 project management experience with all of his IT coming from dev or dev ops. A very thorough book that is well researched and makes some good points but ultimately suffers from the myopic view of the writer.
July 17, 2018
This is a great book. Any software professional interested in the organisational side of things can benefit greatly from it. As a person running a software company and also providing consultancy services, this book gave me a lot of new ideas on things that I can improve not only in our company but also in the work we do with our clients.
It covers a vast amount of subjects. I particularly liked the chapters on team design (5), accountability (6), alignment (7), projects (8), norms (13) and communications (14). But I also found good insights in all the other chapters. It’s been a long time since I read a book that gave me ideas in so many different areas. Highly recommended.
It covers a vast amount of subjects. I particularly liked the chapters on team design (5), accountability (6), alignment (7), projects (8), norms (13) and communications (14). But I also found good insights in all the other chapters. It’s been a long time since I read a book that gave me ideas in so many different areas. Highly recommended.
November 30, 2019
A lot of people work in agile environments but never know what makes the environment agile, this fills that gap. Must read for management, probably a skip for regular developers that are already in an agile environment.
March 2, 2017
There are a few interesting ideas and insights around organisation of work based on the motivational principles described in "Drive". There are too many topics covered and a few arguable assumptions.
May 13, 2017
Book for executives willing to understand agile adoption at an organizational level. Not for consultants or experienced agile professionals.
May 4, 2023
The book is divided into three main parts. The first part provides an overview of agile IT organization design, including the principles and benefits of agile methodology, and the challenges and opportunities of implementing agile practices in the IT organization.
The second part focuses on the key components of an agile IT organization, including the roles and responsibilities of different team members, the structure of the organization, and the tools and techniques used to manage agile projects.
The third part provides practical guidance for implementing agile IT organization design, including advice on how to build an agile culture, how to manage agile teams, and how to measure the success of agile projects.
Throughout the book, the author draws on his extensive experience in the field of IT organization design to provide practical examples and case studies that illustrate the benefits of agile methodologies and continuous delivery practices.
Overall, "Agile IT Organization Design" is an excellent resource for IT professionals looking to improve their organization's agility and adopt more efficient and effective practices. The book is well-written and provides valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities of agile IT organization design. Highly recommended for anyone involved in digital transformation and continuous delivery.
The second part focuses on the key components of an agile IT organization, including the roles and responsibilities of different team members, the structure of the organization, and the tools and techniques used to manage agile projects.
The third part provides practical guidance for implementing agile IT organization design, including advice on how to build an agile culture, how to manage agile teams, and how to measure the success of agile projects.
Throughout the book, the author draws on his extensive experience in the field of IT organization design to provide practical examples and case studies that illustrate the benefits of agile methodologies and continuous delivery practices.
Overall, "Agile IT Organization Design" is an excellent resource for IT professionals looking to improve their organization's agility and adopt more efficient and effective practices. The book is well-written and provides valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities of agile IT organization design. Highly recommended for anyone involved in digital transformation and continuous delivery.
March 28, 2020
Sriram Narayan did a fantastic job laying out all of the important aspects of business agility and the interplay between them. In the framework that he laid out, agility goes beyond simply adopting DevOps practices and stems from other aspects as well, such as the superstructure of the organisation, team design, accountability and alignment with the strategy.
I was very involved in the first half of this book, taking notes continuously and having lots of “aha” moments. However, he lost focus from chapter 9 onwards, when starting talking about finance, staffing, tooling, office norms, etc. I believe this second half of an otherwise fantastic piece of work does a disservice to the overall book. I guess the author can be excused on the basis that such an overarching target like “business agility” can only be achieved only if all aspects of an organisation play well together; however he did not need to attempt to go into much detail about issues he was not an expert in. In my opinion, the quality portion of the book is diluted by the somewhat forced and dry ideas at the end; perhaps those chapters should not have existed at all.
I would say that any senior software engineer that is interested in management should read this. I learned a great deal from it!
I was very involved in the first half of this book, taking notes continuously and having lots of “aha” moments. However, he lost focus from chapter 9 onwards, when starting talking about finance, staffing, tooling, office norms, etc. I believe this second half of an otherwise fantastic piece of work does a disservice to the overall book. I guess the author can be excused on the basis that such an overarching target like “business agility” can only be achieved only if all aspects of an organisation play well together; however he did not need to attempt to go into much detail about issues he was not an expert in. In my opinion, the quality portion of the book is diluted by the somewhat forced and dry ideas at the end; perhaps those chapters should not have existed at all.
I would say that any senior software engineer that is interested in management should read this. I learned a great deal from it!
July 27, 2019
Great book, but not at all about organization design. Rather it's a philosophy and best practices book on how to organize, manage and motivate a 21st century IT organization. Lots of good observations that confirm the organizational psychology research findings of the last 30 years. For example 20th century work was algorithmic (factories with assembly lines, offices with documented step-by-step processes for specific transactions) and the motivation used to encourage follow-the-cookbook work was extrinsic (money, awards, promotions etc.) Work in the 21st century (especially once AI is ubiquitous) will be more heuristic - stuff that requires a human to think and make decisions. The motivation for this type of work needs to be instrinsic - do this because it is fulfilling, because you are proud of yourself for knowing how to do this, because it is your purpose in life etc. The author goes all the way down to how an office should be laid out physically to facilitate "unscripted collaboration." Truly a great book to read if you are a CIO or anyone trying to run a technology company or technology organization. It made the CIO Magazine Must Read List when it was published.
November 13, 2020
When I saw the title of the book, my first thinking was it's maybe too early for me as I am not even a manager yet. But I was wrong, so wrong. I found a lot of problems I witnessed or heard in the book and quite a few ideas that I was uncertain of being talked for pros and cons with some convincing reasons. This kind of changed my way of viewing what's happening in the company, and made me clearly aware of some problems that I may easily get over without thinking even deeper.
However, under the compact list of opinions, ideas, proposals, there are large spaces for digging deeper and giving more examples in different aspects, yet the author didn't do so. And some important parts are hidden or easily ignored within the passage, which made me often read till the end of the section but not sure what he is talking about, and go back again reading harder to find the point.
However, under the compact list of opinions, ideas, proposals, there are large spaces for digging deeper and giving more examples in different aspects, yet the author didn't do so. And some important parts are hidden or easily ignored within the passage, which made me often read till the end of the section but not sure what he is talking about, and go back again reading harder to find the point.
March 17, 2018
This was a phenomenal survey of the factors affecting organizational agility. The guidance provided almost invariably rang true and I'm excited to present an overview to my teammates at the office.
Highly recommended for anyone in IT, whether you're a leader vested with authority, or a team member trying to find alignment with the rest of your organization.
The only weakness of the text that stuck out to me was a relative lack of data. Tons of footnotes and further reading call-outs probably make up for this, and it keeps the book at an approachable length.
Highly recommended for anyone in IT, whether you're a leader vested with authority, or a team member trying to find alignment with the rest of your organization.
The only weakness of the text that stuck out to me was a relative lack of data. Tons of footnotes and further reading call-outs probably make up for this, and it keeps the book at an approachable length.
January 14, 2019
A very informative book that I have gone back several times to reference.
The book length is a bit deceptive though, it references third-party website and material in the form of URLs and references. It takes a while to fully understand some of the content by reviewing the reference material that is only covered on the surface within the actual book.
The book length is a bit deceptive though, it references third-party website and material in the form of URLs and references. It takes a while to fully understand some of the content by reviewing the reference material that is only covered on the surface within the actual book.
July 19, 2018
Muy buen libro, lleno de buenos consejos para aplicar un diseño, roles y procesos para lograr una organización ágil. El único motivo por el que creo que no es más popular es porque es "hard to read", no es muy friendly el estilo.
July 28, 2018
A thoroughly insightful read
Great insights into the everyday challenges we face in our IT organisations. I highly recommend it for everyone involved in software development especially developers.
Great insights into the everyday challenges we face in our IT organisations. I highly recommend it for everyone involved in software development especially developers.
December 10, 2019
I started reading this book after reading one chapter of it online: http://www.informit.com/articles/arti....
I found some chapters boring but I liked very much chapters 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, and 16. Overall I give it five stars.
I found some chapters boring but I liked very much chapters 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, and 16. Overall I give it five stars.
July 31, 2024
It's a must if you are an agile practitioner thinking in ways and tools to scale in a traditional IT organisation, looking for enabling the cross-functional structures to apply a digital transformation on it.
August 17, 2022
A lesser-known gem. Deep and useful thinking about the real challenges with running IT organizations in an agile fashion, at scale.
March 24, 2018
Just a compilation of modern ideas on the design of IT organizations. I did not learn something new on the topic. Everything could be found by bits and pieces on the web.
July 31, 2016
Awesome insights. All paradoxes, challenges, pitfalls discussed. Thought provoking! Helps us understand why things are the way they are (stuck)!
October 27, 2016
Very broad and extensive description of several best practices in regards to how to design an IT organization. The book delivers on its promise, although a little too gritty at times.
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February 11, 2019If you are designing it org and in need of cementing agile practises get this
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews