Author: Mike Burrows

Champion and enabler of outcome-oriented transformation & strategy; Agendashift founder, Agendashift Academy co-founder, 3-time author

Avoiding the disaster that is ‘solution-driven’

Posted on by Mike Burrows

Organisations live with the status quo (old or new) or with failing or disappointing solutions because they let solutions replace strategy. Whatever goals they might have had, implementing the solution became the thing. Solution-driven, change-managed – call it what you like, it’s a disaster. And because a generation of leaders has been taught that this is “doing it properly”, they can’t see it!

In the following, solution refers to anything we’d like to implement (or at least try to implement) in pursuit of our goals. Products, tools, technologies, practices, frameworks – they all apply. With that broad definition in mind, what does progress look like? Framed as a series of questions, it looks something like this:

  1. Are there solutions that might work for us here?
  2. Is that solution feasible here?
  3. Now that we’re implementing that solution, does it seem to work, at least on its own terms?
  4. Does that solution deliver the outcomes we expected?
  5. Are we making the progress we expected on our wider goals?

There are hazards at every step:

  1. Moving on from a “solved problem” (solved only in your head, that is)
  2. Abandoning the strategy, because the one solution you thought of (or were sold) isn’t feasible
  3. Abandoning the strategy, living with a failing solution
  4. Abandoning the strategy, living with a disappointing solution
  5. Abandoning the strategy, when it seemed to be going so well

Organisations live with the status quo (old or new) or with failing or disappointing solutions because they let solutions replace strategy. Whatever goals they might have had, implementing the solution became the thing. Solution-driven, change-managed – call it what you like, it’s a disaster. And because a generation of leaders has been taught that this is “doing it properly”, they can’t see it!

To be fair to them, taught to think one way, most people won’t immediately see that the answer is to flip things around, to turn them on their head. Paradigm shifts are hard! But let’s try. Working backwards, or right to left, as we call it:

  1. What are our goals and measures of success (outcomes both)?
  2. What are our progress indicators (more outcomes) telling us?
  3. On what particular areas of opportunity (outcomes again) are we currently focussing, and where do we think they will lead?
  4. What have we learned from recent experiments (prototype solutions or smaller probes)?
  5. What are we learning from current experiments?
  6. What do we hope to learn (and to gain – outcomes again) from our next experiments?

Not solution-driven, strategic thinking quickly abandoned in the implementation of monolithic, ill-fitting solutions, but (quite literally) outcome-oriented, our direction given by the outcomes we have chosen to pursue. Outcomes before solutions, strategy both developed and pursued in the language of meaningful outcomes. No solution too big to fail, solutions of appropriate granularity emerging at the right time from the people closest to the problem, engaged people finding solutions they are motivated to implement. The strategy process and the innovation process properly wired up, working backwards from impact and learning.

There is some skill to be learned in the practice of outcome-orientation. Mostly though it’s a language that leaders at every level of experience and responsibility can easily learn. Acquire that language (it’s not hard) and practice it a bit (it’s an everyday thing, not only for set piece events) and the thinking quickly follows.

Related:

Breaking:

For a more organisational perspective, optional pre-reading for the upcoming Leading in a Transforming Organisation is a draft white paper with the long but quite descriptive title Everywhere all at once: Introducing the Deliberately Adaptive Organisation, an accessible, situational, and complexity-aware presentation of the Viable System Model. Mailing list subscribers will be offered the PDF to download today; alternatively you can request your copy here. Agendashift Academy subscribers have access to the source Google Doc for comment (see the Adaptive Organisation space); your access can be arranged if you have constructive comments to make. Or just send them to me!

And added to the calendar today:

Discuss this post on LinkedIn

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:

  1. Leading with Outcomes: Foundation
  2. Inside-out Strategy: Fit for maximum impact
  3. Outside-in Strategy: Positioned for success
  4. 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.

For public training events, see our Events calendar. 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 trainings take place in September (online) and December (Bengaluru, India).

Upcoming events

With me (Mike Burrows) unless otherwise indicated.

June:

July:

Later:

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

At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.

Developing & pursuing strategy in the language of outcomes

Agendashift roundup, May 2023

Posted on by Mike Burrows

In this edition: Leading in a Transforming Organisation; Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F); Keynote, webinar, and media pages; Agendashift Academy update; Top posts

Leading in a Transforming Organisation

The “London Event” (June) now has a proper name, a confirmed venue, and already a strong list of delegates signed up. In October it transfers to Melbourne, Australia, ahead of Kanban Australia, where I’m giving a keynote. In both cases, you can choose to do one, two, or three days, covering Leading with Outcomes: Foundation and Adaptive Organisation: Business agility at every scale (parts I & II). Also, as outlined here, there is an upgrade path to Authorised Facilitator that bypasses TTT/F (more on that in a moment). Information on both events:

Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F)

The latest online TTT/F concluded last week and there were a couple of nice updates on LinkedIn from Stan Wade and Zvonko Podbojec afterwards. The next TTT/F is now in the calendar for September, this time in the UK afternoons – a lot more convenient for timezones west of here! In December, I’ll be doing one in person in Bengaluru, India, (and yes, giving a keynote at Kanban India beforehand).

See also:

Keynote, webinar, and media pages

My talk “Between spaces, scopes, and scales” continues to iterate! The latest recording is now available on a new keynotes page. Related to that talk, a new webinars page has the recording of Flight Levels creator Klaus Leopold’s guest appearance at our monthly webinar.

I also had a lot of fun bringing up to date my “Right to Left” talk. You’ll find that and (from a few months ago) my short SEACOM keynote on the keynotes page too. In short, the latest versions of some of my favourite talks, together with slides, references, and links to related resources. Past recordings remain on the media page too if you want to see how things have evolved.

The next webinar:

I’m due to give “Between spaces, scopes, and scales” again on June 8th online and on July 6th in Nottingham. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, booking pages for those aren’t yet available. It’s looking tight for the 8th, so watch the events page for updates.

Agendashift Academy update

Now that all four modules of Leading with Outcomes are available online, I promised that after spending the month of May away from the camera I would give an update on future plans for the Agendashift Academy. Not necessarily in release order, I’m planning the following:

  • “Right to Left Bitesize” – a long series of bite-sized (ie short) episodes based on the assessment prompts that go with the Right to Left book, brought up to date (the book was published in 2019, the audiobook in 2020 with minimal changes). There are 60 prompts and I expect to use most if not all of them, so that will keep me going for some time!
  • “Right to Left: The Agendashift Academy podcast” featuring selected (ie a minority) of the above episodes, together with other material I’m happy to release publicly
  • As an experiment, hosting the above in the Academy’s community platform, with a view to migrating content to there from the training platform
  • Adding a “supporter” tier for access to material outside of the core Leading with Outcomes curriculum

Top posts

To see #1 and #3 on this list brought up to date, see also (under “Keynotes” above) the updated Right to Left talk.

  1. #2MBM: Meaning before Metric, Measure before Method (July 2020)
  2. Leaders as keepers of context (September 2022)
  3. I’m really enjoying Challenge Mapping (June 2020)
  4. My favourite Clean Language question (January 2021)
  5. Your organisation in 5 networks (November 2022)

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:

  1. Leading with Outcomes: Foundation
  2. Inside-out Strategy: Fit for maximum impact
  3. Outside-in Strategy: Positioned for success
  4. 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.

For public training events, see our Events calendar. 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 trainings take place in September (online) and December (Bengaluru, India).

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

At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.

Picturing Foundation

Posted on by Mike Burrows

“At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, (agreement on) outcomes before solutions“

Last week I shared a picture (above), around which I built a new talk on Right to Left (the title of my 2019 book and 2020 audiobook). Not only did I enjoy bringing Right to Left up to date, I have now incorporated the picture into the deck for Leading with Outcomes: Foundation. I had the chance to test it today in session 1 of Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F).

Beginning with those words again, expanded slightly for emphasis, here is Foundation in overview:

“At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions – agreement on outcomes before solutions” – all of which we’ll be practising today.

In Chapter 1, we’ll be getting familiar with the conversational pattern central to Leading with Outcomes, namely the IdOO (“I do”) pattern. We’ll be using it to begin our exploration of leadership and strategy, and afterwards we’ll take the pattern apart and put it back together again. What does each part do? What if we skipped them? What if we overdid them?

Don’t take Chapter 2’s enigmatic title too seriously (one of these days I will change it); what we’ll be doing here is to develop some strategy. Using that IdOO pattern again of course, but this time establishing context beforehand (establishing some common ground for our conversation) and organising the results of our conversations afterwards (it would be a shame to let it all go to waste).

In Chapter 3 we’ll move into pursuing strategy. We’ll learn another pattern – Meaning, Measure, Method, a great way to generate the solution ideas our strategy needs – and we’ll look at how we sustain the process. Often that is the hardest part, and we’ll begin with that. Lack of confidence in the process can be a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, so we’ll be nipping that one in the bud right away.

So that’s Foundation, and it’s aptly named. You’ll see those patterns in every module and every workshop we do. The principles of outcome-orientation that we make explicit all the way through Foundation underpin all our other work. And they’re highly effective! Whatever their level of experience or scope, any leader can learn to lead with outcomes. You can learn to lead with outcomes!

Once again now: “At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, (agreement on) outcomes before solutions“

While we’re here, some quick updates:

In chronological order:

  • Although the recording of last week’s Right to Left session isn’t yet available, the one for my webinar session yesterday with special guest Klaus Leopold already is. Together with references, slides (unused, but hey, why waste them), and other goodies, find it here. The next webinar/AMA in the series will be on June 6th.
  • It’s not in the calendar yet, but late afternoon (UK time) on June 8th I’ll be giving the next iteration of the rapidly-evolving talk Between spaces, scopes, and scales: What the scaling frameworks don’t tell you. Also not yet in the calendar, the same talk on July 6th, this time in person in Nottingham, UK.
  • Too often known as “The June event”, the thing happening June 20th-22nd and also in Melbourne in October badly needs a snappier name! Answers on a postcard please (actually LinkedIn), discount coupons for all contributors

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:

  1. Leading with Outcomes: Foundation
  2. Inside-out Strategy: Fit for maximum impact
  3. Outside-in Strategy: Positioned for success
  4. 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.

For public training events, see our Events calendar. 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 trainings take place in September (online) and December (Bengaluru, India).

Upcoming events

With me (Mike Burrows) unless otherwise indicated.

June:

July:

Later:

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

At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.

Yesterday’s talk and tomorrow’s

Posted on by Mike Burrows

Thank you Matt Turner both for inviting me and for sharing so promptly the video of last night’s talk:

PDF, references, and other goodies here. The talk continues to iterate rapidly towards the keynote I need it to be!

Tomorrow, courtesy Bill Dominguez and PMI Central Arkansas Chapter, I’m speaking on Right to Left:

It turns out that I haven’t spoken on Right to Left (the title of my third book) for quite some time and I have taken the opportunity to draw a new picture that shows Right to Left as one of three main patterns of Leading with Outcomes. It, the IdOO (“I do”) pattern, and Meaning, Measure, Method all feature in all four modules. Expect to see this picture or one very much like it appearing in future material!

“At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, (agreement on) outcomes before solutions“

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:

  1. Leading with Outcomes: Foundation
  2. Inside-out Strategy: Fit for maximum impact
  3. Outside-in Strategy: Positioned for success
  4. 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.

For public training events, see our Events calendar. 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 trainings take place in September (online) and December (Bengaluru, India).

Upcoming events

With me (Mike Burrows) unless otherwise indicated.

June:

July:

Later:

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

At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.

Agendashift roundup, April 2023

Posted on by Mike Burrows

In this edition: Adaptive Organisation (II) is complete; Events in May; Events in June; Latest additions to the media page; Top posts

Adaptive Organisation (II) is complete

Never say finished, but the last chapter of the last part of the last module of our leadership and organisation development programme Leading with Outcomes was released this week. Already the first certificates of completion have been issued! Read more and watch a short video (11:39):

As mentioned there, I’ll be taking a break from recording during May, not least because we have the builders in. No later than next month’s roundup I’ll outline what’s coming next content-wise.

Events in May

First up:

Related to that (my talk references his work), on May 15th at 15:00 BST, 16:00 CEST, 10am EDT we are joined for our monthly webinar/AMA by a very special guest, Flight Levels creator Klaus Leopold:

Last but not least, on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings (UK time), May 16th, 16th, 23rd, and 24th is our next Leading with Outcomes: Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F). This is likely the only time this year that we will run TTT/F in this time slot. If you are based east of the UK, this may be your best option!

Programme information:

Booking page:

Also worth bearing in mind may be these two TTT/F alternatives that aren’t in the calendar yet: In Melbourne, Australia in October I’ll be doing a 3-day event similar to the June event in London that will be upgradeable to Facilitator, though not to Trainer. And in December there will be a full TTT/F in Bengaluru, India, in person. Thank you to the Kanban Australia and Kanban India conferences for their kind invitations. About that upgrade option:

Events in June

I haven’t scheduled the June webinar/AMA yet, so just these two events in the calendar so far:

That second event is really two or three events in one, and although all sales so far have been for all three days, there are other options. The equivalent self-paced modules:

More: Events

Latest additions to the media page

In addition to the Adaptive Organisation “closing thoughts” video (see above), this podcast review of the Agendashift book:

  • 05 April, audio, podcast:
    Ep. 83: Agendashift
    Definitely, Maybe Agile – Peter Maddison and Dave Sharrock

More: Media

Top posts

  1. On one slide, a five-way mashup (April)
  2. A new pathway to Leading with Outcomes Facilitator (April)
  3. Start where you are (February)
  4. Your organisation in 5 networks (November)
  5. Sell the pain, not the solution, the theory, or the blame (December)

More: Blog

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:

  1. Leading with Outcomes: Foundation
  2. Inside-out Strategy: Fit for maximum impact
  3. Outside-in Strategy: Positioned for success
  4. 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.

For public training events, see our Events calendar. 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 trainings take place in September (online) and December (Bengaluru, India).

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

At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.

Adaptive Organisation (II) is complete – and with it, Leading with Outcomes too

Posted on by Mike Burrows

Another big milestone passed: yesterday evening I released the last chapter of the two-part module Adaptive Organisation: Business agility at every scale. That means Leading with Outcomes is complete!

I say “complete” and not “finished” because I’ll always be making improvements. Adaptive Organisation went through two major revisions and I’ve lost count of how many iterations I’ve done on Foundation! That is not to say that I’m dissatisfied – far from it – but there is always learning to be done, especially now that there are other trainers and facilitators using the Leading with Outcomes material.

Next month we have the builders in at home so I’ll be taking a break from recording. No later than May’s roundup I will outline my plans for new content, and I have a book to finish (a commission, not a Wholehearted / Adaptive Organisation book, that one is yet to start). Today though, I will allow myself to enjoy the moment 🙂

Just to put Adaptive Organisation in some context, it’s the most advanced module of Leading with Outcomes, covering what I think of as the “deep magic” of organising, using a model that puts relationships (of several kinds) front and centre. Although there is more theory to cover, it does it very much in the style of Leading with Outcomes (outcome-oriented, “every scale” engagement, etc), it refers back to other modules, and it completes Leading with Outcomes nicely I think. That said, I have taken care not to assume too much in the way of prior knowledge. If the subject matter interests you, feel free to dive right in.

Check out the sections below for ways to access this material both in your own time and with me – mostly online, but in person in the case of the London event. The webinars and meetups (another one added only today) are all highly relevant and the next one is only two days away. One way or another (or several), please join me!

I leave you with this video (11:39), my closing thoughts from that final chapter of that final module. I hope that it makes sense standalone, or at least that it intrigues!

Closing thoughts on Adaptive Organisation: Business agility at every scale (11:39)

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:

  1. Leading with Outcomes: Foundation
  2. Inside-out Strategy: Fit for maximum impact
  3. Outside-in Strategy: Positioned for success
  4. 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.

For public training events, see our Events calendar. 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 trainings take place in September (online) and December (Bengaluru, India).

Upcoming events

With me (Mike Burrows) unless otherwise indicated.

June:

July:

Later:

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

At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.

A new pathway to Leading with Outcomes Facilitator

Posted on by Mike Burrows

I couldn’t help noticing that the upcoming Leading with Outcomes: Foundation and Adaptive Organisation (I) & (II) (London, 20-22 June) overlaps somewhat with Leading with Outcomes: Train-the-Trainer/Facilitator (TTT/F). In particular, it will cover:

Accordingly, as worked out with the Trainer community and as now described on the event page, you can take all three days of the London event and become an Authorised Facilitator without needing to take TTT/F:

  1. Take out an Agendashift Academy subscription – from £24.50 per month, noting that an annual subscription (£245) will save you 40% on this training, so do this first!
  2. Complete Inside-out Strategy: Fit for maximum impact – you may prefer to do this after taking Foundation, ie after this event
  3. Take out a Leading with Outcomes Authorised Facilitator subscription – free for the first year, then £245 annually, less the 10%-40% discount
  4. Join me for a quick onboarding call over Zoom covering assessment/survey administration and customising workshop materials

As an Authorised Leading with Outcomes Facilitator, you can:

  • Administer surveys using our full range of assessment templates and without size restrictions
  • Facilitate with our workshop materials the Leading with Outcomes Discovery Workshop, the Assessment Debrief Workshop (use with our full range of assessment templates), and the Outside-in Strategy Review
  • Get listed in our partner directory as an Authorised Facilitator

For further information on both Facilitator and Trainer:

If you can’t make it to London or you want to become a Trainer, the next TTT/F is next month:

That’s four sessions of 4 hours each on the mornings (UK time) of Tuesday 16th, Wednesday 17th, Tuesday 23rd, and Wednesday 24th May 2023, beginning 08:30BST, 09:30CEST. If you’re a subscriber or partner, don’t forget your discount code. Similarly, ping me for a code if you’re employed in the government, healthcare, education, or non-profit sectors.

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:

  1. Leading with Outcomes: Foundation
  2. Inside-out Strategy: Fit for maximum impact
  3. Outside-in Strategy: Positioned for success
  4. 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.

For public training events, see our Events calendar. 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 trainings take place in September (online) and December (Bengaluru, India).

Upcoming events

With me (Mike Burrows) unless otherwise indicated.

June:

July:

Later:

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

At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.

On one slide, a five-way mashup

Posted on by Mike Burrows

The slide in question:

Structures – static and dynamic – that fit

In the background, two models:

  1. Klaus Leopold’s Flight Levels, described in his book Rethinking Agile (2020)
  2. 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:

  1. 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, When
  2. From 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:

  1. 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 dimension
  • Where different teams serve different locations, you are organising in the Geography dimension
  • Where 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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):

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

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

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:

  1. Leading with Outcomes: Foundation
  2. Inside-out Strategy: Fit for maximum impact
  3. Outside-in Strategy: Positioned for success
  4. 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.

For public training events, see our Events calendar. 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 trainings take place in September (online) and December (Bengaluru, India).

Upcoming events

With me (Mike Burrows) unless otherwise indicated.

June:

July:

Later:

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

At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.

Agendashift roundup, March 2023

Posted on by Mike Burrows

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:

  1. Adaptive Organisation (I) part I of Adaptive Organisation: Business agility at every scale has been out a few days now
  2. Chapter 4. Between and Across Scales: What the scaling frameworks don’t tell you, the first chapter of part II is just out
  3. April 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: Foundation
  • Day 2. Wednesday, June 21st: Adaptive Organisation (I): Business agility at every scale
  • Day 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:

The questions that drive us (Webinar/AMA)

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

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

If you missed it, February’s was recorded:

Top posts

  1. Balance, constraint, and freedom (March)
  2. Three days in sunny June, London (updated) (March)
  3. Sell the pain, not the solution, the theory, or the blame (December)
  4. Between spaces, scopes, and scales (February)
  5. Your organisation in 5 networks (November)

Events, self-paced training, and media

Upcoming events

With me (Mike Burrows) unless otherwise indicated.

June:

July:

Later:

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:

  1. Leading with Outcomes: Foundation
  2. Inside-out Strategy: Fit for maximum impact
  3. Outside-in Strategy: Positioned for success
  4. 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.

For public training events, see our Events calendar. 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 trainings take place in September (online) and December (Bengaluru, India).

Media

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

At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.

Adaptive Organisation (I)

Posted on by Mike Burrows
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:

  1. Delivery, Discovery, and Renewal:
    • Inside value creation’s inner learning loop
    • Turning intent into progress, and experiments into intelligence and insights
    • Reconciling Agile and business agility
  2. Adaptive Strategy:
    • Making organising commitments, autonomy at every scope and scale
    • Understanding self and environment, creating and managing options accordingly
    • Actively maintaining coherent identity, purpose, and values 
  3. Mutual Trust Building:
    • Models of trust-building leadership
    • The systemic role of trust
    • Sensemaking – 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:

  1. Between and across scales:
    • Navigating formal structure
    • Your organisation in 5 networks
    • Between and across scales: Structuring, connecting, translating, and reconciling
  2. Organising at human scale 
    • Thinking in circles – organising without reorganising
    • Teaming and re-teaming
    • The developmental organisation 
  3. Possibility and purpose
    • Conversations on organisation in the language of outcomes
    • Developing 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:

  1. Leading with Outcomes: Foundation
  2. Inside-out Strategy: Fit for maximum impact
  3. Outside-in Strategy: Positioned for success
  4. 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.

For public training events, see our Events calendar. 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 trainings take place in September (online) and December (Bengaluru, India).

Upcoming events

With me (Mike Burrows) unless otherwise indicated.

June:

July:

Later:

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

At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.