We’ve all been there before, right? On one hand, we live in a classic siloed organization that is slow to respond to the market. Cross-org dependencies are the norm. The flow of value to the customer is slow. Painfully slow. Value stream identification is non-existent.
On the other hand, we understand the power of “alignment to value” and its potential impact on the flow of value and customer satisfaction. And, we have the “get out of jail” Agile card in the form of Value Stream Identification (VSI), a workshop where Leaders come together to visualize the process steps involved in the flow of value, identify opportunities, and explore collaborative re-teaming.
But the response from the org leaders is “Sorry, but we can’t spare 2 days for the VSI workshop.” Ugh.
Next Step – Follow-Up Questions
Your next step is crucial. What do you do – shrug your shoulders and give up? Nope.
Here are some direct follow-up questions to politely ask when faced with this challenge:
- Would you agree with me that your current challenges will likely persist if we keep things the same?
- Do you understand that alignment to value will likely result in considerable positives for you, your org, your customers, and the company overall?
- Is there a reduced set of attendees that you would like to move forward with, perhaps producing a value stream “recommendation” for further consideration?
- What if we could whittle it down to just a single (long) day, where we discuss one significant product line? If the experience is beneficial, we could follow up with other product lines. Would this work better?
- The company needs a Champion, someone to spearhead the alignment to value. Could it be you?
Good Leaders will engage and at least keep the conversation going, eventually leading to some level of realignment to value. Great Leaders will recognize the opportunity and pounce, leading to better outcomes sooner.
Extra Credit
Try these techniques to help mitigate Leadership concerns over losing their fiefdom:
- John Kotter’s dual operating system concept – keep the traditional org hierarchy, but introduce a new value stream network of collaborating teams
- Potential for Leadership to become “value stream leaders” instead of org hierarchy leaders
- Org models that help establish a continuous learning culture – SAFe has a good description here.
Wrap
Sometimes Leaders need a nudge in the right direction. The importance of identifying value streams and alignment of teams around the flow of value cannot be overstated! As Agile Coaches, consultants, and trusted advisors we must somehow help them understand that a 2-day cost is miniscule in the grand scheme of things. And when compared to all of the potential benefits and company survivability, it is merely a drop in the bucket.
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