Eat up.

Social movements and organizational change are difficult to measure and difficult to do in business.  The business press concentrates on investing and accounting.  Since the beginning of the agile reformation, those of us involved in the change have openly wondered if we are making an actual difference.  As 2018 begins, it looks like agile is becoming mainstream and successful.

In 2011, a famous editorial appeared in the Wall Street Journal, It was titled “Software is Eating the World.”  The principal thesis was that companies have to behave more like software companies to succeed.  It was a daring argument.   The seven years that followed have vindicated that notion.  Google, Tesla, Amazon, and a funny Bitcoin project dominate headlines and the business community.

Tesla is still struggling to meet its production commitments, and Bitcoin, to me, feels like a blue-sky stock. What all of these firms have in common is a willingness to innovate, iterate, and move fast to satisfy customer demand. Even companies that lost their way are embracing blockchain technologies, cloud computing, and rapid software development. 

It is satisfying to know that my career choices have mirrored changes in the business.  While businWhile business is changing, business leadership is struggling to keep up. Organizational charts still matter in many places. Command and control measures that span years are difficult to discard, and inertia prevents most organizational change.

It has created a quandary and spawned an entire industry of coaching and consultants attempting to show others how to do business with the agile paradigm.  These coaches discover that it is a social construct and a business entity.  A director's ego may be more important than the company's needs.  Board members excuse a lousy quarter because they golf with executives.  Whole industries condoned sexual harassment and assault as long as the abusers generated revenue.  

That is why I find Microsoft's turnaround so fascinating. They went from a sales culture under Steve Balmer to an engineering culture under Satya Nadella. After product failures like Zune, Vista, and Windows Phone, the organization decided to place its future in the hands of a software engineer who felt building better products was the path to commercial success. It is a gamble that has paid off handsomely.

Microsoft has embraced Agile, and it is paying enormous dividends. That is why this week an article appeared in Forbes called, “Agile is eating the World.”  The reformation is growing, and the success is getting noticed.  It is a satisfying development to me.  I am no longer a lonely missionary in the wilderness, but a professional at the table is making a difference.  It is nice to see the times change.

Until next time.