Since you and Yuval have both mentioned the issue of safety, I may blog about that next. I worked in an organization where the President did an extraordinary job under very trying circumstances moving the organization in a new direction, and I’d like to share what he did.

On another note, I’ve been given the gift of David Spann for the next six months (he moved to Providence) and we’ve been getting together once or twice a week to work on things together. I’m enjoying the creative process.

Israel Gat has some great advice about executives building a Social Contract with teams during this economic downturn: http://theagileexecutive.com/2009/04/11/addition-to-the-social-contract/ that fits in so nicely with what you recommend. I found it both powerful and comforting.

My simple formula seems to fit directly with what you are sayin here so I am glad about that! I believe that Agile helps organizations cut costs simply by requiring prioritization of features; delivering to market faster so that you reduce your feedback loops; reducing the amount of resources spent on fixing defects by not allowing defects to accumulate; and, doing everything your power to tool your teams to be more productive.

Oh, and I really like your Doug Silsbee reference!

Jean

Thank you very much for the comment.

The main reason is that in order to drive change, people need to be open to it, and less worried about their personal safety. Maslov’s hierarchy of needs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs) is one way to look at this.

Change needs to be managed very effectively, communication plan needs to take the personal lack of safety into account, and managers/leadership need to go overboard in building safety and cultivating openness and trial and error culture.

With this in mind, Agile is indeed a great way to reinvigorate an organization.