Sep 27, 2022
Dear Friend,
Tuesday is the new Monday. From now on, we will send out our Digest/Briefing on Tuesdays — which saves us from doing the edits on a Sunday afternoon. ;) See you on Tuesdays!
Read on to learn what it takes to become truly agile, our weekly reading and link list, and the streaming service Twitch taking over our cornflakes.
Agile in all its forms (from Scrum in the world of software development and flavors of design thinking to rapid prototyping approaches) has been and continues to be all the rage when it comes to better approaches for innovation and transformation. Yet, what is often misunderstood is that implementing agile methodologies is not the same as “becoming agile.”
Digital.ai’s 15th Annual State of Agile Report shows that agile methodologies such as Scrum are regularly being used in software development yet don’t find their way into most other parts of the business (e.g., only 10% of finance departments have adopted agile principles).
The challenge with agile is that the fundamental principles are incompatible with most organization’s design. Hierarchies, matrix reporting structures, and the very fabric which makes most organizations run are counter to the requirements of agile: Small teams working with personas and user stories in incremental and iterative steps, coordinating their work in daily meetings and milestone retrospectives. Successful implementation of agile methodologies requires a hard look at the existing organizational structure and regularly a subsequent change in the way the organization is set up. Usually, by changing the organizational structure to support more agility, large parts of the desired outcomes of implementing agile methods can be attained by this first (and crucial step) alone.
Take a hard look at the way your company is set up, functions, and operates before embarking on a journey into agile methodologies — lay the groundwork to become truly agile. (via Pascal)
👥 High-Performing Teams Don’t Leave Relationships to Chance Employees with close connections at work are more productive, creative, and collaborative. They’re also less susceptible to burnout, less likely to leave, and more satisfied with their job. As leaders, it’s not something we think of encouraging and part of our role but left to chance, we are leaving a lot on the table. Jane ⇢ Read
💁 Go Ahead, Ask for Help. People Are Happy to Give It. You might be underestimating others’ willingness and ability to lend you a hand, so go ahead and ask for help. Mafe ⇢ Read
📱 How TikTok became an e-commerce juggernaut in China Understanding how TikTok came to dominate live streaming e-commerce in China offers clues to why the same formula hasn’t yet worked internationally – and how it might in the future. Jeffrey ⇢ Read
👨🎤 Influencer Marketing Impact Report Influencer marketing describes new forms of ‘brand’ commitment from consumers. Get some insights on data from the field. Julian ⇢ Read
🎨 AI Picasso Go ahead and use Stable Diffusion on your mobile phone now. Text-to-Image truly has been democratized. Pascal ⇢ Read
⏳ Disentangling the Facts From the Hype of Quantum Computing.
🐎 A Good Read on Where We Are With AI.
🤯 Gen Z Never Learned to Read Cursive.
🤖 A Robot Repairs Your Nike Sneakers.
🚃 How Clever Mechanics Use Windows 98 and eBay to Keep San Francisco’s 50-Year-Old Bart Train System Running
Even Tony the Tiger, from Frosted Flakes, is now streaming on Twitch. 🐯
🏴☠️ The Heretic: I Used to Think
🧨 Disrupt Disruption: Here is our conversation with Cyborg Anthropologist Marques Anderson. In the conversation, we explore the fascinating work of a cyborg anthropologist, ancestral wisdom, and how to integrate this into one’s work.
Radically yours, take good care, friend!
— Pascal, Mafe, Vivian and the three Js (Jane, Jeffrey, and Julian)
