When opportunity knocks, stand on your head!

To add to what Evan said earlier this morning about encouraging executives to attend, a team had a brilliant idea this year—they introduced an executive breakfast for the first time. I thought it was a great idea, except for when my alarm went off really early this morning, and I reconsidered my enthusiasm. But the real issue we’re talking about here isn’t the breakfast or the networking; it’s business agility.

The key question from a business agility perspective is: What are we trying to do? I know all of you are passionate about business agility—harnessing change for good and improving people’s lives. I saw the hands yesterday—many of you have come back for a second or third year. You know about business agility, you love it, and you want to do it.

But if you're like me, as you go through these sessions, you get excited. You’re inspired by all the great ideas, and you want to implement them. And then comes the big question: What are we going to do on Monday morning? Because not all of us are in a position where we can launch a full-scale transformation. Not every organization is ready to embrace everything we’ve learned.

Transformation Is Not Tweaking

Unfortunately, transformation has become a buzzword, both inside and outside of our community. Everyone is trying to sell some version of “Agile transformation.” But transformation isn’t about tweaking. The idea of transformation has also raised the bar in our minds. On Monday morning, when we return to work, we’re all excited about what we’ve learned, but reality might not align with our ambitions. If we think that a full transformation is the only way forward, we risk setting ourselves up for failure.

For most of us—especially in successful organizations—the biggest challenge is this: Why should we change if we are already successful? If you talk to an executive in a successful organization, their reaction might be something like this:

"We're already doing well. Why are you talking to us about transformation?"

So instead of trying to push a full transformation all at once, perhaps we should look for opportunities to address pain points—taking the thorn out of the paw rather than trying to eat the elephant in one bite. As someone who has been both a management consultant and an executive, I believe this is a more effective approach. Instead of focusing on the grand vision all at once, look for opportunities to apply Agile thinking to real problems.

When Opportunity Knocks, Stand on Your Head

This morning's session was titled “When Opportunity Knocks, Stand on Your Head.” The idea behind this is that sometimes we need to look at opportunities differently. Rather than seeing incremental change as a slow, safe process, maybe we can accelerate change by seizing key opportunities and applying just a few of the Agile principles we know.

A Story of Humble Beginnings

I first worked with Frost Bank as a management consultant about seven or eight years ago. They were interested in transformation, so I went through the usual motions—whiteboards, workshops, discussions. And then… nothing. I didn’t hear back for six to eight months.

Eventually, they reached out again. They had taken a big step—developing their own mobile app, which was unusual for a mid-sized bank. They also decided to establish an Agile team to build it, despite having no prior experience. They were doing well, but they realized that doing Agile doesn't necessarily mean doing it well, so they asked for help.

From that one small team, the initiative grew to two teams, then three, and eventually an Agile tribe. But it didn’t start in an ideal environment. The first team worked out of a converted storage room—no windows, poor ventilation. They had to keep the door open for fresh air, but the noise bothered employees in nearby cubicles. So they’d close the door, work for a few hours, start sweating, then open the door again. This cycle repeated every day. But despite the less-than-ideal setup, they made progress.

A Cross-Functional Challenge

Fast forward a few years, and a major strategic initiative—one of six—was struggling. Unlike the other initiatives, which were siloed, this one required cooperation across the entire executive team and multiple departments. The problem? It had no traction.

The initiative suffered from a common issue: everyone was responsible for it, which meant no one was accountable for making it happen. The CEO finally said, “Enough. We need to do something different.” He asked the executive in charge of culture and development to explore the Agile approach being used elsewhere in the company.

We started by interviewing the CEO, asking:

• Why is this initiative important?
• Why should employees care?
• Why is now the right time to move forward?
• What are the key targets for change?

Then, we engaged the teams who would be doing the work, asking:

• What do you think is happening?
• What should we try?

Instead of a rigid execution plan, we focused on an iterative approach. Executives, like all of us, want psychological safety. The difference between an arrow and a guided missile is a useful analogy. An arrow follows a fixed path, and if it misses, it fails. A guided missile, on the other hand, adjusts as it moves, continuously refining its trajectory. Our initiative embraced this adaptive approach, checking and adjusting as we progressed.

The Domino Effect

The effort was successful. But, as expected, the moment success was achieved, the familiar question arose: "We are successful—why should we change?"

However, the seeds of change had been planted. One of the regional presidents who participated in that initiative later said, “I want to make improvements in my region using the same approach.” So, we kicked off the process again, expanding Agile thinking further into the organization. This domino effect continued to spread.

Agility in Crisis

Fast forward to last year. While attending this conference, I landed at JFK, turned off airplane mode, and my phone exploded with notifications. A security incident had occurred—not catastrophic, but serious enough to impact a segment of customers. In the highly regulated banking industry, security incidents are a high-stakes game.

Fortunately, the seeds of agility had already been planted. Some of the same executives involved in the previous initiative recognized that a cross-functional Agile approach could help us navigate the crisis more effectively. We embedded an Agile coach into the response team, bringing visibility, alignment, and focus to the effort.

By applying Agile principles—work visibility, prioritization, and accountability—the response team worked far more effectively than in past incidents.

Transformation is About Planting Seeds

Don’t think of transformation as a one-time event. Instead, think of every company as a combination of culture, strategy, systems, processes, and people. Too often, we’re brought in to tweak a small process, but real change happens when we plant seeds for the future.

Transformation doesn’t happen overnight. In the first story, someone had to build up the Scrum Masters and Agile coaches from scratch. In the second, an executive needed mentoring before she could drive culture change. In the third, a coach—who had grown from the original Agile initiative—was ready to lead in a crisis.

Final Thoughts

So, as you think about what you’re going to do on Monday morning, don’t just focus on systems and processes. Think about the people. What seeds can you plant today that will enable transformation in the future?

Phil Green, CEO of Frost Bank: “Optimism is not about being Pollyanna—it’s about seeing the good that can happen and believing that your behaviors matter in the outcome.”

So my encouragement to you is this: How can your behaviors on Monday change the context for the better? Even if it’s not a full transformation, every step forward matters. Thank you!