by
Fabiola Eyholzer, Co-Founder, Executive Advisor
Michael Stump, SAFe^® Fellow, SPCT, Executive Advisor

Organizations face a widespread and often hidden crisis of their own making, one that can no longer be ignored: People Debt.

People debt is the implied costs and risks of neglecting the human aspect of agility and forgoing the necessary investments in people and Human Resources (HR) topics.

People debt is often dismissed (e.g., people development) or not recognized as an impediment (e.g., MBOs that undermine innovation, meritocracy with pay-for-performance practices that lead to inequality and lack of opportunities). But if ignored, people debt will erode the organization’s resilience and survivability, and significantly, slow down your agile transformation.

Tackling people debt takes an unwavering focus on people. Even though we have many invested parties on a Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe®) Agile Release Train (ART), no one has the explicit mandate and full authorization to have people as their prime focus. We need a people authority to ensure the ART has a robust people runway that will:

• Accelerate business agility
• Increase creativity and innovation
• Improve transformation lead time and success
• Boost employee engagement and experience
• Build a company fit for the human economy

The people runway consists of two things. The combined strengths, abilities, skills, and experiences of the current workforce. And its ability to fully utilize and leverage those for smooth and continuous delivery on current and emerging business initiatives. It takes a clear commitment and continual investment to build and maintain a people runway that will take your agile transformations to the next level and ensure your organization’s continued success.

And the time to invest is now. The future of work belongs those who are not afraid to take on the challenge.

“We understand the importance of employees in achieving outstanding business results. Our LACE [Lean-Agile Center of Excellence] prioritized and invested in people topics to successfully accelerate our agile transformation – and we continue to push the envelope.”

Malene Krohn, SVP Product Division of SimCorp

If you are interested in learning more about the People Debt, the People Runway and the People Developer, download and read the full whitepaper!

Get Access to the free Whitepaper

Submit the form below or send an email to nyc @ justleadingsolutions. com and you will get a link and a password to download the Whitepaper

I cannot count the number of times recently I have come across news articles and comments from companies and whole industries and sectors bragging about how ‘Agile’ they were in their response to the pandemic. And I am sorry to say; these articles make me roll my eyes.

Of course, many companies showed great resilience and adaptability in these unprecedented times. But in most of the cases mentioned in the articles, they essentially praised themselves for being ‘Agile’ because they pulled off working from home during the shutdown.

I get it. This may have been a huge deal for some companies. While some quickly equipped their employees with state-of-the art webcams, 4K screens, ergonomically formed keyboards, others were busy putting out announcements threatening people with lawsuits if they were even thinking about taking any IT equipment home with them.

But allowing people to work from the safety of their home during a pandemic (and ordered lockdown) makes you about as agile as putting on a pair of skates makes you a hockey player.

The Reluctant to Allow Work from Home

When forced with pretty much no other alternative, they finally allowed employees to work from home. Great. This is pretty standard in modern organizations and people have wanted more flexibility regarding where they work for years, but many organizations remained reluctant or even strongly opposed.

My favorite argument was always ‘home office is technologically not feasible for us’. I don’t need to comment on that, especially since it was always blatantly obvious the real reason why work from home was not allowed, was a different one.

In the early days of the shutdown, I spoke with a CHRO who shared with me an exchange she had with her CEO. He was concerned about work from home and wanted to know if people will actually work if they are not in the office. Her answer was brilliant. She put on a straight face and replied to him: ‘That is simple. The ones who delivered in the office, will deliver at home, and the ones who were pretending to be busy in the office, will simply pretend to be busy at home.’

This small exchange illustrates the key concern many managers have about remote work –if people are physically present and have their heads down, they are productive, but if you cannot keep an eye on them, they are not. I don’t want to go down the rabbit hole of outdated management practices and mindsets. Safe to say, this is not even close to agile leadership.

The Reversed Hockey Stick Curve of Productivity

But let us get back to the concern of productivity and performance. It did not pan out – at least not yet. Most companies attest that their people were as or even more productive at home. This may sound like great news: Terminate your office lease, safe tons of money while increasing performance. Unfortunately, the situation is not this straight forward.

We all know the famous hockey stick growth chart: first it goes down just to skyrocket afterwards. Well, the correlation between work from home and performance it is shaping out more like a reversed hockey stick: People start out strong, just to see their performance drop.

Dr. Vivienne Ming, a theoretical neuroscientist, is focused on using technology to maximize human potential. She looked into the ‘work from home productivity curve’ and recently shared her findings at the Beyond HR Forum.

They found that performance increases in the initial phase of the lockdown, but a few months in, for about 80% of people performance will slowly decline and often even drop below the baseline, whereas 20% will remain hyper-productive and continued to thrive in the remote setting.

Dr. Ming’s work reveals that the ones who are struggling rely on structure to make work work, while others need that structure to go away, so that they can self-regulate and self-organize.

Home Office Is Not For Everyone

Home office in the ‘old days’, that is until mid-March 2020, meant I can work from anywhere: my downstairs’ office, my kitchen table, but also in the park, in a coffee shop, at the beach, or at the airport. One day we will hopefully be back to that but for the unforeseeable future, home office will mean we are restricted to whatever corner we can find in our homes or backyards if you are lucky enough to have one.

I know I am pointing out the obvious: Life during the lockdown was not normal. We did not have friends to visit, events to attend, movies to see, and dinners to go to. People were literally stuck at home. There was nothing normal about the situation. People were and are scared about the future and the last thing they needed was telling their boss that virtual work is not really their thing.

But given the opportunity to decide for themselves, this may not be what many would choose, and putting on a brave front will not last indefinitely. Also, we banked on social capital that was put in place long before the pandemic.

It is smart to observe, measure, and analyze performance, especially during an event like the lockdown. At the same time, we should be careful what kind of conclusions we draw from the data. These were and are extraordinary circumstances and simply assuming that performance will continue to be high simply because some bizarre months made it so may lead us to wrong decisions.

The Stakes Could Not Be Higher

I do not want to diminish the huge challenges we are facing, rather the opposite. If we believe we have done well because we managed to have people master (or at least log onto) Zoom calls, we are in even deeper trouble than I thought.

The evolution of work was happening long before the pandemic, COVID-19 only to be put it into high gear and I passionately believe in Agile as the best way forward. That is why we should not be misusing the word in such a critical time.

So, before congratulating yourself on being agile, make sure that you are truly change-ready and change willing with everything and anything that goes with it, starting with embracing agile values and principles.

How Agile are you?

Co-opetition describes how competing organizations work together with gracious professionalism by putting collaboration first and competition second. The concept is rooted in Game Theory and is evolving as the new way of doing business. Our business partners at JLS are disruptors in their field and revolutionize HR and organizations with innovative and groundbreaking solutions. Because in a connected world we are only as good as our connections.

Are you a stalwart business partner for us? Let us shape the world of work together!

I usually write about various topics related to Agile transformations and HR Agility. Today, I want to talk about something slightly different– something that has the potential to be highly rewarding, but that is challenging at times: Co-opetition.

What Is Co-opetition?

Co-opetition or coopetition (sometimes also spelled “coopertition” or “co-opertition”) describes cooperative competition or how competing organizations can collaborate with gracious professionalism while honoring friendly competition.

It means that individuals, teams or groups will still be competitive, but they will also help and assist others along the way and collaborate for mutual benefit and growth. Businesses of all sizes are applying this concept in increasingly innovative ways – both at an inter- as well as intra-organizational level. By operating in a collaborative network, they can take decisions faster and adapt to new trends and customer bases with more ease.

The idea of cooperative competition is rooted in Game Theory and has been around since the early 1900s. With industry boundaries breaking down, co-opetition has recently gained a great deal of attention and is now considered the new way of doing business.

Our Approach

I have engaged in this kind of collaboration ever since I got into business consulting two decades ago (I just didn’t know it was called co-opetition). I have been part of many such group efforts and it allowed me to collaborate with and learn from amazing people and companies. It was/is always so much more rewarding to engage in a mutually beneficial partnership rather than fighting some turf wars.

I brought this approach to JLS. Not only because it aligns with my own values and business ethics, but it is also a natural fit for an agile business in a disruptive field. We collaborate with companies and individuals who are competitors to varying degrees: Some have a vertical, some a horizontal market focus, and others are new players in the market. Together we engage in joint contract bids and service delivery as well as ground-breaking innovations.

Each one of our partners is unique in their own rights and brings different – complementary – strengths to the table. We are collaborating openly and transparently. We push each other to be more productive by working together, while also respecting and safeguarding everyone’s competitive advantage. This allows us to deliver higher value to our clients and communities.

Admittedly, co-opetition also bears risks and can lead to anything from potential economic or service delivery failure to opportunistic behavior of a partner in pursuit of its own success or fame that will reduce the partners competitive advantage. But despite all the risks, there is increasing evidence of collaboration among competitors in the for-profit industry.

A recent Virgin guest blog sums it up this way: “While competition suggests a win-lose situation […], collaboration can be a win-win strategy because it permits the sharing of information and ideas. Achieving repeated innovation in this context is easier and faster than in a secretive, hyper-competitive environment because collective intelligence is an unrestricted resource that can be shared openly to spark ideas and create change.”

Five Key Lessons

Co-opetition is challenging and the promise for success needs hard work. Over the years I have learned many things about creating and maintaining thriving partnerships. Although there are dozens of tips, here are my five key lessons:

1. Consider your clients & find a partner with complementary skills

When evaluating a potential business partnership, think about your clients and what type of partnership would benefit them. Look at your own weaknesses and what you need help with. The understanding and prioritization of critical success factors can help you assess their relative importance and develop improvement plans and partnership opportunities. Then seek trustworthy partners with complementary competencies.

2. Align ambitions and build on trust

People and organizations are complicated and have different drives. You need to understand what your partners’ ambitions are and consistently set expectations and working agreements with one another. You don’t need to agree on everything and you can be radically different, but at the same time your sense of what you value and core believes must align. To make it work, you need the same kind of commitment to a common cause without keeping score.

It’s important for business partners to have clear agreements. But legal documents are insignificant if one or both parties do not respect the values and honor code underlying any successful partnership. Or in agile terms: Collaboration and trust over legal & contract negotiations.

There is no formula: Rather than developing a system, you have to develop a partnership mindset and continuously invest into the relationship. That requires trust and – like any agile leader will tell you – starts out by showing more trust than you feel comfortable with. But if you don’t feel the other party is trustworthy, make small steps and evaluate if you want to invest further into that partnership.

3. Make it mutually beneficial

It goes without saying: Partnerships should be mutually beneficial. Both sides need to gain something worthwhile from it. Of course, sometimes one party is giving more while at other times they are clearly on the receiving end. But the overall partnership must be on equal terms with both parties participating.

It cannot be a one-way stream: For a co-opetition to work it must be “collaboration first, competition second”. If one party is in it to gain a competitive advantage only for themselves at the expense of the other party it does not work.

4. Don’t ignore red flags! It’s okay to walk away

Like any relationship, a business partnership holds a great deal of promise. However, sometimes it doesn’t work out – and that is alright. Don’t stay in a partnership if you believe it’s no longer viable. It is better to end the partnership and regroup than to force something that is not working. If something has you on edge, pay attention to it – no matter if it is well into the partnership or during the negotiation phase.

And certainly, don’t feel obliged to enter into a partnership that is “forced” upon you by a client or the other party. If you feel uncomfortable with the way the partnership has come about, consider walking away. There is no need to be pressured into it.

5. Don’t get discouraged by a bad experience

Chances are that not all partners will live up to this honor code. It is hard, when that happens – especially when you held that partner in high regard. A bad experience will throw a long and dark shadow on existing or potential partnerships – but you cannot give into that sentiment. Instead stay determined to get back on track and don’t let one bad experience stop you from investing into (potentially successful) partnerships. Especially since cases like that are the minority (at least in my experience).

Most partners are amazing to work with and together we can deliver greater value than we would have done separately.

Gracious Professionalism & Agile

There is something said for building friendly bridges than working in opposition, even if it takes knowledge and hard work to foster a business culture which is truly collaborative. It goes without saying, co-opetition goes hand in hand with gracious professionalism – something we could all do with.

But, we are in the business of helping organizations to live up to agile values like honesty, integrity, and trustworthiness. So, it is up to us to live up to that standard too – even or especially when it gets hard.

By emphasizing the value of others, and respecting individuals and the community, we can learn from each other, be stimulating and mutually beneficial. Co-opetition produces innovation and involves learning and teaching. It is about competing always, but assisting and enabling others when you can. Treat one another with kindness and respect.

Finding that perfect balance between healthy competition and meaningful cooperation can be difficult for teams to achieve, but when it happens – when true co-opetition comes into play – it’s the “sweet spot” for team success.

Or as ScienceDirect concludes: “By collaborating with its competitors, a company can build new capabilities and gain better leverage on its current ones, as well as boosting its brand and […] increase the overall value for its own customers.”

Are You A Business Partner for Us?

In a connected world we are only as good as our connections – and our partners are rock stars: Like us, they are disruptors in their field and revolutionize HR and organizations with innovative and groundbreaking solutions. We actively shape the future of work and HR – and we believe we are stronger as business partners than alone. And together, we help organizations embrace business and HR agility.

We at JLS are committed to live up to agile values in everything we do and every interaction we have. We want our partners to know what they can expect from us and they appreciate who we are and what we stand for. That is why we strive to lead the way with integrity. And for us that means: Honesty, consistency, reliability, and a strong moral and ethical code.

If that aligns with your own honor code, please feel free to contact us and see how we can partner up and shape the world of work together. My team and I are looking forward to exploring new opportunities with you.

Yours, Fabiola Eyholzer

The new world of work revolves around autonomy, self-organization, teams, networks, openness, innovation, self-responsibility, ability to learn, diversity and adaptability. It challenges us to rethink our thinking and behavior and align it to the needs of a digitalized world.

The digital revolution has far-reaching consequences, radiating into all kinds of areas. It has a profound impact on Human Resources (HR) and the world of work, forcing us to face make changes.

The prevailing patterns of thinking and behavior are still strongly influenced by the industrial age beliefs and an understanding of organization and leadership that is traditionally static. But the world of work revolves around autonomy, self-organization, teams, networks, openness, innovation, self-responsibility, ability to learn, diversity and adaptability.

We need to face this new world and take action to create an organizational environment that inspires the enthusiasm of our employees and enables them to feel connected. For this, we need compellingly different processes, structures, competences, instruments and above all a new way of thinking and behaving.

Here are five traditional ways of thinking versus an agile approach:

Because the revolution of work – and thus of HR – is unstoppable, it’s time to rethink existing patterns. It takes a lot of courage and determination to break new ground and to break away from previous considerations and behavioral patterns.

Are you ready to challenge your own thinking and behavior?

A new year is underway and with it comes another set of challenges. This post will look at the top 5 mistakes to avoid by Human Resources in order to set the course for success.

1.Underestimate the challenges of the digital age

The accelerating force of technology is irreversible and unstoppable. But digitalization is far more than bringing business transactions and services onto new IT platforms. It has far-reaching consequences on all facets of the organization – especially on HR and the way we inspire people.

2. Invest in one-size-fits all programs instead of consumerization of HR

Employees no longer look for a career, but an experience. Modern employees are learning workers who thrive on challenging work. But they also seek meaning and purpose along with appreciation and respect. They are intrinsically motived; they want to take responsibility and be actively involved. So, in order to innovate and contribute, they must be allowed to manage themselves with the necessary autonomy and empowerment. All of this shapes the new talent contract and embracing it, means a move from micro-management and command & control to inspiring leadership; but it also means recognizing the power shift that comes from accepting the drive of Agile people. That means one-size-fit all programs (like pre-defined career paths etc.) are no longer adequate. Instead employees look for experiences at work, the same way they expect them at home.

3. Master cost cutting & administrative efficiency as a substitute for excellence in talent interaction & value creation

In the age of disruption, organizations can no longer operate as they did. And reactive problem-solving and industrial age structures and practices are certainly not the solution. Your ability to thrive depends on your ability to adopt a digital mindset. A mindset that can translate the organizational and people challenges of a digital company. Agile businesses strive for excellence in their talent interaction and value creation in an interactive way.

4. Focus on retention over engagement

Passionate and dedicated people are highly engaged; and engagement has never been more imperative. Agile ways of working allow people to evolve through challenging work, powerful collaboration, constant reflections, continuous feedback, and relentless improvement – all deeply embedded into the workflow. Hence, the goal of Agile Enterprises is not to retain talents (i.e. holding them back), but to engage them and let them grow and thrive. By doing so, they develop a flourishing talent pool.

5. Run change management programs

Change is not a project, but a responsiveness that is deeply embedded into the work flow. Modern organizations are proactive and plan for the complex and the unknown. They inspire and empower people and create stimulating work environments. They support collaboration, creativeness and outside the box thinking and encourage resourcefulness and diversity. They are learning organizations, after all: Agile does not distinguish between learning and working: Working equals learning; and knowledge workers are learning workers.

Are you ready to hit the ground running?