This year we find ourselves nineteen years after the Agile Manifesto publishing date. For most of that period the State of Agile has been providing insights into actualities by tracking and reporting trends in companies worldwide. This year is full of lessons thanks to Digital.ai's carrying on this important work.

Below are examples that jumped out in my quick scan of the report released last week.

1. We are not alone in facing challenges
2. We have far to go (and they do, too)
3. Customer satisfaction and business value FTW
4. Agile limited functional penetration
5. Scrum still dominates

We are not alone in facing challenges

In the change management and agile or digital transformation space, we have a term, "organizational immunity," that refers to the natural resistance to change in companies. We discuss various "organizational anti-bodies" that actively fight change initiatives. Professionals in change management and organizational transformation professions spend larges amounts of time focusing on how to overcome, or circumvent, such challenges. We are no different and sustained efforts require years to take root in environments sometimes "hostile" new ways of thinking and working.

We have far to go (and they do, too)

Assessing the progress of an agile transformation can be tricky and often subjective. That said, those in the best position to reflect on the question are not too impressed with their own organizational maturity. The truth is that there is rarely one level of adoption or maturity for a company of any size. Instead, there are pockets of all levels of practice and performance for all sorts of reasons: lack of local leadership buy-in, change fatigue, no capacity for change, etc.

The companies that succeed in reaping the economic and cultural benefits of agile do so with a sustained commitment to the values, principles and practices.

Customer satisfaction and business value FTW

Why? Perhaps the most important question about an agile transformation: What are we trying to accomplish? The overwhelming answer from respondents again this year is Customer/user satisfaction and Business Value. If you are not measuring these, you may be missing the mark for your team, group, or organization. You would be wise to establish and sustain a focus on outcomes instead of output!

Agile limited functional penetration

Agile was born from the software industry. Nineteen years later it still has trouble flourishing outside of technical and operations functions in companies. The explosion of "Business Agility" disciplines and consulting offerings in recents years may be foretelling a shift in this reality in the coming years. I've seen some pretty amazing marketing and business operations transformations in my tenure at The Coca-Cola Company - it can be done!

Scrum still dominates

Scrum pre-dates the Agile Manifesto and continues to have a strong influence on agile ways of organizing and structuring teams. Scaling via "scrum of scrums" approaches seems to be giving up ground to other popular frameworks such as SAFe(TM) and DAD.

Two Additional Interesting Factoids

Agile is spreading outside the U.S. +15% year over year - South America grew the most.

In 2019, companies reported that 18% of their teams are agile - double the 2015 report figure.

Conclusion

I think it is important to recognize how well many are doing on our agile journey. Individuals, groups, and leaders have invested mightily in the effort. It is also important to recognize that we have much work remaining to do in this regard! Onward!