S5E7: Decision making - the unseen critical lever in Agile transformation at scale - with Dr. Erik Lenhard from BCG

“I see OKRs as something that is probably overhyped. For me,
however, it is most important that organizations understand the
principles and the rational behind OKRs. What is really meant by
that and not only the grammar but really the thinking and the
value that comes by Outcomes.” - Dr. Erik Lenhard





With today’s guest Dr. Erik Lenhard we talk about the 3
dimensions of agile transformation: New structures, New ways of
working and New ways of decision making. He shares why the
principles of agile working are becoming even more important and
why they need to be demystified. Agile transformations do not
only take time and require new leadership approaches, but above
all entail a cultural change.





We also discuss why it is non-negotiable to define the “WHY” for
a successful transformation. Leaders need to make sure why a
change is necessary, how the Outcome of the change is going to be
measured and where the journey leads the organization. At the
same time, not only leaders need to communicate and lead the
change, but need to change their leadership styles as well. A
survey conducted by BCG with over 10.000 managers states that 67%
are not happy with their decision power.





Dr. Erik Lenhard is Partner and Director in the Munich Office of
the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), member of the Technology
Advantage and part of the leadership team for the Global and
European Agile and Software business. Together with a colleague
he is leading BCG's Agile at Scale business in Europe, having
supported more than 25 organizations across industries in their
agile journey.





He joined BCG in 2012 and has more than 15 years experience in
agile methods, large scale agile transformation and major aspects
related to Enterprise Agility. Prior to working at BCG, Erik was
heading the Management Information Department at Kabel
Deutschland and worked as Manager at Solon Management Consulting.
He earned a PhD in National Economics and a Diploma in Business
Computer Science from the Technical University of Darmstadt and
the London School of Economics. Moreover, he is a certified Scrum
Master, Product Owner, Agile Coach as well as SAFe certified.





Where to find Erik:


LinkedIn


BCG


Where to find Johannes:


LinkedIn


Resources mentioned on the show:


Books - When more is not better by Roger L. Martin


Podcast - Digi Kitchen Podcast


Article - Implementing Enterprise Agility for Artificial
Intelligence by Erik Lenhard





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