Interview with Xavier Albaladejo

Could you briefly introduce yourself?

I work in organizational transformation, change strategy and cultural change, in order to help companies to be simpler, customer centric, more flexible and enjoyable.

I coordinate a Master in Agile, I write in a couple of blogs (on Agile and Transformation) and I was co-founder of Agile Spain and Agile Barcelona.

I also enjoy hiking, sci-fi and playing the bass guitar.

Q: What will your talk be about, exactly? Why this topic?

My talk will be about the “compulsory” organizational re-factoring needed in order to be more Agile. It has a lot of wins but, as any organizational design, it also has flaws and typical issues you should expect (e.g. silo effect in teams, not ready technology base, how to deal with middle management). So, this talk will give some options for dealing with these situations before they get tough.

Q: What do you think could be the main gain for participants in your session?

I will also talk on the non-sense of the “corporate transformation” concept and what to do if you are in this situation.

Q: Can you give some advice to teams/organisations that are transitioning to agile?

Focus on simplicity and make their people think as if they were “owners” of the company in order to make decisions. For this to be a success, work on growing their skills and give them the needed information to develop the best possible decisions.

Q: How do you see the evolution of agile in the future?

I think there is a need to go to the basics of the Agile Manifesto, so new methods and techniques for any blank areas can emerge, thus improving the “ecosystem” in a simpler and more human centered way.

Q: You have given many interviews/presentations about agile. Is there a question you wish to have been asked but no one ever asked you?

Agile is an amazing way to create new products who delight customers in a high competitive world, where companies fight for market share and increase consumerism. And we all know that this fast way of living stresses people and the planet. I would like people asking how this fast test&learn approach by combining people’s brains can also help to fast get back to a sustainable way of living as human beings in our environment.