I had the chance in the last couple of weeks to lead our Partner Day in Paris where DXC spent a day with the teams of our largest partners in Europe. It was a great day where we were able to explain, in a very transparent way, how we work and learn from our Partners how they operate.

Inside-Out is increasingly important to all companies but especially Technology companies. In the 1980s a single company could supply almost all your computing needs. Trying to do that today is pointless.
So, what’s the difference between a Partner and a supplier?

When it works, it’s when you stop counting what you’re getting out of a relationship and just know that it’s mutually beneficial over the longer term.

Sounds like a marriage and it’s probably why we call the other half of a marriage a Partner!

Like a marriage the same basic rules seem to apply; be clear about what each partner wants, don’t assume that you know everything that your Partner is thinking and constant communication.

Of course, all this makes sense and easy to list. However, like a marriage do we remember to do this every week of the year? No but we should at least try.

Talking with a client this week, he was complaining about Agile methodologies and stated that his “next generation projects” were not delivering the expected productivity gains.

What was happening? I think that there were a few things at work here…

First, our client had spent a large amount of time and money “adapting” the methodology to his environment. During this process,  a number of key aspects had been watered down to the point where the base intent was lost.

Second, there was a serious lack of experienced Agile team members who knew what they were doing. I see this more and more across the industry. Without these experienced people to coach and lead, teams lose time and focus as they search for existing solutions.

Lastly, there are natural diminishing returns as the new practices are generalized. The first couple of generations of Agile projects were staffed with the best and most proactive advocates. With each generation of projects this gets watered down and there is a return to the mean.

It’s essential that companies understand what’s happening, where their projects fit in the larger heirarchy of Agile and adjust accordingly. It’s not possible for every project to be world beating but then every project doesn’t have to be.

#DXC #Agile