Scaling Enterprise Agility

Hosts Alexis Williams and Christian Kelly round out their three-part conversation with special guest Fonz Morris, Lead Product Designer at Netflix. Fonz looks back on his journey from the East Coast to Silicon Valley, the importance of community building, and how taking advantage of opportunities like networking events helped him land his role at Netflix. He also delves into Netflix's culture, addressing myths about the company (yes he pays for his subscriptions!), and the value of optimistic and proactive work ethics. The conversation also touches on personal stories of resilience, passion for one's craft, and how sneakers can be a form of expression. You can find out more about how Atlassian and Accenture are helping businesses succeed at scaling enterprise agility on our home page http://accenture.com/atlassian

Atlassian’s Alexis Williams and Christian Kelly from Accenture host Fonz Morris, Lead Product Designer at Netflix, for Part Two of their sit-down in San Jose. Fonz shares his journey from focusing solely on product design to understanding and contributing to the business side of the equation, highlighting his experiences with startups, venture capital, and angel investors. The conversation explores how these experiences benefited him as he started his work at Netflix, ensuring products not only meet user needs but also contribute to business goals. He highlights the role of curiosity, mentorship, and alignment within teams at Netflix, emphasizing the balance he’s found between offering creative input, and understanding business objectives. You can find out more about how Atlassian and Accenture are helping businesses succeed at scaling enterprise agility on our home page http://accenture.com/atlassian

In Part One of their conversation with Fonz Morris, Lead Product Designer at Netflix, Alexis Williams from Atlassian and Christian Kelly of Accenture dive into the intricacies of value stream management. Fonz shares insights into his role at Netflix, focusing on solving acquisition and retention challenges, and the collaborative, cross-functional environment that keeps Netflix innovating. The conversation covers the company’s approach to complex problem-solving, with an emphasis on flexibility, putting people first, and always relying on testing and iteration. Fonz also shares how Netflix balances speed and execution, managing risks without sacrificing the brand's integrity. You can find out more about how Atlassian and Accenture are helping businesses succeed at scaling enterprise on our home page http://accenture.com/atlassian

Host Nick Polce sits down with Sheldon Rego, an Accenture Managing Director focusing on federal government, and Sumi Sran, Accenture's APAC Atlassian Partnership Lead. The three discuss the importance of agility within Federal Government agencies, and how Agile workflows differ between the private and public sectors. They explore how government agencies have shifted towards more agile, responsive frameworks in recent years, particularly post-Covid, to achieve cost-effective and timely outcomes. The conversation touches on the pivotal role of education in leadership, the need for aligning people, processes, and technology, and how enterprise agility can thrive in the government sector by adopting private sector strategies. They also address the challenges and opportunities posed by procurement cycles, hybrid models blending Agile and Waterfall methodologies, and the importance of continuous learning and adaptation to maintain momentum in agility initiatives. You can find out more about how Atlassian and Accenture are helping businesses succeed at scaling enterprise agility by surfing to our home page http://accenture.com/atlassian

Join hosts Alexis Williams and Steve Davis for Part Two of their conversation with Ken Spangler, the Executive Vice President of IT and CIO of Global Operation Technologies at FedEx. Ken shares the principles and strategies that allowed FedEx to achieve a successful transformation into a lean, agile enterprise. He discusses how their shift towards business agility with a focus on people and culture, as well as certified value, significantly improved efficiency and effectiveness of the company. He also emphasizes the critical role of a company culture that strives to make every FedEx experience outstanding. The conversation provides insights into how large organizations can successfully undergo transformative changes by adopting consistent frameworks and methodologies, ruthless prioritization, and significant adjustments in roles and responsibilities. You can find out more about how Atlassian and Accenture are helping businesses succeed at scaling enterprise agility by surfing to our home page. 

In Part One of their conversation with Ken Spangler, FedEx's Executive Vice President of IT, hosts Alexis Williams of Atlassian and Steve Davis of Accenture get a first-hand view of one of Fedex’s airplane hangars. In the center of the company’s Memphis hub, Spangler shares his experiences with enterprise agility, and how it has been instrumental in business growth, especially during the pandemic. He talks about the importance of common lean portfolio management, the critical role of organizational change management in driving transformation, and the significance of alignment, repetition and intentional design in business processes. Spangler also highlights the dynamic role of leadership in the whole process. You can find out more about how Atlassian and Accenture are helping businesses succeed at scaling enterprise agility by surfing to our home page.

Co-hosts Alexis Williams from Atlassian and Christian Kelly from Accenture continue their conversation with Wendy Zacchio, CIO at Zelis. They discuss the importance of enterprise agility and the challenges encountered while executing transformative strategies. Wendy shares her insights on the importance of common routines, systems and tools for organizational success. The discussion also covers effective decision-making processes, the role of data in business decisions, and the significance of technology in contemporary business models. The episode ends with parting advice for aspiring CIOs and the future implications of technological integration in businesses. You can find out more about how Atlassian and Accenture are helping businesses succeed at scaling enterprise agility by surfing to our home page.

Guest host Nick Polce, Business Agility Practice Lead at Accenture, speaks with Natalia Baryshnikova, GM and Head of Product, Enterprise Agility at Atlassian. Natalia discusses her role at Atlassian and her responsibilities in building strategy and products for customers. They talk about the tool Jira Align, originally Agilecraft, which helps companies connect strategy to execution. Natalia emphasizes the importance of bringing more flexibility to businesses to accommodate changing macroeconomic factors, and how enterprise agility can be obtained regardless of the size or structure of the organization. She also discusses the benefits of using Jira Align, including optimizing the flow of work and tracking the triangle of people, money, and work to drive strategic decision making. Natalia reveals that Atlassian is investing in roadmap capabilities, artificial intelligence, and strategic portfolio management to make better tools for executives and to break down data silos. You can find out more about how Atlassian and Accenture are helping businesses succeed at scaling enterprise agility by surfing to our home page http://accenture.com/atlassian

Guest host Nick Polce, Business Agility Practice Lead at Accenture, speaks with Jonathan Smart, Founder, Business Agility Coach and Leader at Sooner Safer Happier. Recorded live at the Agile Australia Conference, this conversation focuses on how psychological safety and Agile ways of working have to go hand in hand for any organization to truly change. Jonathan explains how relying on neuroscience can help teams and leaders embrace “flearning” (learning through failure), and continue to grow even through setbacks. You can find out more about how Atlassian and Accenture are helping businesses succeed at scaling enterprise agility by surfing to our home page http://accenture.com/atlassian

Guest host Nick Polce, Business Agility Practice Lead at Accenture, speaks with Diana Larsen, Leadership Agility Advisor at Eos House Consulting. Nick and Diana sat down at the Agile Australia Conference to talk about how, even though retros are often a device that gets set aside when things are busy, changing your teams’ way of thinking about retros can improve efficiency in both short sprints and over the long term. Diana also digs into the co-intelligence of teams, and how having a clear sense of purpose is a key to success. You can find out more about how Atlassian and Accenture are helping businesses succeed at scaling enterprise agility by surfing to our home page http://accenture.com/atlassian

Guest host Nick Polce, Business Agility Practice Lead at Accenture, speaks with Mirco Hering, Global Offering Lead for Developer Experience and Platform Engineering at Accenture. The conversation, which was recorded live at the Agile Australia Conference, dives into the differing career models that can help engineers thrive in an Agile environment, with practical advice for leadership and project managers alike. Mirco also addresses one of the biggest preoccupations of the moment, Gen AI, and its strengths, weaknesses –even its environmental impacts. And you can find out more about how Atlassian and Accenture are helping businesses succeed at scaling enterprise agility by surfing to our home page http://accenture.com/atlassian

Guest host Emily Sauter, Future of Work Enthusiast & Managing Director at Accenture, speaks with with Dominic Price, Work Futurist at Atlassian. Recorded live at the Agile Australia Conference, their conversation covers insights about modern work that can apply equally in a fast-paced start-up or a 100-year-old financial institution. Listen in to find out whether you're at risk of "over collaborating," and even how Dominic uses some of his best tips about working together to be a better parent. And you can find out more about how Atlassian and Accenture are helping businesses succeed at scaling enterprise agility by heading to our home page http://accenture.com/atlassian

In this episode, Alexis and Christian speak with Wendy Zacchio, CIO at Zelis. Wendy has an incredible history as a leader in the healthcare industry, and recently took on her new role at Zelis, a high-growth, disruptive health-tech company. Alexis and Christian met Wendy at an industry event, and they immediately started having a "straight talk" conversation about the Enterprise Agility journey. As soon as they heard Wendy's personal journey, they were instantly hooked and had to hear more. We know you’ll want to listen in too, as she shares more about that, and about what agility means to her organization. And you can find out more about how Atlassian and Accenture are helping businesses succeed at scaling enterprise agility by surfing to our home page.