Making Change Flow 

Shaughnessy arranged a study tour of Goulding’s operation in Dublin, Ireland, to demonstrate just what was possible if the bank changed the way it worked. “To see those pin-stripe suits sitting on fake grass was amusing,” Goulding says of the meeting room like a football pitch that was part of the technology office. “They couldn’t disagree with the pace and fun of what the team at Paddy Power was delivering,” the CTO says, adding that to him and the team delivering seven million price updates on a Saturday afternoon at scale, and speed was normal. “We removed friction, and the use of technology like the enterprise cloud was part of that.” 

The technology team at Paddy Power delivered hundreds of different products regularly, whereas banks and banking leaders were still locked into four times a year update cycle. Goulding says that the Agile techniques used by the team were not unique to the gaming industry; they could be used by any sector. These methods include having all projects, as well as those for the senior leadership team, on a Kanban-style board for everyone in the organization to see. To prove Goulding’s point that the methods were transferable, the CTO moved back into traditional financial services in 2016 as an International CIO for global insurance provider Aviva. Again, based in Dublin, Ireland, Goulding brought his energy and passion for Agile methods to the business.  

“We started the Flow Academy because we have different skillsets, and we use the methods of transformation sprints ourselves,” Goulding says of how the methods detailed in the book of the same name can be applied to the partnership of two enterprises or a major enterprise. They set the business up in 2017 following Goulding’s Aviva career. Shaughnessy says dialogue is a key element.  

How it Works

“We want to create a situation where companies can reduce the risk of transformation. If 80 to 90% of transformations fail, a prudent business leader will look for ways to reduce
that risk,” Shaughnessy says. When helping organizations Goulding and Shaughnessy carry out extensive interviewing at all levels of the business to ensure they hear from the different skill levels. “Truth gets filtered out as you go up the organization. Further down the organization, you see the dysfunctionality and where that originates from, which then creates mistrust towards and between leaders, and we call that out,” Shaughnessy says. Armed with its research, Flow Academy then helps organizations develop a transformation, perhaps a service, in just four weeks so that the business gains confidence in delivery. “You are trying to create something that is agile and delivers value early,” Shaughnessy says. He calls these lighthouses as they demonstrate how the business is learning and can keep learning. “A firm that has no apps, for example, may build an app as a lighthouse project and then monitor how many customers download that,” Goulding adds.  

A further benefit of this method is it prevents organizations from relying on consultants to deliver change. “People are so busy with business as usual, so there is a tendency to bring in a consultancy and their resources to deliver change, but that just builds tension because the consultancy holds the keys to the castle. We identify that your business has the people and the ability to get the skills to deliver the change,” Goulding says.

Some may believe it is a step too far for their existing organizations, but Shaughnessy disagrees. “Black Lives Matter as a movement came about very quickly, so changes in culture can happen very quickly.” Once the culture has delivered a change, the duo believes a constant ability to change will develop across the business.  

You can find the Transformation Sprint book at: https://thetransformationsprint.com/