Reframing Transformation Through an Agile Lens

In traditional organizations, change is often treated as a one-time initiative, an external project designed to “fix” something or introduce a new tool or process. But what if we thought of change as a product, something continuously shaped, tested, and improved through collaboration and feedback?

Our upcoming session, Change as a Product, challenges the outdated view of transformation as a static event. Instead, we explore how to apply Agile principles to make change measurable, sustainable, and human-centered.

Why Change Often Fails

Despite billions spent annually on transformation programs, many fall short. McKinsey research shows that 70% of change initiatives fail due to lack of sustained engagement and leadership alignment:

Traditional change management focuses on compliance, getting people to follow a new process or adopt a new system. But in Agile organizations, change isn’t about control. It’s about co-creation. Treating change as a product allows teams to:

• Define clear outcomes, not vague aspirations.

• Continuously deliver value through incremental improvements.

• Collect and act on user (employee) feedback early and often.

• Treat adoption metrics like product performance indicators.

Applying Product Thinking to Change

1. Define the Vision and the User

Every product starts with a vision and a user persona. In the same way, change leaders must identify who will experience the transformation and what success looks like for them.

The Agile Alliance outlines how empathy and transparency drive change outcomes.

When people see how change benefits them personally, they become advocates, not skeptics.

2. Create a Backlog of Change Outcomes

Think of a change backlog as a roadmap of small, testable experiments. Each “item” represents a learning opportunity or behavioral improvement. For example:

• Update feedback loops in retrospectives.

• Pilot a new workflow with one team before scaling.

• Measure employee sentiment after each iteration.

The Lean Change Management community emphasizes this experimental mindset:

3. Establish Change Metrics

Products are measured by performance and user satisfaction. Likewise, change success should be measured using both quantitative and qualitative indicators:

• Adoption Rate: How many teams are engaging with the new practice?

• Sentiment Score: Are people feeling confident about the transition?

• Business Impact: What measurable outcomes improved because of the change?

The Prosci ADKAR Model provides a helpful foundation for tracking readiness and reinforcement.

Change Managers as Product Owners

When organizations adopt the “Change as a Product” mindset, the change manager’s role evolves into that of a Product Owner. Their job is to:

• Prioritize initiatives in a change backlog.

• Collaborate with stakeholders to refine outcomes.

• Continuously measure value delivery.

• Communicate progress through storytelling and data.

This approach aligns change management with Agile delivery, making it part of the organization’s DNA instead of an external intervention.

For further inspiration, check out Harvard Business Review’s perspective on agile transformation at scale.

Practical Takeaways from the Session

Participants will learn how to:

• Treat change as an evolving product, not a fixed project.
• Use backlogs, MVPs, and sprint cycles to deliver change iteratively.
• Measure adoption, engagement, and impact.
• Facilitate feedback loops to improve continuously.
• Align leadership and teams around shared goals for transformation.

Transformation doesn’t happen overnight, it evolves like a product that’s refined through feedback and iteration.
Join our Change as a Product session this October 2025 to discover how to drive transformation that sticks, scales, and inspires.

Reserve your spot

Turn your next change initiative into a value-driven journey.