Author: Mario Aiello

Hi, I’m Mario – a retired agility warrior from a major Swiss bank, beyond agile explorer, lean thinker, former rugby player, and wishful golfer. What frustrates me most? Poor agile adoption, illusionary scaling, and the lack of true business agility. I believe agility should fit purpose, context, and practice – and continuously evolve. Active in the agile space since 2008, my consulting journey began in 2012, helping a digital identity unit adopt Scrum at team level. That work led to the design of an Agile Operating System for the entire organization. Today, as an independent consultant, I help organizations unlock sustainable agility – guided by adaptive intelligence: sensing challenges, learning fast, and adapting with purpose.

Agile Delivery Through Value Streams and Lean Flow

Organizations need more than just agile méthodologies to succeed in fast-paced business environments—they need a systematic approach to delivering value continuously and predictably. The key lies in understanding how value streams, lean flow principles, and embedded feedback loops work together to create truly responsive delivery systems.

Bridging Team, Organizational, and Business Agility Dimensions

In the past decade agility has transcended from being merely a software development methodology to becoming a crucial business capability. I hereby attempt to explore the three fundamental dimensions of agility at scale: Team Agility, Organizational Agility, and Business Agility.

The Key to Modern Business Success

In rapidly changing environments organisations must be able to adapt quickly to varying market conditions, customer needs, and technological advancements. This is where business agility comes into play – a crucial capability that enables companies to thrive in uncertainty rather than merely survive it.

What limits Business agility

There’s a fundamental tension in organizational change: the desire for agility often conflicts with the comfort of established systems and structures.

Building business increments

This blog captures a conversation had with some delivery teams that were caught in a release framed delivery continuum and their quest to deliver meaningful value.

The conversation was triggered by a statement I threw at them and the questions that followed.

Encapsulation and Orchestration Conquer Dependencies in Agile Development

In the world of software development, dependencies are the silent project killers that can transform an agile methodology into a bureaucratic nightmare. But what if there was a way to tame these complex interconnections and restore the promise of rapid, flexible development?

Governance Principles

Governance include the fundamental guidelines, principles and practices, that ensure an organization or team operates effectively, ethically, and in alignment with its strategic objectives.

AI Boosts Simple Agility

This blog explores the integration of AI with “Simple Agility”, offering practical insights for organizations seeking to enhance their agile transformation journey through intelligent technologies.

A Simple Framework for Getting More Done

The Four Pillars of Productivity

True productivity isn’t about doing more things—it’s about achieving meaningful results sustainably. After studying productivity research and best practices, I’ve identified four essential pillars that create a balanced approach to getting important work done.

Forces affecting value delivery

Software delivery is influenced by the interplay of several forces. Some are boosters and others antagonists, these forces simultaneously shape the challenges for development teams. Understanding these dynamics is essential to optimize software delivery processes, reduce time-to-market, and maintain competitive advantage while delivering high-quality products that meet customer needs.

Constraints, dependencies, and impediments

Knowledge work is characterized by cognitive complexity, creative problem-solving, and intellectual value generation. The challenges in this domain are primarily intangible and systemic.

Expanding the horizon of “beyond agile” practices

I first described the beyond agile idea in terms of leveraging concepts of Lean, Flow and ToC. I now expand this idea through the use of Encapsulation and Orchestration, as well as Real Options.

Team Capacity and Focus

Team capacity and focus are interconnected elements that determine a team’s effectiveness and productivity. Capacity represents the total potential work a team can accomplish, considering individual skills, available hours, and organizational constraints. Focus is about strategically directing that potential towards the most important objectives, minimizing distractions and creating a shared sense of purpose.

Maximizing Team Efficiency through Lean, Flow, and Theory of Constraints Metrics

In the context of modern business, delivery teams are constantly seeking ways to improve their performance, reduce waste, and deliver more value.

It’s Not About Being Agile, It’s About Being Effective

Today many people mistakenly believe that simply being “agile” is the secret to success. However, true effectiveness goes far beyond methodological buzzwords or trendy productivity frameworks. This exploration delves into a holistic approach to achieving meaningful results by focusing on fundamental principles that drive genuine productivity and personal growth.

Team encapsulation and orchestration

When discussing team encapsulation and orchestration (terms popularised by Mike Cottmeyer from Leading Agile) in the context of Agile development, these concepts relate to how teams can structure their work and interactions to maximize efficiency and minimize dependencies.