A Decade Later: What I Got Wrong About Agile Hybrids

I found an old post I wrote in February 2015. In the post “Approaches, Lets Try A New Blend“, I’d proposed blending Crystal Clear, XP, Scrum, and DSDM into a “People-Centric Hybrid Approach.” Take the best bits from each. Throw them into a pot. Serve to non-software teams. It wasn’t wrong. It just missed the … Read more

From Disruption to Direction: Why CIRCA Matters for the Future of Work

“CIRCA isn’t about weathering the storm. It’s about learning to navigate in any weather the future throws at you.” The future of work isn’t a distant horizon. It’s already here—just unevenly distributed. We’re no longer facing isolated shifts. We’re in the midst of a systemic transformation: If the last decade was about digital transformation, the … Read more

Agility Requires Holistic Transformation

In the pursuit of agility, many organizations focus heavily on implementing frameworks and processes—scrums, sprints, ceremonies, and fast delivery cycles. Yet, despite these efforts, many Agile transformations falter and fail to deliver the promised adaptability and velocity. Over years of experience leading initiatives and turning around troubled programs, I’ve come to a deeper understanding: Agility … Read more

From Reacting to Reframing: How CIRCA Helps Organizations Partner With Complexity

“In complexity, the goal is not to predict and control the future – it’s to become increasingly fit for it.” That statement has never been truer than it is today. We’ve spent the last few decades building organizations for efficiency, predictability, and scale. But those assumptions no longer hold up in the face of volatility, … Read more

Balancing VUCA and BANI: Why CIRCA Goes Beyond Both

In conversations about navigating complexity, VUCA and BANI often come up—two powerful yet distinct frameworks helping leaders make sense of our turbulent world. VUCA—Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity—focuses on the external environment, providing a language to describe shifting market forces, unpredictable events, and complex ecosystems. BANI—Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear, Incomprehensible—emerged around the pandemic to fill a gap VUCA … Read more

CIRCA vs. VUCA: Meeting the Unique Challenges of Modern Disruption

For decades, the VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) framework has helped leaders make sense of a turbulent world. But as disruption becomes more relentless and the human impact of change more pronounced, organizations need more than just a way to describe the storm. They need a way to navigate it. Enter the CIRCA model: Complex, Insecure, Rapid, … Read more