We’ve presented our findings on which capabilities are important in producing better software delivery and organizational outcomes. However, taking this information and applying it to change your organization is a complex and daunting task. That’s why we’re delighted that Steve Bell and Karen Whitley Bell agreed to write a chapter on leadership and organizational transformation, sharing their experience and insights to guide readers in their own journey.

Steve and Karen are pioneers of Lean IT, applying principles and practices through a method-agnostic approach, drawing on a variety of practices—DevOps, Agile, Scrum, kanban, Lean startup, Kata, Obeya, strategy deployment, and others—as appropriate to the culture and situation, to coach and support leaders to develop high-performance practices and organizational learning capabilities.

In Part III, they draw on their experiences at ING Netherlands, a global bank with over 34.4 million customers worldwide and with 52,000 employees, including more than 9,000 engineers, to show the why and how of leadership, management, and team practices that enable culture change. This, in turn, enables sustainable high performance in a complex and dynamic environment.

Steve and Karen extend our view beyond the interrelationships of team, management, and leadership practices, beyond the skillful adoption of DevOps, and beyond the breaking down of silos—all necessary, but not sufficient. Here we see the evolution of holistic, end-to-end organizational transformation, fully engaged and fully aligned to enterprise purpose.