How an Agile Mindset Benefits the Workplace

Presented by: David Hazlehurst - 2nd September 2020

David Hazlehurst is a leader in digital transformation and a strong advocate of the agile mindset, a set of values and principles that can enable better decision-making by service or product development teams. While most commonly used by software developers, various teams at Geoscience Australia have now adopted agile approaches to their work.

This talk will demonstrate how an agile mindset can benefit the entire organisation. David will focus in particular upon:

His epiphany that an agile mindset can be applied to more than just digital activities;
What agile means for organisational culture, such as the ability to learn from failures; and
Why empowerment of staff is critical to better and more adaptable decision-making.

David is the Deputy Secretary, Agricultural Trade Group, in the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. In this role he supports farmers, food processors and exporters to sustainably grow their businesses through access to overseas markets and regulatory services to meet the requirements of trading partners.

Prior to this he was the Deputy CEO, Business, Partnerships and Support at Austrade, responsible for strategy and business transformation, partnerships, digital and IT, and corporate and ministerial services.

Previously, David has held senior appointments in four other portfolios. He has led teams advising Prime Ministers on economic and industry policy, Federal Budgets and the Council of Australian Governments. He also drove initial implementation of the Australian Government’s digital transformation agenda and was interim CEO of the Digital Transformation Office.

David holds Bachelor Degrees in Economics and Law (Hons), and a Masters of Public Policy from the Australian National University. He is a member of the Council of the Institute of Public Administration (ACT Division).