Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT), is a global leader in analytical instruments and software with a global annual revenue of $2.5B. Waters Corp has pioneered chromatography, mass spectrometry, and thermal analysis innovations serving the life, materials, food, and health sciences for more than 60 years. With more than 7,800 employees worldwide, Waters operates directly in more than 35 countries, including 14 manufacturing facilities, and with products available in more than 100 countries.

This story presents the challenges, successes, and failures we experienced in applying the Scientific Method in a Scientific Organization to improve culture, agility, and flow toward delivering better value in our LCMS products with greater predictability and confidence.

Within Waters Informatics we had already been on an Agile Transformation (capital A, capital T) for nearly a decade, but the expected improvements were not forthcoming nor evident.

From top down the view was of wanton indiscipline and from bottom up the view was of time-and-scope boxed bureaucracy. A culture of fear, lack of psychological safety and mistrust kept things in a perennial state.

For my part, I had just attained the role of Director of LCMS Product Owners and it quickly became evident to me that I had no idea how to do nor how to be successful in this new role. The picture was grim – something new was needed.