The Story of Why I Created The Deeper Change Academy
- Simon Powers
- Apr 28
- 4 min read
by Simon Powers
For the last decade, I’ve been privileged to stand at the front lines of the agility movement. I’ve worked alongside thousands of leaders, managers, coaches, and teams, helping shape how agility is understood and applied across industries and continents. And while we’ve made incredible strides, embedding agile thinking and practice into countless IT departments and development teams, a hard truth has emerged:
The truth is: agility is not enough anymore.
Agile gave us a way to build better software. However, the challenges organisations face today are far more complex than simply delivering speed or team efficiency. We're facing constant disruption, hybrid work, burnout, systemic injustice, climate urgency, AI disruption, and a growing demand for meaning in the workplace.
The Origins of a New Chapter
The idea for The Deeper Change Academy came from a growing awareness that we were reaching the limits of what traditional agile coaching could achieve. The methods and frameworks that transformed IT departments were struggling to take root in broader organisational systems.
At the same time, we began to notice an increasing divergence in how change was being approached. Leaders and organisations started looking for more: more relevance, more human connection, more systemic impact. The nature of change itself was evolving—from top-down transformations to participatory redesigns of culture, structure, and purpose.
We conducted research. We listened. We explored.
Our recent survey on The Current and Future State of Agility confirmed what we suspected:
Change is no longer owned solely by tech. It’s distributed across HR, product, leadership, and operations.
Changemakers are emerging under many names and job titles, not just “Agile Coach.”
The biggest challenges are no longer in frameworks, but in leadership development, cultural shifts, and structural evolution.
Many organisations have moved past the buzzwords and are hungry for deeper, lasting transformation.
We need better product delivery, better learning and development, better leadership, a wider uptake of coaching skills in management, and an overhaul in how change management practices implement change throughout the organisation.
Beyond Agile
With that clarity, The Deeper Change Academy was born. It represents the next evolution of our mission: to help people and organisations move beyond agile methods and into whole-system, deeply human transformation.
We’ve taken all we’ve learned from spreading agility—and the tools we’ve tested in L&D, Product Development, Coaching for Managers, Leadership Development, and Change Management—and focused it into targeted programs for professionals working in these domains.
A New Set of Courses for a New Era
We’ve refreshed and evolved our courses based on the insights from the Future of Agility report and the real-world challenges our clients face. These updates are not cosmetic—they’re fundamental.
These courses go well beyond agile. They address the systemic roots of change. They develop the skills that actually make transformation stick. They’re designed specifically for those whose roles influence how modern organisations work and evolve.
This opens a vast new horizon—not just for us as a company, but for professionals everywhere. The complexity and pace of today’s world require more than agile practices. They demand deep adaptability, emotional intelligence, systems thinking, and courageous leadership. That’s what our academy delivers.
A Strategic Refocus
AWA Global (formerly Adventures with Agile)
We’ve also made bold decisions to support this new direction. By selling our regional AWA Global businesses in the Nordics and Southeast Asia, and folding our U.S. operations into the U.K. arm, we’ve simplified our structure to focus on what matters most: delivering world-class learning experiences and supporting the ever-growing global agile community through AWA Global.
AWA Global continues to serve Agile Coaches, Product, Scrum Masters, Delivery Leads, and Team-level practitioners.
Meanwhile, The Deeper Change Academy serves those in five critical areas:
Learning & Development
Product Development
Coaching for Managers
Leadership Development
Change Management & Transformation
We’ve also infused our programmes with the latest thinking on AI—not just as a tool, but as a transformational force reshaping how work is done. Our updated courses help professionals harness AI while staying grounded in emotional intelligence, collaboration, and ethical leadership.
And all of this is now available on our reimagined website, a fresh digital home designed to better reflect our mission, support our learners, and showcase our new and updated offerings.
This is more than a new brand. It’s a deep, intentional shift to meet people where they are and equip them with the tools to meet what’s next.
Why Now?
We are standing at a crossroads.
The world is in transition. We are living through overlapping disruptions—climate, economic uncertainty, AI, war, inequality.
The pace of change is relentless. The expectations on leaders are rising. People want more humanity, more purpose, and more impact in their work against a backdrop where it is harder to survive as a business and see the same revenues as we had previously.
Organisations that succeed in this new world will be those that embrace deeper change—change that is not only agile, but systemic, inclusive, and human.
The Deeper Change Academy exists to guide that transformation.
We are here for practitioners who feel stuck in transactional learning and development (L&D) and change management and want to transition from operational to strategic approaches. For Product Leaders who want to move from delivery to value. For Managers seeking to coach rather than control.
For Change Agents (regardless of your role name) who are tired of surface-level transformations. For leaders who know they need to evolve but aren’t sure how.
We are here for you.
What’s Next?
New webinars and meetups
To celebrate this next chapter, we’ll be hosting a new webinar series, bringing together thought leaders and practitioners from around the world to explore what deeper change truly means.
These sessions will offer insight, inspiration, and a taste of what The Deeper Change Academy is all about.
We are restarting our in-person London-based meetups where professionals can come, eat together, and learn together. Meet other people who are doing your role but in other companies and discuss new ideas, approaches, and how to thrive.
This is your invitation to join us.
Closing Words
Creating The Deeper Change Academy isn’t just a business decision—it’s a calling. It’s the culmination of a decade of work, learning, reflection, and listening. It’s about honouring what agile has given us, while boldly moving into what’s next.
We believe this is a huge opportunity for the world of work, for the people who shape it, and for the future we’re co-creating.
We hope you’ll join us.
Comments