5 Why's of Agile
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A talk I did at Agile Welly - be forewarned - it contains swears as I am morally corrupt, it seems. RATING: PG I address the Agile is Dead conversation, how we can move through being proficient at the methodologies, to become masters at the agile mindset.
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5 Why's of Agile
- 1. The 5 Why’s of Agile 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy a.k.a The Two Year old’s Mantra
- 2. Agile is an Attitude not a Rule 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy Agile
- 3. Be Mindful & Present 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 4. Never forget Who you are doing it for 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 5. Agile is an Attitude not a Rule 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy Agile
- 6. ‘Agile is Dead’ 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 7. ‘The word “agile” has been subverted to the point where it is effectively meaningless, and what passes for an agile community seems to be largely an arena for consultants and vendors to hawk services and products.’ Dave Thomas - Mar 4th, 2014 http://pragdave.me/blog/2014/03/04/time-to-kill-agile/ 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 8. ‘Agile methods ask practitioners to think, and frankly, that‘s a hard sell. It is far more comfortable to simply follow what rules are given and claim you're “doing it by the book.” It’s easy, it’s safe from ridicule or recrimination; you won’t get fired for it.’ Andy Hunt - May 6th, 2015 http://blog.toolshed.com/2015/05/the-failure-of-agile.html 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 9. Failure points: - Agile tools, not mindsets - Not inspecting and adapting - Rules and best practice, over principles and values 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 10. ‘You’re Not Agile’ 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 11. 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 12. 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 13. So what happened to Inspect and Adapt? 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 14. What have YOU adapted lately? 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 15. Have agility in what you do 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 16. Dreyfus Model: ➔ Novice - rigid adherence to taught rules or plans ➔ Advanced Beginner - Needs small, frequent rewards; limited "situational perception" ➔ Competent - Can develop conceptual models, can troubleshoot ➔ Proficient - Driven to seek larger conceptual model, can self-correct ➔ Expert - Intuitive grasp of situations based on deep, tacit understanding, monitoring awareness ➔ Mastery - Holistic recognition, intuitive decision making, absorbed awareness 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 17. ‘Doing Agile’ is not the Goal ‘Being agile’ is 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 18. Learn the skills 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 19. Be Mindful & Present 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 20. 5 Why’s 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 21. 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 22. Agile? 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 23. - It delivers something useful, fast 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 24. 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 25. - It delivers something useful fast - So that the user gets the benefit ASAP 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 26. 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 27. - It delivers something useful fast - So that the user gets the benefit ASAP - Because using something gives you feedback on its value 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 28. 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 29. - It delivers something useful fast - So that the user gets the benefit ASAP - Because using something gives you feedback on its value - So that you know you are solving the most important user problems 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 30. 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 31. - It delivers something useful fast - So that the user gets the benefit ASAP - Because using something gives you feedback on its value - So that you know you are solving the most important user problems - Because the user is the most important person 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 32. - It delivers something useful fast - So that the user gets the benefit ASAP - Because using something gives you feedback on its value - So that you know you are solving the most important user problems - Because the user is the most important person 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 33. - Because it’s flexible - Because it allows for short feedback loops & adjustment of direction if needed - Because it allows best return of investment and decreases the risk of wasting budget on something unnecessary - Because it's too hard to know up-front what you want until you see it being implemented - Because seeing things in action gives you a better idea of what it is shaping up to be rather than writing down a spec in isolation before starting the work 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 34. - Because it’s flexible - Because it allows for short feedback loops & adjustment of direction if needed - Because it allows best return of investment and decreases the risk of wasting budget on something unnecessary - Because it's too hard to know up-front what you want until you see it being implemented - Because seeing things in action gives you a better idea of what it is shaping up to be rather than writing down spec in isolation before starting the work 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 35. 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 36. 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 37. Never forget Who you are doing it for 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 38. Let’s look again at the four values: Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools Working Software over Comprehensive Documentation Customer Collaboration over Contract Negotiation Responding to Change over Following a Plan 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 39. Four Values: Are you talking to people, or adding a comment in Jira? 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 40. Four Values: Are you getting the feature out there to users, or documenting how to release it? 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 41. Four Values: Are you talking to users, or ticking off requirements in your contract? 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 42. Four Values: Have you built what was needed, or what was planned? 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 43. Agile is an Attitude not a Rule 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy Agile
- 44. Be Mindful & Present 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 45. Never forget Who you are doing it for 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
- 46. 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy Agile
- 47. Thank you! @excapeartist diana@silverstripe.com 21 July, 2015 • Wellington • Presenter: Diana Hennessy
Editor's Notes
- Hey everyone - let’s get started Firstly There will be swears! I sort of apologize but yeah maybe only a little. I am likely to say some things you disagree with, and that’s okay. I am happy to discuss these things at the end and have a good lively discussion, or feel free to leave if it’s untenable. My hope is not to offend, but to remind us of some very important things. We are going to explore some of the reasons why we recommend and promote this thing we do - Agile. But first, I want to go deeper into some things. You will definitely get to play the 5 Whys, but there are some things we need to discuss. The three things I will be diving into today will be:
- So first, lets look at Agile as an Attitude, not a Rule. As you know, in 2001, 17 people got together in Utah to put together the ‘Agile Manifesto’ - they did it to solve the big problem they were facing - to break free of the wasteful and soul destroying practices of the 80’s and 90’s. You may also be aware, that since last year, s
- This has been quite confronting for many of us in the world of agile practitioners, and I am sure many here would defend this idea as misguided and disillusionment on behalf of a few outliers. Some of us have only just got here! When I heard this, I actually cheered! It validated something I had been feeling for a while. So lets explore a little about this idea.
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- Example: Many SilverStripe clients come to us with limited Agile experience, but it may surprise you to hear that the hardest part of leading them down the road of an agile mindset, is not ‘we liked waterfall, but ‘we tried Agile and it was terrible’. So other Agile Practitioners out there are making it very hard to progress the very thing they are trying to advocate. So ask yourself, are you helping the community at large, or hindering it? How many of you have been accused of the following on Twitter, or even here at Agile Welly?
- This usually is uttered after I mention something like ‘yeah we are working within our clients constraints around release process so we can’t release every sprint, but every three months.’ or it could be ‘we have made some good inroads with this company on this project but it will take some time to implement X or Y practice’ Who has heard of, or even has within their organisation, an Agile Governance Board, that regularly assesses how Agile your project is? Can you begin to understand why we are here on the other side of the bell curve of Agile? My answer to all that is...
- Jazz Hands an Agile Governance Board, that regularly assesses how Agile your project is? Can you begin to understand why we are here on the other side of the bell curve of Agile? My answer to all that is...
- Andy Hunt goes on to say ‘The canonical agile practices of popular methods have remained essentially unchanged for over a decade. We are stuck in a rut.’ He also says ‘the only difference between a rut and a grave is the dimensions.’ I hope some of us will counter this claim with ‘We hold retrospectives and take action items of things we’d like to change going into next sprint’ and I am sure that for many this is good enough. But again, I ask another question for you...
- Does your sprint cadence, or kanban board, or backlog look the same as it did at the beginning of your project? Are you really looking at what you are doing and whether it is still the right idea? I mean really? Which brings me shortly to the ‘Be mindful and present’ part of our time today, where we get to play our 5 Whys game - I promise But lets close off Agile is dead first.
- Don’t be proficient in Agile Methodologies
- In the fields of education and operations research, the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition is a model of how students acquire skills through formal instruction and practicing. There is no difference here with learning any mental model or framework, including the Agile approach to development or delivery. [Add examples here] So saying Agile is Dead maybe true, but what we should be talking about is …
- Jeff Patton is even going with no rules at all to fix agile teams - he puts them on a diet of ceremonies and only bring them back if required, purely to break this habit Remember: being a proficient repeater of rules is not the goal here
- So Beginners, if you are starting out - welcome to the world of Agile - its awesome. I mean it. Never have things been more clear and based on common sense than Agile values. The community is filled with amazing, talented, well educated and scarred individuals who you can learn from. I owe many successful projects to many of these people. You’re on the right track, learn the framework and practice the skills of agile methodologies such as scrum or kanban. Do it well, and thoroughly, and do your best work. Add these skills to your toolkit. But remember, once you are good at this, there is a higher place to go. But if you looked at the Dreyfus model and thought ‘I’m an Expert!’ or ‘I think I am Proficient’ then you have NO EXCUSE but to move through to the other side of this. The other side is Being mindful and present!
- The ascension through the Dreyfus model becomes more and more intuitive and holistic, and less about the tips and tricks of facilitation or process. It becomes more about the complex decision making based on the skills and mindset you approach your work with. Mindfulness is paying attention to what is occurring, and being present means being right there, right then. How does this relate to Agile? How many of you are still referring back to the original idea and scope of your project, and making sure those boxes are ticked? How many of us are actually looking at where the project is right now? Its a bit like the misguided thing that we sometimes do when having to rescue a project - ‘we we have spent so much on this project already so we must to spend another $500k finish it or that $2 million dollars will be wasted.’
- Which finally brings me on the the ‘Why’ of Agile. So one way I decided to be more present and mindful, was to remind ourselves of why we do this thing we call Agile. Who has done the 5 whys for root cause analysis before? Five whys usually helps to get you to the root cause of an issue. This time we are going to use it to get to the root ‘reason’ of why Agile helps us, why we should be recommending it, and why it’s important. We all know how. We all know what. But the Why is something we need to hold firmly in our minds, so that we understand the ultimate goal, not whether we have checked all the boxes or not! No one that I know of has been handed a bunch of money, a team and all that comes with that, to be told, 'I dunno, do something: surprise me!' Well maybe in a start up with angel funding, but that's not most of us here. There is always a reason that has prompted 'something has to change' - competitors have pulled ahead, there is a new opportunity that we can take advantage of, we are losing customers due to x or y. You get the idea. For those of you on projects right now, I want you to think about what that reason is for the thing you are building right now. Think of that problem or opportunity space for a moment, then we will play the 5 whys of Agile and also your project. I'll ask for some volunteers shortly. In the meantime I will go through a few that I have done with some of my team at SS. Firstly I will show you my one as a starter for ten
- Who’d like to play? Some more examples: A better chance of success in a project Helps you focus on what you need to build Because there is a prioritised list based on business value So it ensures the product is what the user/customer needs Because its the most important thing to build Able evolve a product applying what you have learned Because systems are complex, you need to work in a way that builds in learning; it’s next to impossible to think of everything thing in advance Able to deliver a better (more fit for purpose) product to market faster can therefore gain competitive advantage with your product faster and smash the competition! Increase company performance & increase shareholder value (+ make people happy with better products!) Improve productivity and prosperity to all
- What would your team members answers be?
- What would your boss’s answers be?
- Your user is king Think about it - Are we actually stealing opportunity from our users? Are we defending the user when business decisions are being made in your organisation? Who else will defend the user if it’s not us? I recall a conversation with a someone a while ago, that when faced with data on what the users were asking for, they said ‘I don’t care what they want, I want this because this is what I promised the board!’ This is not on. Not at ALL.
- Have agility in what you do, Don’t aim to be proficient in Agile Methodologies Learn the rules, and then move on to become a master with an agile mindset Ask yourself the question, what have you adapted lately?
- Pay attention to where you are now, not what has come before, what was planned at the beginning, how much money you have already spent on something. Ask yourself Why are you doing this? Ask your team and your boss why they wanted to use agile practices? Or even what that means to them? Ask if your project is still delivering for the users, and how do you know that?
- Your users are the Boss Are you asking them for feedback? Are you really listening to them? Are you stealing opportunities from them by not asking? Are you defending them at all points as the most important people?
- Lastly - I love Agile. I really do. I think it’s practical and common sense, and when we use our tools in our toolkits in an agile way, we can really make some cool shit for people. I think we can revive its original intent, and I challenge you in this room, the practitioners of this great community, to help put this on life support and show them their idea was a good one. Long live Agile!
- http://pragdave.me/blog/2014/03/04/time-to-kill-agile/ https://jaxenter.com/is-agile-dead-117395.html http://blog.toolshed.com/2015/05/the-failure-of-agile.html https://pragprog.com/magazines/2011-06/guru-meditation