One of the most misunderstood concepts in the agile community, complexity is often used to explain why we can’t predict anything or why there are no rules we can follow. Ironically, it is exactly this attitude that allows complexity to work against us. Al Shalloway discusses the true nature of complex systems, why we must deal with them in a holistic manner, and ways to evaluate structural and organizational changes to manage this complexity. Unfortunately, most agile implementations take an incremental, piecemeal approach to change, ignoring complexity. Although this approach causes problems that are attributed to the fact that we have a complex system, in reality these challenges are due to the way we are dealing with the pieces individually. Al describes the patterns of effective organizational change management and explains how understanding the true nature of complex systems can be used to lead organizational change―particularly at scale.
A Holistic View of Complex Systems and Organizational Change
1. AT1
Agile Development Concurrent Session
11/13/2014 10:00 AM
"A Holistic View of Complex
Systems and Organizational
Change"
Presented by:
Al Shalloway
Net Objectives
Brought to you by:
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2. With more than forty years of experience, the founder and CEO of
Net Objectives Al Shalloway is an industry thought leader in lean,
SAFe, kanban, product portfolio management, Scrum, and agile
design. Al helps companies transition enterprise-wide to lean and
agile methods, and teaches courses in these areas—one of a
handful of SAFe SPC trainers. He is the primary author of Lean-
Agile Software Development: Achieving Enterprise Agility, Design
Patterns Explained, Lean-Agile Pocket Guide for Scrum
Teams, and Essential Skills for the Agile Developer. Cofounder
(although no longer affiliated) with Lean Kanban University, Al is a
popular speaker at prestigious conferences worldwide.