Presentation by Emily Webber of Tacit. Delivered at the Turing Festival in Edinburgh on Thursday 18 August 2016.

1. Embracing Change or
Bracing for Change
Fostering a Culture of Continuous
Improvement in Product Teams
Emily Webber / @ewebber
emilywebber.co.uk / tacitlondon.com

2. Hello.
I’m Emily
@EWEBBER

3. Write down:
What is the vision for your team if
everything was as good as it could be
@EWEBBER

4. @EWEBBER
Ideas
CodeData
MEASURE
LEARN BUILD
The Lean
startup

5. @EWEBBER
The Scientific
method
Ask a question
Do background
research
Construct a
hypothesis
Test your
hypothesis
Analyse data
and draw
conclusions

6. Because I think [this] is true
I think that doing [this]
will mean [this will happen]
And I will know [like this]
@EWEBBER

7. Why aren’t your team
already embracing
change?
@EWEBBER

8. Photofrommusictour.eu
@EWEBBER

9. Photofrommusictour.eu
@EWEBBER
“This is just how we do
things around here”

10. Five reasons people
resist change
@EWEBBER

11. PhotobyJethroTaylor
@EWEBBER
“Uncertainty can cause more
stress than inevitable pain”
www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0316/290316-uncertainty-stress

12. PhotobyJethroTaylor
@EWEBBER
Get into the habit
of changing

13. PhotobyJakeEdwards
@EWEBBER
Change means
learning new skills

14. PhotobyJakeEdwards
@EWEBBER
Be willing to support
people learning new
skills

15. PhotobyAaronSilvers
@EWEBBER
A condition in which
a person suffers from
a sense of
powerlessness,
arising from a
traumatic event or
persistent failure
to succeed.
Learned helplessness

16. PhotobyAaronSilvers
@EWEBBER
Create a safe to fail
environment

17. @EWEBBER
It could mean throwing
away their hard work

18. @EWEBBER
Build on what
already exists

19. PhotobyNancyKamergorodsky
@EWEBBER
They don’t
understand the
reason for change

20. PhotobyNancyKamergorodsky
@EWEBBER
Have a vision for the
future state

21. Evolution vs revolution
@EWEBBER

22. @EWEBBER
Satir Change Curve
/stevenmsmith.com/ar-satir-change-model/

23. AVOID CHAOS
(unless you need a revolution)
@EWEBBER

24. @EWEBBER
Kaizen

25. @EWEBBER
Understand
the direction
of challenge
Grasp the
current
condition
Establish the
next target
condition
Experiment
towards the
target condition
Planning phase Executing phase
Improvement Kata

26. Because I think [this] is true
I think that doing [this]
will mean [this will happen]
And I will know [like this]
@EWEBBER

27. PhotobyElainewithGreyCats
@EWEBBER

28. Telling
@EWEBBER

29. @EWEBBER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ACi-D5DI6A

30. @EWEBBER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ACi-D5DI6A

31. @EWEBBER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ACi-D5DI6A

32. @EWEBBER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ACi-D5DI6A

33. Questioning
@EWEBBER

34. @EWEBBER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ACi-D5DI6A

35. @EWEBBER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ACi-D5DI6A

36. @EWEBBER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ACi-D5DI6A

37. @EWEBBER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ACi-D5DI6A

38. @EWEBBER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ACi-D5DI6A

39. Identifying what to
change
@EWEBBER

40. On a regular basis the team get together
to reflect on how they work together and
find ways to improve
The Agile Retrospective
@EWEBBER

41. @EWEBBER
Have you been part of a
retrospective?
within the last 6 months
within the last 3 months
within the last month
within the last 2 weeks

42. PhotobyJMarksDodds
The 30 second
retrospective
@EWEBBER

43. @EWEBBER
1. What is the vision for your team?
2. What one change can you make towards it?
3. How will you know it’s worked?

44. @EWEBBER
1. What is the vision for your team?
2. What one change can you make towards it?
3. How will you know it’s worked?

45. @EWEBBER
Lots of ideas at
retrospectivewiki.org

46. Some other
techniques
@EWEBBER

47. • map out your pain points
• review your blockers
• #retro slack channel
• one to ones
• five whys
@EWEBBER

48. Remember…
@EWEBBER

49. Change is hard
@EWEBBER

50. Understand what
direction you are
heading in
@EWEBBER

51. use experimentation and
the scientific method
@EWEBBER

52. Make small changes
@EWEBBER

53. Get into the habit of
experimenting
@EWEBBER

54. Embrace change, don’t
brace for change
@EWEBBER

55. Thank you.
Emily Webber
@ewebber
emilywebber.co.uk / tacitlondon.com