Ethar Alali's talk on strategic Agile Games at CRM Saturday London 2017.

1. AXELISYS
Lean-Agility & CRM, New World Order
Demonstrated through the medium of game
 www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys

2.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Axelisys, Who Are We?
Built to help blue-chips & SME’s achieve the best business
performance from their entire IT investment

3.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Manchester Lean-Enterprise Architects
History
 Founded 2011
 Manchester, UK
 Distributed, Chaordic Organisation
 1-40 freelance & permanent staff
 1x administration
 1x business development
 1x social media
 The remaining are IT staff
 EU & Worldwide Presence
 Working Language: English Axelisys [HQ]
3 Piccadilly Place
Manchester M1 3BN

4.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Client Sample
…and many more

5.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Core Affiliations
 Trusted Global & National Partners
 Worldwide Accreditations
 Affiliated with Global Multinationals

6.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Specialism: Lean-Enterprise, Agility
 High Value, Flexible Business Systems Engineers
 Combining to Innovate
 Lean-Startup & Agile principles
 Continuous Improvement & Self-organisation
 DevOps & Automation
 Hyper-collaborative Operations
 Scale based on demand
 Clustered, self-optimising operations
 Pay per feature
 End-to-end Micro-entrepreneurship & Innovation

7.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Knowledge Work: 7(+1) Wastes-the Same!
Transport
Inventory
Motion
Waiting
Over-Processing
Overproduction
Defects
(the +1) Skills

8.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Business Agility + Lean principles = Lean-EA
Agility is the ability of an organization to rapidly adapt to market and
environmental changes…
…in productive and cost-effective ways.

9.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Game Time! Humpty-Dumpty
Timing is everything…

10.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Game: Humpty-Dumpty
• 4 volunteers (3 workers + 1 manager)
• Manager keeps Time
• 3 people to sing Humpty Dumpty, word-by-word
• Every second, staff paid $100
• Every second, manager paid $50
• Every error, start again
• Customer pays $400 for each Humpty Dumpty correctly
received when Done
• Audience: Pay attention, I’ll ask you what you think

11.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Reflection: Humpty-Dumpty
• Anyone notice anything wrong?
• How much money was made?
• How many errors were made?
• How many times did we switch from person to person?
• Can we do better?

12.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Game: Humpty-Dumpty Take 2
• Same as before, except:
• 3 Tracks in parallel
• All sing humpty dumpty

13.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Rule 1: Quit Multitasking!
Each introduces extra cost for no added value = waste

14.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
The Organogram: Epitome of Evil?
Thousands to Millions of Value Transactions Each Week
ReportingValue1to4TimesperAnnum
 Work & Information don’t travel the
same path
 Upward motion introduces cost &
delay for no value
 The higher work goes, the bigger
the loss
 …and it’s exponential
 Each delay pays people to do
nothing
 …So they feel they have to look
busy
 …and create unnecessary
projects/work.
 …Which impacts others too
 Rinse and Repeat

15.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Rule 2: Align Functions to Value
Chain
Make sure all staff are part of multifunctional teams & incentivised on customer
value

16.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Wasteful Cultures
Workers
• Multitasking to fill time
• Throwing work over the fence
• “It’s your problem now!”
• Moving to get tools
• Incentive not aligned with goal
of business
Managers
• Culture of “Busy foolishness”
• Calling or being called into
meetings
• Not using skills of staff
• Pushing work
• Micromanagement
• Discouraging independent thought
• Dictating not Facilitating
• Incentive not aligned with goal of
business

17.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
A: Servant Leadership, a Business Investment
image: Scrum Institute

18.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Rule 3: Prioritise Value, Whole
Value and Nothing but Value
Don’t do anything that doesn’t deliver value

19.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Meet Mani Quinne

20.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
The Key Concept in Innovation & Optimisation…
FEEDBACK!

21.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Working to Get Feedback
1. Hypothesis (business case)
2. Figure out what you want to
measure
3. Build something (fast and
effective) to measure it
4. Let it loose in the wild
5. Evaluate it’s performance

22.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Game Time!
“I’m thinking of
a number…”
Question:
What strategies can you employ
to find it?

23.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Rule 4: Measure Just Enough &
No More!
Learn what’s important, ignore what’s not!

24.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Game Time! Count the dots
Score-sheet Coming Round
1. Shown Patterns of Red Dots for 2
seconds
2. Count/Estimate Number of Dots
3. 5 Second Countdown
4. This will be repeated 10 times
5. Swap Scorecards & Total Results
Yes, there is 3!

25. Question 1

26. 5
3
1
2
4

27. Question 2

28. 5
3
1
2
4

29. Question 3

30. 5
3
1
2
4

31. Question 4

32. 5
3
1
2
4

33. Question 5

34. 5
3
1
2
4

35. Question 6

36. 5
3
1
2
4

37. Question 7

38. 5
3
1
2
4

39. Question 8

40. 5
3
1
2
4

41. Question 9

42. 5
3
1
2
4

43. Question 10

44. 5
3
1
2
4

45. Game Over!
(You can now relax)

46.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
“Previously on Red Dots Matter!”
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Number of Wrong Answers v Total Variance
aka "Amount you're out by"
Sum of total wrong dots Count of Wrong Dots

47.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
2. Think Small, Bigger Success
 Smaller Projects carry higher success
rates
 Larger projects have exponentially
higher risks and impact
Takeaway
Keep Projects Small!
Break large projects into smaller, value
chain aligned deliverables

48.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Think Small, Bigger Success
= 14,4
4
3
3
= + = 10
9 1
• Split into Predictable Chunks, Then Aggregate
• Use Small Chunks - Lowers Variability (& Confusion)
• Beware Relationships! Any Relationship is Complex! Especially if Shared!
• Use what you know as a baseline and LEARN!
• = More ‘Accurate’ Delivery!

49.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Rule 5: All Good things in Small
Packages
Keep work small. It reduces risk and delivers value earlier

50.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Standard Risks: Traditional On-Premise
Classical Implementation
 Pre-Sales Consultancy/Solution Architecture
 Heavy CapEx
 Servers
 Software & Licensing
 Development & Integration
 In-house Maintenance & Production Support
 Once Bought & Built, it’s Bought & Built
 …but Maintenance costs continue
 Change business? Change infrastructure!
 Cannot pivot until break-even or project is
canned!
£(10,000,000)
£(8,000,000)
£(6,000,000)
£(4,000,000)
£(2,000,000)
£-
£2,000,000
£4,000,000
£6,000,000
£8,000,000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37
CumulativeValue
Months
Traditional IT Investment

51.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Standard Risks: On-Premise v Cloud
Lean-Agility & Cloud
 Near Zero Capital Expenditure
 Starts delivering value earlier
 Evaluate business case earlier
 PAYG/SaaS Model
 Charged for utilised Compute & Storage Only
 Routine maintenance -> cloud provider’s problem
 risk transfer
 Scale up & Down as required
 Demand goes up/down -> Costs go up/down
 App needs increase/decrease->Costs increase/decrease
 No minimum size
 Opens up to markets not previously available (e.g. SME’s)
 Allows you to pivot from day 1!
£(10,000,000)
£(5,000,000)
£-
£5,000,000
£10,000,000
£15,000,000
£20,000,000
£25,000,000
£30,000,000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37
CumulativeValue
Months
Traditional IT Investment v Agile OpEx Models

52.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
How does Dynamics 365 help?
Replaces CRM Online (Nov 2016)
 Simplified Pricing Model in `Dynamics
Business & Enterprise Editions
 UK Market has found Dynamics 365
licensing confusing
 Heavily dependent on existing licensing
 Microsoft 3-year Transitional Pricing
eases move
 AX & Navision perpetual licensing may
mean sticking with them for now
 Yet, new SME’s can adopt at lower cost
 New Markets: 5.2 million UK businesses,
99.1% of which are SME’s
Business Edition
 Dynamics 365 for Financials*
 Dynamics 365 for Marketing
 Dynamics 365 for Operations
 Dynamics 365 for Sales
 Dynamics 365 for Customer Service
 Dynamics 365 for Field Service
 Dynamics 365 for Project Service
Automation
*Available Europe 2017/18

53.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
MS Dynamics 365: The Solution?
Transport (Field Service, Project Service Automation)
Inventory (Operations)
Motion (Field Service)
Waiting (Field Service)
Over-Processing (Operations)
Overproduction (Operations)
Defects (Customer Service)
(the +1) Skills (Project Service Automation)

54.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Rule 6: Never Skimp on Quality!
The later a defect, the more you lose!

55.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Game Time! Flipping Coins
Two People: Race to the top

56.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Team A v Team B - Match the Pattern
Team A
• Flip 1 coin
• If it is NOT the first item in your
pattern
• Keep flipping that coin again until
it is
• Move on to the next coin
Team B
• Flip All coins
• Q: Does it match the pattern?
• If not, reject it, flip all 10 again
• Keep flipping all of them until
you get your pattern

57.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Team A v Team B - Takeaway
• Keep testing quality and repairing at each stage
• Rejections further down the line waste more (and so lose more) than
earlier in the line
• Never pass a defect further upstream

58.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Takeaways
1: Quit Multitasking
2: Align to the Value Chain
3: Prioritise Value, Whole Value and Nothing but Value
4: Measure Just Enough & No More!
5: Put all good things in small packages
6: Never skimp on quality

59.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Fin
Q&A

60.  www.axelisys.co.uk @axelisys
Thanks for Watching
Speak & Social
Twitter: @axelisys, @EtharUK
Facebook: fb.com/axelisys
Blog: medium.com/tech-sojourna
Clarityfm: clarity.fm/EtharAlali
Quora: www.quora.com/profile/Ethar-Alali
Attribution
All images courtesy of Google images and are the property of their respective owners
Ethar Alali @EtharUK @Axelisys
Managing Director & Chief Architect
Polymath-MathMo. Programming since 9 years old. TOGAF 9 Certified, change
agent.
Blog: GoadingtheITGeek.blogspot.co.uk
Managing Director/CEO of Dynacognetics.
Specialist Agile-EA, ICT Strategist & Advisor.
Member of HiveMind Network.
Accredited Growth Voucher Advisor
certified to deliver IT & Web Growth
Consultancy to SMEs and Startups as part of
the government’s Growth Voucher Scheme.
About Me
Accreditations & Associations