1. Look at agile starting
from thermodynamics
Agile Tour 2015 Hangzhou
Philip Wang
2. Second law of thermodynamics
Heat can never pass from a colder to a warmer body without some
other change, connected therewith, occurring at the same time.
It is impossible, by means of inanimate material agency, to derive
mechanical effect from any portion of matter by cooling it below
the temperature of the coldest of the surrounding objects.
Clausius statement
Kelvin statement
6. Structural Organizational Complexity Dynamic Organizational Complexity
Structural IT Complexity Dynamic IT Complexity
Structural Dynamic
ITOrganizational
A Conceptual Framework for ISD Project Complexity
Lee & Xia/A Measure of ISD Project Complexity
7. Structural Organizational Complexity Dynamic Organizational Complexity
No sufficient/appropriate staffing
The business environment of the end-users
changed rapidly
No sufficient commitment/support from the top
management
The end-users’ organizational structure
changed rapidly
Project manager did not have direct control
over project resources
The end-users’ business processes changed
rapidly
The end-users’ information needs changed
rapidly
Implementing the project caused changes in
the users’ organizational structure
Structural IT Complexity Dynamic IT Complexity
Multiple technology platforms
Information technologies that the project
depended on changed rapidly
Multiple software environments
IT infrastructure that the project depended on
changed rapidly
A lot of integration with other systems
IT architecture that the project depended on
changed rapidly
Multiple external contractors and vendors
Software development tools that the project
depended on changed rapidly
Real-time data processing
Structural Dynamic
ITOrganizational
A Conceptual Framework for ISD Project Complexity
Lee & Xia/A Measure of ISD Project Complexity
8. Structural Organizational Complexity Dynamic Organizational Complexity
Structural IT Complexity Dynamic IT Complexity
Structural Dynamic
ITOrganizational
A Conceptual Framework for ISD Project Complexity
Lee & Xia/A Measure of ISD Project Complexity
IT infrastructure
Data
Application
Software development tools
Uncertainty
Requirements
Business Processes
Organizational structure
Uncertainty
Stakeholders(
Users,
project team,
external contractors and vendors)
Variety
IT infrastructure
Data
Application
Technology
Variety
10. Complex System
A system composed of a large number of
interacting components, without central control,
whose emergent “global” behavior---described in
terms of dynamics, information processing, and/or
adaptation.
http://www.complexityexplorer.org
19. self-organizing system
characters
• distributed control
• continuous adaptation to a changing environment
• emergent structure from local interaction
• feedback, both positive and negative
• resilience due to the system’s ability to repair and
adjust
21. Self-organizing Scrum Team
• Pulling work
• Solving conflicts internally
• Improving process by themselves
• Suggesting solutions
• Delivering value
Oleksandr Lutsaievskyi: How to build a superstar self-organizing team?
22. Build Self-organizing Team
• Set the common goal
• Give authority
• Enable knowledge-sharing
• Let team decide
• Set good metrics
Oleksandr Lutsaievskyi: How to build a superstar self-organizing team?
23. –Jim Highsmith
“At the heart of complex adaptive systems
theory’s relevance to software development is
the concept of emergence, and the factors
leading to emergent results. ”
24. References
• COMPLEXITY: THE EMERGING SCIENCE AT THE EDGE
OF ORDER AND CHAOS by M. Mitchell Waldrop
• THE NATURE OF COMPLEXITY IN IS PROJECTS AND
PROGRAMMES by Gregory Robert
• CONDITIONS FOR SELF-ORGANIZING IN HUMAN
SYSTEMS by Glenda Holladay Eoyang
• Toward a complexity theory of information systems
development by Hind Benbya and Bill McKelvey
• Leading a Self-Organizing Team by Mike Cohn