A talk on self organization of agile teams and organizations

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Analog organizations
for the digital revolution

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The "German Virtues" - security consciousness, continuity,
diligence, perseverance, risk avoidance (…) no longer help, no, they
prevent important evolutionary steps, they paralyze.
The world belongs to the fast, the risky, the aggressive, the brave. Big
boys like Google, Amazon, Alibaba (…) owe their success only
secondarily to the use of technology. They owe their success to a
different mindset, a different management style, new business models
and the courage to implement them.
Dirk Föste
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-digitalization-has-almost-nothing-do-technology-dirk-föste/
The end of the german virtues?
exploitationexploration

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Exploitation is about
efficiency, increasing
productivity, control,
certainty, and variance
reduction1
Exploitation vs. Exploration
Exploration is about search,
discovery, autonomy,
innovation and embracing
variation1
1: Source: „Ambidexterity as a Dynamic Capability: Resolving the Innovator s Dilemma“ a working
paper by Charles A. O Reilly III Michael L. Tushman, 2007

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Exploitation and Exploration = Ambidexterity
Build for the futureMake use of the present
resources
Risk averse Embraces risk to fail fast
Profitable requires investments

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Hierarchies are great in blocking innovation
Gosh! What a great
idea, that would really
rock the market!
Does this fit in my
budget? How will this
affect my short term
goals?
What if it goes wrong?
Will this leave a stain
on my career?

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Hierarchies are great in exploitation
I did not have to face
the uncertainty of
change
Cool, we maintained
our high profitability!
Great! Our
shareholders are
happy

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• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change over following a plan
• The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge
from self-organizing teams
Self-organization in the agile world1
1: siehe agiles Manifest: http://www.agilemanifesto.org/

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• self-organization
teams decide autonomously, HOW they achieve goals
the goals - WHAT is to be achieved, is still defined outside the teams
line management usually persist in a new spirit and limited scope
Example: Scaled Scrum
• self-direction:
the teams (or circles) decide both WHAT and HOW to achieve
conventional line management is replaced by some self-governing
structure
Exmaples: Buurtzorg, Holacracy
Terminology

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Scrum skalieren

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SCRUM is a teamsport
Many good teams do not
automtically form a well-functioning
organization
A bunch of great individuals is
not (necessarily) a good team

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Area Product
Owner Y
Area Product Owner X
Customer
Feature-
Team X
Feature-
Team Y1
Overall
Product Owner
Area Backlog X
Area Backlog Y
agile value streams with large scale scrum
Feature-
Team Y2
Scrum Master
Have the power to
decide on all
features for a
product (group)
Have the power to
decide on how they
work

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Self-organizion needs a container
Source: The CDE Model by Glenda Eoyang http://www.hsdinstitute.org/assets/documents/5.1.1.3.cde-30apr16.pdf
Communication
patterns emerge
in every self-
organizing system
Container hold the
system while the
patterns form: methods,
space, organizational
rules, influence of
hierarchy,..

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Fostering self-organizing teams
Source: The CDE Model by Glenda Eoyang http://www.hsdinstitute.org/assets/documents/5.1.1.3.cde-30apr16.pdf
Continuously reflect
which patterns are
helpful, and which
are not
Find and adjust an
adequate container:
e.g. tighten or loosen
the organizational rules

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Establish new learning spaces
Formats for
regular reflection
across teams
Team 1 Team 2 Team 3
Rituals for
informal exchange
Playful ways to
experiment and learn
Room to re-negotiate
roles & responsibilities
Learn from the
outside world
Artefacts for
appreciation
Team ...
1 Source: okhíyA gamification, http://www.okhiya.consulting

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Learn and adapt in a playful manner
Gamification approaches:
• can solve tightened up
problems
• Makes it easier to reflect
and improve your
patterns (dissociation)
• Works incredibly fast
compared to other
approaches
1 Source: okhíyA gamification, http://www.okhiya.consulting
„Du setzt beim Spiel vermeintlich eine
Maske auf, in Wahrheit legst Du alle
Masken ab“1

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Let’s play a little
learning game....
© Y Unternehmensberatung OG | www.yconsulting.at Seite 17
Let’s play a little
learning game....