Agile Maine Meeting - Challenges and options in guiding agile adoptions

© 2012-2015 Eliassen Group. All Rights Reserved -1-
Challenges and Options in Guiding
Agile Adoptions
Presented by Dave Moran
October 2015

Former Developer,
Development Manager,
Product Owner
Blogger
Book Reviewer/Contributor
Agile Coach – Eliassen Group
Founder/member:

Transforming to Agile
We won’t be able to explore every
challenge or every option in this session

Wouldn’t It Be Nice…
“It’s a journey”
A prescriptive adoption model with
clear indicators of progress
What we’re told:
What we desire:

What Does Your Transformation Look Like?
Where are you now?
What is your target condition?
What are your greatest challenges?

The Mindset Challenge
Where are you now?
What is your target condition?
“A target is an outcome, and a target condition is a description of a
process operating in a way required to achieve the desired outcome.”
– Mike Rother

The Copycat Challenge
Copying tools & techniques used by other
companies is too superficial
When it comes to being agile, the values
and principles are the key leverage points
Frameworks, tools and practices support
agility, but they don’t make you agile

Challenge: Where Should We Start?
CYCLE TIME =
WORK IN PROCESS
THROUGHPUT

Challenge: Where Should We Start?
CYCLE TIME =
WORK IN PROCESS
THROUGHPUT
Too much WIP reduces value delivery and diverts
attention to expedite work and deal with other
“excitement” (stress) associated with making deliveries

Benefits of Reducing WIP
• Sharper focus improves productivity and quality
• Increases flow of value
• Creates space for process improvements

Peter Drucker’s Leadership Challenge
What have you stopped doing in the last two months?

Peter Drucker’s Leadership Challenge
What have you stopped doing in the last two months?
“You can’t execute new strategy if you don’t remove some of the past.”
– Rob Savage, COO of Taco Bell

The Challenge with Removing Some of the Past…
The potential for conflict
Confusion

“We already tried
agile and it didn’t
work…”
“We can’t be
agile because…”
“This isn’t
working…”
“Just tell me what
to do…”
“…and then I’ll pick
and choose what I
like.”
The Push-Back Challenge
What can you do?

Commitment indicates a willingness to
follow a path and explore new territory
Ask for Commitment

The Empowerment Challenge
When Captain Marquet took command of the Santa
Fe, the ship was ranked at the bottom of the fleet
Within one year the Santa Fe went from worst to
first in most measures of performance, including
retention of sailors and officers

The Empowerment Challenge
Captain Marquet’s approach:
Don’t preach and hope for ownership; implement
mechanisms that actually give ownership
“Many empowerment programs fail because they are
just that, ‘programs’ or ‘initiatives’ rather than the
central principle… behind how the organization does
business.”

Enabling Empowerment
As authority is delegated, technical knowledge at all
levels takes on greater importance
Divesting control without competence = chaos
It is equally important that everyone understands what
the organization is about
“Don’t move information to authority, move authority
to information.”

Key Guidance
• Use “I intend to . . .” to turn passive followers into active leaders
• Think out loud (everyone)
• Resist the urge to provide solutions: Specify goals, not methods
• We learn (everywhere, all the time)
• Eliminate top-down monitoring systems
• Achieve excellence, don’t just avoid errors
• Build trust and take care of your people
• Use guiding principles for decision criteria

The Date vs Scope Challenge
Source: Kenny Rubin

Is This an Option?

Reality
There is always an investment
threshold or timeframe
involved where something
must be delivered

Determine the Key Business Driver
Feature-driven
Ship when feature-
complete
or
backlog size / velocity = duration
duration * velocity = backlog size

The Coaching Challenge
Are coaches a wise investment?

Learning While Working
Blend training with actual work
– Training improves productivity 22%
– Training + coaching improves productivity 88%
New skills are best learned through real-life application
Executive Coaching as a Transfer of Training Tool: Effects on
Productivity in a Public Agency by Gerald Ollvero, K. Denise Bane,
Richard E. Kopelman (Journal of Public Personnel Management)

Coaching Challenge, Part 2
Instruct & Direct
Partner Inspire & Empower
Advise & Inform
Which style works best?

It’s Situational!
Team dynamics, the level of understanding and experience,
specific circumstances, etc. dictate the approach

The Organizational Transformation Challenge
How do we transform our organization?
Do we begin by changing the structure to an Agile structure? (And what is that, anyway?)

Transform Your Thinking…
From… To…
Functional silos Whole-team delivery
Allocating people to projects Allocating work to stable teams
Predictive Planning/Big Up-Front
Requirements and Design
Adaptive & Responsive Planning,
Progressive Elaboration and
Emergent Design
Long Delivery Cycles Short Delivery Cycles
Multiple Priorities Rigorous Priorities
Process-centric People-centric
Data-Driven Data-Informed
Taking control Giving control
…and use new principles to guide the operation and structure of your organization

A
D
R
K
A
wareness of the need for change
esire to make the change happen by participating and
supporting the change
nowledge and information about how to change, and what the
change looks like
bility to implement the change through new skills and behaviors
einforcement to help the change stick for the long term
Ingredients for Successful Change
ADKAR: A Model for Change in Business, Government and our Community by Jeff Hiatt

How to Catalyze Organizational Change
Beyond Performance: How Great Organizations Build Ultimate
Competitive Advantage by Colin Price and Scott Keller
1
Programs that mobilize frontline employees to feel ownership are 4x more
likely to succeed
2
Programs that empower employees to use their own initiative for change are
5x more likely to succeed
3
Programs that engage and energize the organization through communication
and involvement are 4x more likely to succeed

Leaders: Model the Change!
Programs in which leaders model the desired
changes are 4x more likely to be successful
Don’t “mail it in” or make a presentation and think
that you are done
Beyond Performance: How Great Organizations Build Ultimate
Competitive Advantage by Colin Price and Scott Keller

Change must happen with people and not to them
Setting Expectations: The Satir J-Curve

Spiraling Up with Change
Changeology: 5 Steps to Realizing Your Goals and Resolutions by John Norcross and Kristin Loberg
Most people repeat 3 to 6
times before successfully
changing behavior

Where Do I Start?
Align WIP and Capacity
CYCLE TIME =
WORK IN PROCESS
THROUGHPUT
Prioritize for, and
deliver on value
Make business goals, work
and success measures
explicit and clear

Where Do I Start?
Small units of work, small changes
Smaller scope = reduced variability, decreased
risk and faster delivery
A continual series of small changes will produce
outstanding results over time
Leverage knowledge and experience:
Get some coaching

“See the whole, optimize the whole” –
Balance all factors to generate the greatest outcome
Technical
Practices
Design
Quality
Business
Clarity
Prioritized value
ROI
Risk/Reward
Health
Sustainable pace
Effective communication
Development of people
Autonomy
Accountability
Respect
As You Continue…

http://www.presentermedia.com
Some of the graphics used in this slide deck leverage images
from the following resources:
Thank You!
@EliassenAgile Facebook.com/Eliassen Group LinkedIn.com/Eliassen Group

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