This session is for practitioners who are serious about business results and helping Agile values and principles succeed in large scale environments. David addresses the terrifying questions business owners have in the real world -- questions Agilists don't like talking about. Agile work is messy business. We've broken the mold and a generation of executives and managers are reeling in ambiguity. They turn to consultants who throw frameworks at them. They turn to Agile Coaches and hear, ""it's all about mindset"". We need to do better than that! We can elevate the discussion with business leaders and stop beating around the bush. Real business problems need serious answers. David Sabine

1. THE MESSY BUSINESS OF
AGILE AT SCALE
Straight Answers to Important Questions Agilists Don’t Like to Talk About

2. DAVID SABINE
https://scrum.works
@davesabine

4. WARNING
I may tell you things you don’t want to
hear.

5. THINK

6. LISTEN

7. DISCUSS

8. REVENUES ARE DOWN 4% THIS
YEAR. THE BOARD HAS DECIDED WE
MUST DOWNSIZE. HOW SHOULD I
DECIDE WHICH 60 PEOPLE TO FIRE?
What would an Agile coach discuss with this VP?

9. Q
A
Ask the teams.
Which teams?
A
Fix root causes.
· We hired when we didn’t need to.
· We lost focus and spawned
unnecessary initiatives.
Revenues are down 4% this year. The
board has decided we must downsize. How
should I decide which 60 people to fire?

10. WE INVESTED 18M LAST YEAR TO
LAUNCH AGILE TEAMS. HOW CAN
WE KNOW THEY’RE BETTER THAN
OUR NON-AGILE TEAMS?
What would an Agile coach discuss with this SVP?

11. Q
A
Visit the teams. Observe them while working.
· If the observable behaviour isn’t different: your
investment is very likely lost.
Ask the stakeholders.
· And trust their qualitative feedback.
Ask the employees who’ve worked in both
environments.
A
What about quantitative analysis?
· Only with large sample sizes could quantitative
analysis be appropriate.
We invested 18M last year to launch Agile
teams. How can we know they’re better
than our non-Agile teams?

12. I HAVE TO MAKE 1.2B IN REVENUE
THIS YEAR. I’M PUTTING 4 BOATS IN
THE WATER…I DON’T KNOW WHICH
ONE IS GOING TO MAKE IT.
What would an Agile coach discuss with this EVP?

13. Q
A
Pottery class.
A
Landing a rocket.
I have to make 1.2B in revenue this year.
I’m putting 4 boats in the water…I don’t
know which one is going to make it.

14. BY 2021, 53 TEAMS NEED TO SOLVE FOR
18 NEW REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS.
WE’LL PAY 1M FINES EACH DAY WE’RE
LATE. HOW CAN WE MAKE THE TEAMS
GO FASTER?
What would an Agile coach discuss with this VP?

15. Q
A
Fully inform the teams of the regulations.
Fully inform the team of the fines and business impact.
Ask all teams to track and report actionable metrics.
Maybe the problem isn’t speed. It’s focus & priority.
Eliminate (or coordinate) dependencies.
Keep the teams small. Keep quality high.
Collocation for the majority of the time.
Learn to deploy small batches every day.
100% allocation to the team.
“Product Teams” not “Project Teams”
By 2021, 53 teams need to solve for 18
new regulatory requirements. we’ll pay 1M
fines each day we’re late. How can we
make the teams go faster?

16. WHAT DOES AN EXECUTIVE
NEED?

17. EXECUTIVES NEED
Direct answers to direct questions.
Information about their org.
Courageous ideas in the spirit of: “We are uncovering better ways of developing
software by doing it and helping others do it.”
… so, I’ll share with you my experience if I think I can help you.
I always tell my clients: “I will
never claim to know YOUR job.”

23. THE MOST DIFFICULT TOPICS
Performance Management & Evaluation of Individuals
Planning & Forecasting
Staffing & Utilization
Comparing Teams

24. LET’S ADDRESS YOUR EXAMPLES

25. THANK YOU

26. DAVID SABINE, PST
https://scrum.works
@davesabine