The document discusses using A3 problem solving and kaizen (continuous improvement) methods to drive organizational change. It describes implementing kaizen memos to celebrate small improvements. Problems were analyzed using A3 thinking, with targets set and countermeasures identified and tracked. Leadership was turned "upside down" by having managers solve problems using coaching and A3 thinking. This drove significant improvements like reducing rework lead times from 14.6 to 5 days. The approach spread laterally through communities of practice and helped transform organizations.

1. @agilesensei
After reading this,
introduce yourself
to a person seated
next to you.
Tell this person
why you are here
and what you want
to learn.
written, illustrated and
performed by
Claudio Perrone

2. There is a war
Going on…

3. Most large organizations I know are stuck
into firefighting and command & control
Is Yours?

4. The traditional organization model seems
inadequate to cope with today’s
corporate challenges
Organization chart
Blame flow
Rule makers
Controllers
Enforcers
Losers
…

5. But if organizations are more like
organisms (i.e. complex adaptive systems)...

6. ... How can we encourage and support
everyone to be responsible for change?

7. I looked for clues when I attempted to...

8. 1
Leverage and
celebrate
everyone’s
improvement
ideas

9. Who are the
heroes in a
firefighting
company?

10. It all started when I launched a kaizen
system as part of a major Lean & Agile
transition
Kaizen memo:
Kaizen Memos
Before improvement:
We didn’t trace the small,
continuous improvements
to our work
Action taken:
Created “Kaizen memos” to
post on an “implemented
ideas” board
Effect: Team members trace and celebrate every
implemented idea, even the smallest!
Submitted by: Claudio Perrone
Date:

11. One of the teams was going through a
delicate storming phase

12. Things improved sharply as we began to
celebrate the completion of each story

13. ... leading me to my first kaizen idea!
Kaizen memo:
Ready for Celebration
Before improvement:
Story completion was
taken for granted
Action taken:
Created an explicit
“Ready for Celebration” step
in our workflow
Effect: Team proudly celebrates completion of stories
at standup meetings
Submitted by: Claudio Perrone
Date:

14. Backlog
Selected Development Testing
4
2
4
Ready for
celebration
Done
Done

15. In the early days, loud-voiced celebration
was not for everyone, however...

16. ... So, we introduced a celebration volume
Kaizen memo:
Celebration Volume
Before improvement:
Action taken:
Some team members were Created a “celebration
“too modest” to celebrate volume” icon to be crossed
with a resounding applause on the Kaizen memo
Effect: Members can choose to celebrate quietly
(e.g. shake of hands, pat on the back, gimme 5, ..)
Submitted by: Claudio Perrone
Date:

17. People began implementing simple ideas such
as improving their working environment...
Before…
… AFTEr

18. ... Experimented with different forms of
visualization (e.g. prisoner metrics, dj
check sheets), scripts, and so on

19. What would your
first kaizen idea
look like?

20. Write it down!
Kaizen memo:
Before improvement:
We had
this problem
Effect:
Action taken:
We did this
It became a little better
Submitted by:
You
Today
Date:

21. Unfortunately, Management’s initial
reaction wasn’t exactly what I expected...

22. “Seeds of a revolution?
Yeah right.”
Who can yawn
the loudest?

23. But as the transition progressed,
massive impediments raised dramatically
to the surface

24. Like never before,
we badly needed
to develop our
ability to...

25. 2
Systematically
solve
problems

26. What do
You
know about
A3 thinking?

27. Copies of my preliminary A3 were lying
on the table…

28. It was a hell of a good way to kick start
a transition

29. I followed that same approach to tackle
problems at team level

30. a "problem" is the difference between
the "current situation" and the
"standard/expectation"
Gap = Problem
Standard
Current Situation

31. So the first step I took with a team was
to clarify & breakdown the problem…
Theme:
Problem Situation:
Target(s):
Cause Analysis:
Countermeasure(s):
Implementation:
Follow-up:

32. Theme:
Background
Team is looking at improving its internal feedback loop to reduce
cost of delay, particularly when rework is involved.
Why are we
talking about it?
Current Situation
Lead-time of reworked stories: 14.6 days
Processing time: 2.8 days
Current State Map
Where do things
stand today?

33. What should be
happening?
Problem Statement
Expectation:
Lead-time of reworked stories: 10d
Expectation –
Current Situation
Discrepancy:
Team takes 4.6d longer to deliver a reworked story
Extent:
The problem affects about 15% of all stories
Rationale:
If no action is taken, customers will continue
to suffer delays
Importance?
Urgency?
Tendency?
When?
How often?
Where?
How Long?
What is
effected?

34. WE THEN SET A TARGET TO STIMULATE
IMPROVEMENT
Theme:
Problem Situation:
Target(s):
Cause Analysis:
Countermeasure(s):
Implementation:
Follow-up:

35. Extent: The problem affects about 15% of all stories
Rationale: If no action is taken, customers will continue
to suffer delays
what?
Target
Reduce lead-time of reworked items
from 14.6d to 10d
by July 31st 2011
how much?
by when?

36. Theme:
Then, we wrote the theme
Reduce lead-time of reworked items from 14.6d to 10d
Background
Team is looking at improving its internal feedback loop to reduce
cost of delay, particularly when rework is involved.
what?
how much?
Current Situation
Lead-time of reworked stories: 14.6 days
Processing time: 2.8 days

37. What prevents us from
reaching our target
Condition?
Analysis
Facts, not
opinions
Cause Analysis:
Push system
Lead
time
> 10d
Tasks
Functional
accumulate in
test
Why?
large batches Why?
performed
on Deploy
once a week
stage
Why?
Verify “why” logic with
“therefore” in reverse
official (test)
Why?
builds are
installed weekly
Actionable
root causes!
No dedicated
tester
Nightly build
setup/configuration
takes 0.5d

38. Only then we identified a set of
potential countermeasures…
Theme:
Problem Situation:
Target(s):
Cause Analysis:
Countermeasure(s):
Implementation:
Follow-up:

39. June 10, 2011
C.Perrone
Countermeasures
Cause
A
Countermeasure
Description
Benefit
Limit WIP/Pull
Limit how many stories
team can start in
parallel
Effecti
veness
Feasibility
Impact
-improve flow
-encourage small
stories
+
++
0
-
++
--
B
Hire tester
Hire dedicated internal
tester
eliminate dependency
on external people and
spend more time on
testing
B
Do system Test
internally
Devs that don’t work on
feature can test
someone else’s work
Reduces testing
bottlenecks, improves
knowledge sharing
+
+
-
SLAs with
external testers
Create service level
agreements between
team and external
testes
-more predictable flow
-clear expectations
-no “begging”
-closer collaboration
++
+
-
Skip setup
Test the latest version
of a subset of
component files
skipping the full
product setup
Don’t need to wait for
daily/weekly builds,
reduce feedback delay
between dev/test
++
+
-
B
C

40. With the proposed countermeasures the
future would look like this
Future State Map

41. In the implementation section, we
created & shared an action plan
Theme:
Problem Situation:
Target(s):
Cause Analysis:
Countermeasure(s):
Implementation:
Follow-up:

42. Action Plan
What
Who
Where How
Proj.
Compl
etion
Actual
complet
ion
Vsm
Stef./
Claudio
Team
Room
Post-its
10/6
10/6
Trace
prisoner
metrics
Paola
Whiteboard
Mark at
each
standup
15/7
N/A
Adopt
skip-setup
procedure
Team
Team
room
Agree
policy
10/7
10/7
Limit WIP
Team
Whiteboard
Agree
policy
27/6
27/6
Hire tester
Stef.
Meeting
room
Begging
Mgmt :D
Never
29/6
Agree
internal
testing policy
Team
Meeting
Room
Retrospec
tive
10/7
10/7
SLAs with
external
testers
Claudio/
Elena/
Stef.
Meeting
Room
Agree
policy
10/7
15/7

43. Finally the follow-up section…
Theme:
Problem Situation:
Target(s):
Cause Analysis:
Countermeasure(s):
Implementation:
Follow-up:

44. Indicators
Item
Initial
15/7
31/7
Leadtime nonreworked
items
7.8d
5d
5d
Leadtime
reworked
items
14.6d
6d
5d
15
5
6
WIP
Follow-up
IF
THEN
Countermeasure plan failed
Begin A3 process to identify root cause of failed
plan
Target achieved but problem could
recur
Identify other root causes and find new
countermeasures
Target achieved and problem won’t
recur
Share findings, standardize countermeasures, begin
A3 process to reduce percentage of reworked items

45. We posted the A3 on the wall, right
beside the kanban board

46. the team became 3 times faster, with
less rework

47. The new state became the new "baseline
for improvement”

48. We shared our findings with our
communities of practice to let the
acquired knowledge spread “laterally”

49. What problems
would you
tackle?

50. More importantly, management saw what
it means to "remove impediments”

51. … making me
realize that
I had chance to...

52. 3
Turn the
leadership
triangle
upside-down

53. At this point of the transition we were
falling into chaos
Satir Change Model
Performance
Late Status Quo
Foreign Element
(transition begins)
New Status Quo
Integration
Time
Resistance
Chaos
Transforming Idea

54. The leadership triangle was actually broken

55. To turn the leadership triangle upside
down, we didn’t need enforcers, “easy
going” or absent managers…
we needed
problem
solvers!

56. So I began to tackle problems by pairing
up with one promising manager

57. … Then I began practicing quick coaching
cycles
What do you mean by it? (Clarity)
Is it always the case? (Assumptions)
How do you know? (Evidence)
What are you implying
by that? (Implications)
Would that necessarily
happen? (consequences)
Do anyone see it
another way? (Alternative
Point of views)

58. Today more managers
,
are beginning their a3
thinking journey

59. So, I released a family of thinking tools…
www.a3thinker.com

60. To help them change the world.
one problem at a time.
www.a3thinker.com/deck

61. Final Thoughts

62. “
If you want 1 year of prosperity,
grow seeds.
If you want 10 years of prosperity,
grow trees.
If you want 100 years of prosperity,
grow people.
-- Chinese proverb

63. Thank You!
Claudio
Perrone
claudio@agilesensei.com
www.agilesensei.com
www.a3thinker.com
www.twi<er.com/agilesensei