A N A G I L E A P P R O A C H T O
C H A N G E M A N A G E M E N T
R E G I O N A L S C R U M G AT H E R I N G - T O R O N T O , C A N A D A

L O O K I N G O U T WA R D
A F T E R A L M O S T 4 0 0 Y E A R S T H E M I N G D Y N A S T Y
C O L L A P S E D I N L E S S T H A N A D E C A D E

• Lifespans of big
companies are getting
shorter than ever
• An increasing number of
corporate leaders will lose
control of their firm’s
• About half of the S&P 500
will be replaced over the
next 10 years
- I N N O S I G H T E X E C U T I V E B R I E F I N G
“We’re entering a stretch of accelerating change
in which lifespans of big companies are getting
shorter than ever.”
www.innosight.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Corporate-Longevity-2016-Final.pdf

C O M P L E X I T Y I S T H E
N E W B L A C K , R E S I L I E N C E
I S T H E N E W O R A N G E
• The pace of change is
undermining companies
• The goal is no longer
stability or domination
• Rather experimentation
and rapid response,
resilience to complex
change

R E S I L I E N C E
“Resilience is the capacity of
a system to absorb
disturbance and reorganize
while undergoing change so
as to still retain essentially the
same function, structure,
identity, and feedback”
[Brian H. Walker, 2004]
“Anti-fragility is a property of
systems that increases in
capability, resilience, or
robustness as a result of
stressors, shocks, volatility,
noise, mistakes, faults,
attacks, or failures”
[Nassim Nicholas Taleb, 2012]
A N T I - F R A G I L E

A N T I - F R A G I L I T Y
A N D R E S I L I E N C E
• Fragility defines stable,
optimized, expert
systems
• Resilient organizations
build capabilities that
allow them to adapt
• Anti-fragile organizations
seek symbiosis and
diversity
https://dzone.com/articles/software-from-fragile-to-antifragile

P U T P E O P L E F I R S T
S M A L L , D E D I C AT E D T E A M S E X C E L
1

H O W A G I L E A R E
Y O U ?
• Divide number of people
(FTE and contract) in IT
function by 10
• How many teams do you
actually have?
• Express ratio as percentage
R AT I O
A C T U A L /
P O T E N T I A L
U P P E R
Q U A R T I L E
> 7 6 %
A B O V E
M E D I A N
> 5 3 %
B E L O W
M E D I A N
< 5 3 %
L O W E R
Q U A R T I L E
< 3 2 %
explore.versionone.com/state-of-agile/versionone-11th-annual-state-of-agile-report-2

C R O S S - F U N C T I O N A L
T E A M S A R E T H E
N O R M
• “This is the way we used
to work”
• Complex problem
spaces require different
capabilities
• In order to recruit the
best...

T H E W E S T R U M M O D E L
S E R VA N T L E A D E R S H I P B U I L D S R E S I L I E N C E
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1765804/pdf/v013p0ii22.pdf

D E L I V E R O F T E N
S H O R T E N I N G T H E C Y C L E T I M E
2

0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
2014 2015 2016
Deploys per Year
Deploy Frequency
Low performers High performers
L E A R N T O D E L I V E R
M U C H FA S T E R
• Defines learning cycle
• Removes need for
Command & Control
(delivery is the
confirmation of progress)
• Builds capability (more
on that later)
State of DevOps Report 2016 (Puppet Labs + DORA)

0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
< 1 week ~ 1 week > 1 week > 1 month
Percentage Respondencts
Release Frequency
Alpha (2017) Dzone (2018)
D E P L O Y F R E Q U E N T LY
H O W L O N G D O E S I T TA K E T O G E T A C H A N G E I N T O C U S T O M E R S ’ H A N D S
https://alphahq.com/blog/frequently-product-managers-run-experiments-ship-new-features/

H O W O F T E N
C A N Y O U
D E P L O Y ?
D E L I V E RY
F R E Q U E N C Y
U P P E R
Q U A R T I L E
< 1 W E E K
A B O V E
M E D I A N
~ 1 W E E K
B E L O W
M E D I A N
> 1 W E E K
L O W E R
Q U A R T I L E
> 1 M O N T H
https://dzone.com/storage/assets/8389652-dzone2018-researchguide-devops.pdf
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
< 1 week ~ 1 week > 1 week > 1 month
Percentage Respondencts
Release Frequency
Alpha (2017) Dzone (2018)
https://alphahq.com/blog/frequently-product-managers-run-experiments-ship-new-features/
• On average, how often
do you deploy to
production (so your
customers can see it)?

R E D U C E T I M E T O M A R K E T
I F N O T T E C H - S A M E P R O B L E M …

VA L U E F O C U S
D E L I V E R I N G VA L U E N O T A C T I V I T Y
3

M E A S U R I N G S U C C E S S O F A G I L E
2 0 1 7 S TAT E O F S C R U M A N D V E R S I O N O N E S TAT E O F A G I L E S U R V E Y S

- A L A N W E I S S
“Ask your customers to be part of the solution.
And don’t view them as part of the problem.”

B C A A & E V O
“Not more of the same thing,
but more from the same team.”

D I S T R A C T I O N
C A N B E D E A D LY
• Volkswagen has 23.7B Euros
on hand
• It isn’t the 30B Euros in
damages that will kill off VW
• It’s the lost time and focus as
the industry shifts

0
10
20
30
40
50
< 1 week < 2 weeks < 6 weeks Rarely, if ever
Percentage Respondencts
Experimentation Frequency
Alpha (2017)
VA L U E F O C U S
• How frequently do your
teams validate the value
they deliver?
E X P E R I M E N T
F R E Q U E N C Y
T O P 2 5 % < 1 0 D AY S
T O P 5 0 % > 1 0 D AY S
B O T T O M 5 0 %
R A R E LY, I F
E V E R
https://alphahq.com/blog/frequently-product-managers-run-experiments-ship-new-features/

E X P E R I M E N T S T H AT
VA L I D AT E F E AT U R E
D E C I S I O N S E V E RY 1 0
D AY S O R L E S S
M O R E T H A N 3 / 4 O F
Y O U R D E L I V E RY
C A PA B I L I T Y W O R K A S
A G I L E T E A M S
R E G U L A R LY R E L E A S E T O
C U S T O M E R S I N U N D E R
A W E E K

T H A N K Y O U
D AV E S H A R R O C K
@ D AV E S H A R R O C K
D AV E . S H A R R O C K @ A G I L E 4 2 . C O M