The document discusses similarities between agile project management and sailing. It describes how small self-organizing teams with proven protocols can work collaboratively like a ship's crew. The backlog represents the "lay-line" course to complete tasks, while risks are like wind shifts that require adjustments. Performance is measured by accumulating value as tasks are completed, similar to a ship progressing along its lay-line. Larger programs can be managed by coordinating multiple teams like coordinating a fleet of ships.

1. Agile for Project Managers
A sailor’s look at Agile
A presentation for
A presentation for
Produced by
Square Peg Consulting, LLC
Orlando, Florida
www.sqpegconsulting.com
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2. Agile and Sailing?
Really?
Photo: US Navy
Ok, let's get started!
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3. Begin with small teams
 Collaboration and trust
 Instinctive action without direct commands
 Proven protocols
and practices
 Crew master on
the helm (wheel)
 Redundancy
among crew
 Risks managed
real-time
Photo: US Navy
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4. Scope: sailing for the marks
 Customer (sponsor) Sailing for the marks
prospective
expectation: ‘make
the mark’
 Retrospective: Best
value—most that can
be accomplished
 Every sailor—
individually and
collectively—is
committed
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5. Adjusting Scope
 But… marks are Sailing for the new mark
updated, added new,
or even deleted from
time to time
 Architect drives the
distribution of marks
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6. Lay-line is the backlog plan
 Lay-line: most efficient
course from “here” to
“there”
 Lay-line → ‘backlog’
 Lay-line → ‘planned value’
PV
 Sailing the ‘lay line'
accumulates value
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7. Wind is a source of energy
 Motive energy for the boat (project)
 Source of risks and unknowns
 Represents (also) stakeholder
biases, attitudes, and pressures
 Complex and unpredictable
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8. It all interacts: complex and adaptive
 Boat-sails-rigging: methodology and practices
 Wind: energy, risks
 Mark: scope and sponsor expectations
 Lay-line: back-log & plan to make the ‘mark’
 Overall course: architecture
Complex: A system of many structural parts
with uncertain interactions and behaviors
Adaptive: A system with input-to-output
transform that changes over time to maintain
fidelity of expectation
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9. From energy to value
1. Maximize energy from favorable wind
2. Apply wind energy to create velocity
3. Measure velocity along the lay-line
4. Accumulate value by distance sailed
on the lay-line
Accumulated valued (distance):
velocity along the lay-line x elapsed time
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10. Accumulate earned value
The segmented lay-line is the value plan
EV strategy: Sail as close to the line as
possible
Value is earned when the mark is reached
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11. Tack to the mark
 Tactical response to
circumstances
 Emergent with the wind
 Variance to the planned
lay-line
 Short performance
increments (time box)
Tacking: sailing one direction and then the other across the lay-line
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12. Most pessimistic forecast
 Wind (risk) directly opposes the boat (project)
 Least energy available in the direction of the lay-line
 Strategy:
 Find energy ‘off axis’ (evolve the plan)
 Tack (incremental performance) across the lay-line
Wind
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13. Progress on the lay-line
 Most Pessimistic progress forecast
❖Output / Input
❖EV efficiency
❖Example
1.4 / 2 = 70% Lay-line
Wind (energy and risk)
1
Input 1
increments 1.4 Output:
projected along
the lay-line
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14. Benchmarks forecast velocity
 Velocity creates 'throughput'
 Throughput is "miles sailed" on the lay-line
 "Miles sailed" are like 'story points’ accomplished
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15. Benchmark units of performance
Velocity = performance units per unit
of time
 Performance Unit (Story point) =
Nautical mile (NM)
 Unit of time (Time Box) = 1 hour
 Example:
8 knots velocity = 8 NM per hour
Photo: City of Baltimore
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16. Cost estimating with benchmarks
1. Backlog (performance units)
 Vision, strategic direction, architecture
2. Velocity benchmark
 Benchmark from reference case (similar architecture,
similar environment, similar crew)
3. Unit cost benchmark (cost per unit of time )
 Crew and boat
Inputs
𝐵𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑜𝑔
Expected cost = ∗ Unit cost
𝑉𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
Calculation
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17. Schedule (earned schedule)
 Earned schedule: effective time
made along the lay-line
ES = Total duration x efficiency
Efficiency:
effective duration / total duration
Photo: US NIST
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18. Schedule Example
• Planning metrics
– 40 NM lay-line
– 8 Knot velocity benchmark
– Earnable schedule: 40/8 = 5 hours
• Most pessimistic forecast:
𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 40
– 𝐼𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 = = = 57NM
𝐿𝑎𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑦 0.7
57
– 𝐷𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = = 7.2 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠
8
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19. Scale is manageable
The fleet has sortied
Photo: Nicoyogui on flickr
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20. Scale is manageable
 Vision and strategic direction
 Conveyed from the fleet captain
 Each boat is a self-directing team,
 But learns from the performance of others
 Protocols observed
 For communication, sequencing, and
coordination
 Each boat maintains situational awareness
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21. Rolling Wave planning
 Boats on the leading edge of the fleet relay 'over the
horizon' information to others
 Far out lay-lines planned as approached
And finally:
 Adjustments made for obstructions and wind shifts
The end!
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22. All done and ready for questions!
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23. The author of this seminar
John C Goodpasture, PMP
Program manager, author, coach,
and instructor
• PMI eSeminarsWorldsm instructor for
Advanced Agile Project Management, and
• Advanced Risk Management, and
• Understanding Organizational Change
Portfolio manager and business unit
leader
• Operations and IT professional
info@sqpegconsulting.com
johngoodpasture.com
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24. Read more …..
• Jim Highsmith: “Agile Project Management: Creating
innovative products”
• Dean Leffingwell: “Agile Software Requirements: Lean
requirements practices for Teams, Programs, and the
Enterprise”
• Mike Cohn: “Agile Estimating and Planning”
• Lisa Crispin and Janet Gregory: “Agile Testing: A practical
guide for Testers and Agile Teams”
• John Goodpasture: “Project Management the Agile Way:
Making it work in the Enterprise”
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25. John sailed with the Eau Gallie
Yacht Club, Eau Gallie, FL
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