Despite the fact that we have left behind us the industrial revolution era, the majority of IT projects today are managed with a mindset and with practices that are more appropriate for repetitive labor work, rather than the kind of knowledge work that's so typical and our industry. This cultural shift is, in fact, one of the biggest challenges for the industry itself and for many managers and teams (assuming there is a team). In this session we are going to talk about the major cultural changes in managing knowledge-based projects, such as the strategies and mental models required to deal with a high level of uncertainty. We'll also see why the focus, on this kind of work, shifts to the team rather than the single individuals, why the team is the basic unit of work and which skills are required from the project leaders to work in this kind of ecosystem. Of course, we'll also talk about practical approaches and techniques that we immediately apply when leading knowledge-based projects.

1. Update Your
Wetware
Andrea Provaglio
@andreaprovaglio

2. What I Do
I help IT organizations to find and
implement better ways of doing
business.
I coach teams and individuals who
want to improve technically and
relationally.
In 20+ years in IT, I had clients in
three continents and a U.S. work visa
for “extraordinary abilities in
Sciences”.

3. Ephemeralization

4. “Do more and more with less and less
until you can do everything with nothing”
-- Richard Buckminster Fuller

5. For instance...

6. “Do more and more with less and less
until you can do everything with nothing”

7. “Do more and more with less and less
until you can do everything with nothing”

8. “Do more and more with less and less
until you can do everything with nothing”

9. How much does it take to modify
this keyboard layout?

10. And this?

11. Moving Targets
For us, change is
generally easier compared
to physical goods.
Users rightly ask for it, in
response to changing
conditions in their world.

12. Asymmetrical Payoffs
"When we make much more
money from success than we
lose from failure, then we
should be willing to invest in
opportunities that have
considerably less than a 50
percent chance of success."
-- Donald G. Reinertsen

13. Misplaced Expectations
Things will not change
Predictable financial payoffs

14. Uncertainty

15. Interconnected World
In 2012, CERN LHCb antimatter experiment in
Geneva was slowed down by Thailand floods.

16. Forecasts
NOAA
Gianfranco
Which one do you trust more?
and why?

17. Another Question for You
Why do we forecast
the weather, but we
estimate the time and
cost for developing a
new, ephemeral
product?
Hint: use rolling forecasts instead (Siemens does)

18. Predictability vs. Adaptability

19. A Roadmap? Nah.

20. A Roadmap Gives Options
Even better with real-time status updates.

21. Using Impact Maps
Validate hypothesis with fail-
fast, fail-safe experiments

22. Knowledge

23. Knowledge Workers
Workers whose main
capital is knowledge.
What differentiates knowledge
work [...] is its primary task of
"non-routine" problem solving
that requires a combination of
convergent, divergent, and
creative thinking.

24. The Team is our Basic Unit of Work
Hint: refrain from micro-managing individuals

25. Knowledge Work Organizations
Knowledge Work

26. Knowledge Work Organizations
Knowledge
Work
Visualization
Feedback
Measuring Queues
Limiting WIP
Measuring what
really matters
Organizational Culture
Roles
Collaboration
Self-organizationLearning
Soft Skills
Deep Dialogue

27. A Knowledge Work Leader...
Facilitates deep
understanding
Values diversity Fosters an healthy
ecosystem
Protects
Is a steward of organization’s
resources for the greater good
Encourages
trust and
learning

28. Heroes, Dictators, Prima Donnas and
Masters of Puppets Don’t Belong Here
...??
!

29. Personal Responsibility is an
Essential Quality
Hint: Christopher Avery's Responsibility Process

30. Wetware Update

31. Our Dear Old Inefficiencies
Time
Cost
Scope
...?
and BTW, where is your “WHY”?

32. A Different Model
Options
Vision
Rolling
forecasts
Moving
targets

33. In Short...
Challenge your expectations
Leverage Uncertainty, cultivate Vision
Understand and foster social units of work
Measure what really matters

34. “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high
and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”
-- Michelangelo Buonarroti

35. Thank You!
LinkedIn Twitter Slideshare
Also on:
http://andreaprovaglio.com
http://beyondagile.com

36. References
•Donald G. Reinertsen:“The Principles of Product Development
Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development” - ISBN
1935401009
•Gerald Weinberg:“The Secrets of Consulting” - ISBN 0932633013
•Goiko Adzic:“Impact Mapping: Making a big impact with software
products and projects” - ISBN 0955683645
•http://impactmapping.org
•The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/03/23/
cern_storage_disk_shortage/
•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_worker

37. Images
• http://www.imagozone.com/filme/The-Lord-of-the-Rings-The-Return-of-the-King/LOTR---The-Return-of-the-King-115
• http://krisrants.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/colourful-mind-mapping/
• http://nmla.org/images/nmreads/authors/weinberg-gerald/weinberg-gerald-LARGE.jpg
• http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z6B6BweyR5Q/UEfHJzeVKZI/AAAAAAAAC7E/l36gImxliSo/s1600/Love+Song+of+R.+Buckminster+Fuller
+5.jpg
• http://www.wallpaperfull.com/stockimage/michelangelo-buonarroti-interior-of-the-sistine-chapel.jpg
• http://blogs.suntimes.com/music/live-WKP-042012-20.jpg
• http://www.amoderndad.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/bookshelf.jpg
• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Addizionatrice_Dalton.jpg
• http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FzTmWd4OKRs/TblTWnlkDfI/AAAAAAAAAHY/p8sGR6i6t0U/s1600/VintageOld
%2BMapandCompassTheLongGoodbye.png
• http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1150/881564886_33ea4f3e7e_o.jpg
• http://stmedia.startribune.com/images/3vinyl0703.jpg
• http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/images/dscn0702.jpg
• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/NOAA-M.jpg
• http://www.hughjohnson.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/printed.Tuscan-farmer.-Curvers-retouched.jpg
• http://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/insight/files/2013/07/LHCb-Credit-CERN.jpg
• http://q2learning.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/moving-target.jpg
• http://britishgirlinparis.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/rodin_thethinker.jpg
• http://www.usalavoce.it/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/quelo.jpg
• http://cdn2.tnwcdn.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/LeaningBack.jpg
• http://www.livewellmagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/sad-depressed-man.jpg
• http://aubreydaniels.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/personal-responsibility1.jpg