Agile Basics for Government with ThoughtWorks Most people interested in the field of innovation have heard of agile innovation teams. These small, entrepreneurial groups are designed to stay close to customers and adapt quickly to changing conditions. When implemented correctly, they have a reputation for almost always result in higher team productivity and moral, faster time to market, better quality and lower risk than traditional approaches can achieve. But while agile methods caught on first in IT departments and are now widely used in software development, the agile approach has potential to transform the public sector in ways far beyond better bits and bytes. Conditions are ripe for agile teams in any situation where problems are complex, solutions are at first unclear, project requirements are likely to change, and close collaboration with end users is feasible: a description that matches many facing a wide variety of public sector activities. This session will provide participants with an opportunity to explore what the world of agile can teach them – about themselves, their work and their potential to serve their clients better, whatever their role. It will confront some of the common myths and misconceptions about agile, and demonstrate how an agile approach can enable teams to deliver sooner and scale faster through a proven learning culture that builds and strengthens the team and its capabilities.

2. 12th annual State of Agile Report

3. Mauro Santos
Vered Netzer

5. Agile methods encourage teams to build
quickly, test what they’ve built and iterate
their work based on regular feedback.

6. ●
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●
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●

8. 8

9. 9

10. Value
Time
Value
Time
Analysis
Implementation
Test
In Use

11. VALUE
Eg. 2% cut in operational
costs
RESULTS
Eg. fewer errors in document
management and faster access
PRODUCTS
Eg. an implemented management
document system
The measurable
improvement resulting from
an outcome
The change that occurs
because of an activity
The products that are going
to be delivered by the project

12. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working product or service over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
While there is value in the items on the right,
we value the items on the left more.

13. Business Value:
Earlier realisation of
value by releasing
frequently and
prioritising high
value items
Adaptability:
Flexible response
to changes
Risk:
Tackle risk early
by delivering in
increments with
high customer
collaboration
Visibility:
Steady visibility
makes it clear to
see and measure
work in progress
Agile
Traditional
Approach

14. x AS MANY
SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS
x AS MANY WORKERS EMOTIONALLY
ENGAGED IN THEIR JOBS
See more at:
• https://hbr.org/2016/05/embracing-agile
• https://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/blog/agile-succeeds-three-times-more-often-than-waterfall

15. CEREMONIES & PRACTICES
GOALS
VALUES

16. Communicate,
Responsive,
Collaborative, Deliver
CEREMONIES & PRACTICES
GOALS
VALUES

17. Deliver value,
working solutions,
sooner and
frequently
CEREMONIES & PRACTICES
GOALS
VALUES

18. Agile Manifesto
Principles
CEREMONIES & PRACTICES
GOALS
VALUES

19. Communicate, Responsive,
Collaborative, Deliver
Deliver value, working
solutions, sooner and
frequently
Agile Manifesto
Principles
CEREMONIES & PRACTICES
GOALS
VALUES

21. WHAT? WHY? HOW?

22. WHAT? WHY? HOW?

23. WHAT? WHY? HOW?

24. The backlog is like a pet

25. Collaboration Continuous
Improvement
Responsiveness &
Value delivery
Collaboration &
Value delivery

35. Wine production Radio programming
Legal caseload Recruitment
See more at: https://hbr.org/2016/05/embracing-agile

36. MISSION OUTCOME
APOLLO 8 Fly around the Moon
APOLLO 9 Test of Lunar Module in Earth orbit
APOLLO 10 Rehearsal for Moon landing
APOLLO 11 First to walk on the Moon (Armstrong and
Aldrin)
APOLLO 12 Landed near uncrewed Surveyor 3 space
probe
APOLLO 13 Farthest from Earth (401,056 km [249,205
miles]); survived oxygen tank explosion
APOLLO 14 First use of modular equipment transporter
(MET)

38. 39

40. It requires much
Discipline

41. It requires much
Discipline

42. It requires much
Discipline

43. It requires much
Discipline

44. How can we do
everything?
How can we deliver the
most important things?

45. What is the
Solution?
What is the Problem and How
will we know we’ve solved it?

46. How do we get this
right?
How do we minimise the
impact of getting this wrong?

47. How do we best use our
resources?
How do we best
deliver value?

48. Who decides?
What evidence would
help us decide?

49. How do we start ASAP?
How do we finish ASAP?

50. How do we know this
plan will work?
How do we know the current
approach is working?

54. CURRENT
STATE
DETERMINE THE
OPPORTUNITY
DESIGN A PATH
EXECUTE
LEARN

55. Work Intake,
Prioritisation and
Funding
Continuous
Delivery
Alignment,
Visibility and
Progress
Team Design and
Autonomy
Customer-
Centricity
Emergent
Design

58. Alignment, Visibility & Progress
how
their work contributes
to a business outcome
visible and
updated frequently

59. Customer-centricity
Customer-Centricity
changed your mind?
deliver work in small
chunks
real data
using

60. Work intake, prioritisation, and funding
Work Intake, Prioritisation and Funding
expected value
before
not deliver the
expected outcome?

61. Team Design and Autonomy
Team Design and Autonomy
empowered based on
similar skill sets
who are responsiblewithout depending

62. Evolutionary and Emergent Design
Emergent Design
metrics represent
the things you
care about?
actively
collect data
enable
experimentation

63. Continuous Delivery
in use by customers
mechanisms
for experimentation
wholly dependent

64. Go around the table:

67. ●
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How to Measure
Anything
Douglas W.
Hubbard

68. 69
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Change By
Design
Tim Brown

69. ●
●
●
●
Understanding
Design Thinking,
Lean, and Agile
Jonny Schneider

70. ●
●
●
●
Turn the Ship
Around
L.David Marquet

71. ●
●
●
●
Building
Evolutionary
Architectures
Neal Ford,
Rebecca,
Pat Kua

72. ●
●
●
●
●
Continuous
Delivery
Jez Humble,
David Farley

74. THANKS!
75
Vered Netzer Mauro Santos
vnetzer@thoughtworks.com msantos@thoughtworks.com