Agile transformation - cultural and behavioral challenges and how to overcome them

1. Agile Transformation:
Practical Insights into Behavioral
Adjustments and Cultural
Changes
SESHADRI VEERARAGHAVAN
PRINCIPAL PROJECT MANAGER – AGILE TRANSFORMATION
IHS INC., - HOUSTON, TEXAS

2. Definitions – Common Understanding
 Transformation (noun) - trans·for·ma·tion
 a thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance.
 Culture (noun) - cul·ture
 the attitudes and behavior characteristic of a particular social group.
 Definition versus reality: Form/appearance vs. beliefs, behaviors/attitudes,
and cultures

3. Levels in the Hierarchy
 Team
 Organization
 City/State
 Country

4. Context Switching
 Switching between levels
 Highly frequent/constant occurrence
 Seamless transition
 Bowling alley/family

5. Attributes of Successful Cultures
 Adapt
 Evolve
 Contribute

6. Example: Culture of India
 Influence of foreign cultures
 Music, drama, literature, architecture, philosophy, sciences
 Curry Houses

7. Need for Agile Transformation
 Competition – faster delivery cycles (TTM)
 Better quality (stronger customer retention; happy customers)
 Customer focus (better feedback, better software; satisfied customers)
 Predictable delivery (customer faith increases; better reputation)
 Higher productivity and happiness at the team level (cost savings and
employee retention)
 A total culture and behavior/attitude/mindset change emphasizing ownership,
commitment, responsibility, and transparency

8. So, What Are We REALLY Transforming?
 Superficial factors
 Methodologies
 Processes
 Practices
 Tools
 (Real) Human factors (identity)
 Behaviors
 Attitudes
 Cultures
 Beliefs

9. Transformations Bring Up Hidden Biases
 Biases (a brief list)
 Technological
 Process/procedure
 Methodology
 Groupthink
 Status quo
 Availability
 Proximity
 Anchoring

10. …and Biases Lead to Resistance
 Types of resistance (not an exhaustive list)
 This won’t work
 This hasn’t worked
 Doesn’t suit our team, personality, culture, or company
 Things are fine the way they are – why change!
 Too disruptive
 What will happen if the team fails? Who will take responsibility?
 Let someone else do this first, we’ll follow if it’ll work for them

11. Before We Go Further, Let’s Look at Motivation
 Intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation
 Study for an exam
 Play football for fun

12. Scenarios
 Let’s take a walk through some of the common categories of concerns, worries,
and doubts from agile adopters
 Valid/exaggerated
 Emotional/purely technical
 Cultural/individual
 Behavioral-adjustment/requires education
 Unfounded concerns (e.g. “inner workings” of a developer/QA/tech writer etc. being
exposed)
 Concerns regarding task estimates and accuracy thereof
 Concerns about workday hours (use vs. productivity)
 Common root: resistance to and being fearful of change

13. Cultural Roadblocks and
Behavioral Challenges

14. Ownership
 Issue: Narrow view of ownership
 Mainly concerned with what’s directly laid on their (or their team’s) plate
 E.g. This is not my problem or my team’s problem
 Strategies
 Emphasize transcending the job description and that a given problem is everyone’s
business to help solve
 Emphasize going above and beyond the call of duty and breaking down silos and
virtual walls
 Talk about how the business (and thus the individual) can succeed only when they
support each other and don’t create islands

15. Belonging
 Issue: Absolving oneself, not considering oneself as part of a team
or unit
 Highly self-centric; prone to blaming others; not thinking themselves
part of the team
 E.g. This is a dev issue, QA issue, PO issue. The code drops are of bad
quality; testing is inadequate; PO is usually MIA.
 Strategies
 Educate/inspire the team to think as a unit
 Empower the team to find its own solutions to their concerns
 When one fails, the team fails; when one succeeds, the team succeeds

16. Status Quo
 Issue: Status quo with gross inefficiencies
 We were told to do this process this specific way (do-as-told, no creative or
innovative thinking)
 E.g. We’ve always waited 4 hours for the build to get done.
 Strategies
 Challenge and encourage the team to experiment
 Motivate them to aim for incremental yet meaningful improvements
 Celebrate victories and recognize key talent
 Guarantee “protection” from implications of failed experiments (there are
no failures, only attempts)

17. Leadership
 Issue: Inability to take a leadership position
 We can do well only with external support and explicit guidance
 E.g. Our lead is in another location; we won’t make any decisions
without his approval even though this is a critical issue and we’re losing
money every minute that we don’t do something about it
 Strategies
 Provide soft-skills training (leadership and business skills)
 Strongly drive home the idea that they’re the masters of their own
destiny; recognize leadership talent in the team and motivate them
 Recognize any roadblocks (politics) and guide the team through
obstacles
 Let them test the waters with smaller projects to gain confidence

18. Execution & Commitment
 Issue: Very narrow idea of execution and commitment
 This is outside the scope of our responsibility and duties
 E.g. this defect is another team’s headache (although we know how to fix
it)
 Strategies
 Educate the team that personal and professional growth comes by
standing out, not by being average
 Elaborate on how the organization grows by contributions that come from
everyone and at all levels
 Think horizontal(ly) – grow networks across team structures to find pain points
and see how one can help (and how another team may have already
solved our current vexing problem) – NETWORK!

19. Responsibility
 Issue: Passing the buck
 This is above my pay grade
 E.g. This decision is definitely my lead’s – or my manager’s (even though I
have the power to decide)
 Strategies
 Empower members to “pull the chain/stop the train”
 Good-faith “interruptions” and “hold your horses” debates are welcome
and necessary
 Demonstrate your commitment to talking about the ‘elephant(s) in the
room’
 Teams learn and evolve only when they are able to question questionable
practices and take charge of the situation

20. Communication
 Issue: Perceived or real problems stemming from communication issues
 Information flow is restricted or exclusive to some personnel; active sharing is
discouraged
 E.g. I never hear about these things. Or, I’m always the last to know
 Strategies
 Humans are social creatures; investigate and remove any real communication blocks
 Support and drive open and honest feedback and communication
 Be clear: being rude is NOT being frank or honest (there’s a difference!)
 Ensure all relevant email/messages are indeed percolating to the right levels
 Address bureaucratic and red-tape problems at the appropriate management levels

21. Perceived Helplessness
 Issue: Perceived helplessness or being over-cautious
 Can address the problem, but won’t due to not wanting to step on others’ toes
 E.g. I really want to fix this problem, but am concerned what others may think
 Strategies
 Pull together and relate (true!) anecdotes of people crossing boundaries and being
recognized/promoted
 Show them you value their ability to be altruistic
 Banish the idea of fearless and possible recriminations merely for helping others
 Demonstrate you stand behind the team every step of the way

22. Rocking the Boat
 Issue: Avoid “rocking the boat” [or, it is OK to say no!]
 We suffer from many issues but we're afraid to speak up
 E.g. Don’t want to be seen as a complainer and bring it up even though our
technical practices are weak and I want to resolve this problem
 Strategies
 Have weekly 1:1 conversations to really dig into what’s bothering the team
 Mark incremental improvements and changes as gateways to team success
 Delegate responsibilities for technical issues and recognize each success story
 Draw together leads and architects from varied teams to discuss common
concerns and instill a sense of support and security into the team
 Drive home the point that everyone has right (and the duty/responsibility) to bring
up issues without fear or favor – and that they’ll be listened to and addressed by
everyone working together as a single unit

23. Infrastructure
 Issue: Infrastructure problems and concerns
 We don’t have the necessary resources (servers, facilities, phones, network
etc.)
 E.g. I can’t work on that issue because the VM is always going down or the
network is choppy or the telephone keeps disconnecting
 Strategies
 Work with IT to resolve these issues on an urgent basis – this makes you look
like you mean business, and also voids any similar excuses in future
 Be prepared to escalate as high as needed to get your team the resources
it needs – you’re the champion/cheerleader of the team – act like it!
 Earn the team’s respect and gratitude by being responsive and attentive to
such disruptions and by being proactive (use charts/trends as needed for
resource consumption to forecast what’s needed)

24. Denial
 Issue: No problem!
 There are actually TONS of problems, from bad code to terrible quality to nonexistent review
processes
 E.g. Sure, it’ll get done (but there are so many hurdles it’ll be impossible to get it done right)
 Strategies
 Talk to everyone 1:1 in complete confidence, to understand the reality
 Reaffirm you’re there to support and help the team succeed and not to find scapegoats or punish
anyone
 Bring in outside experts and internal, successful teams’ leaders/architects to demonstrate easy wins
and small changes that can go a long way
 Develop roadmap to improvements; assign responsibilities – ensure complete transparency and
accountability for each assignment. Project roadmap should be CLEAR and known to ALL
 Train/educate the team on solid technical practices – and WHY they’re critical to succeeding as a
team (and why without them, the team WILL fail)

25. Understand the “Why-s”
 Issue: Team doesn’t understand the need to know WHY something is being done
 Typically the team follows a given task blindly with no consideration of the ultimate goal
 E.g. Team breaks work into tasks and executes it without knowing the implication of the
implementation or the impact of the work that’s being done
 Strategies
 Explain the why-s to the teams at the beginning of the project, then send occasional reminders (this
should stop at some point when the team has started getting the picture)
 Encourage the team to delve into details of how this particular work will affect future deliverables,
or deliverables being done in parallel
 Recognize team members that make key breakthroughs in understanding and sharing of important
knowledge
 Stress upon the value of knowing WHY we do what we do; WHY is the most important question there
is

26. Lack of Transparency
 Issue: Nothing’s blocking me at all
 Person has no idea what they’re supposed to do, but afraid to speak up
 E.g. I’ve never really worked on this technology, but if I say something I’ll look clueless
 Strategies
 Take the time to know each member’s understand of their role/duties and clarify
matters ASAP
 Provide technical training as required; ensure talent and skills match what’s being
asked of the team
 Be gentle and compassionate – being harsh will get you nowhere. Demonstrate
sincere concern and address deep-rooted worries about “speaking up,” “making
noise,” or “being disruptive” – make it amply clear that you can’t fix what you don’t
know needs fixing.
 Emphasize your team are your eyes and ears – show them you rely on them to make
the proper decisions

27. Lack of Transparency, Contd.
 Issue: Nothing’s blocking me at all
 Well, my colleague/friend is the one blocking me, but I don’t want him getting in trouble
 E.g. My module can’t be tested as I have to do full integration test with my friend’s code
here, but his code has problems. By reporting this I’ll lose a good friend!
 Strategies
 Establish working agreements in the team and ensure everyone understands (e.g.
everyone owns all problems; swarming is greatly encouraged; reporting problems will get
nobody in any trouble; the team is empowered to come up with solutions to each
problem described)
 Accentuate the need to get things right – and to do the right thing
 Stand behind the team – no ifs or buts – demonstrate your commitment to them as they
do to you
 Stress the importance that a team succeeds only when each member succeeds – no
exceptions!

28. Nobody Told Me to…
 Issue: Nobody told me to do X, Y, Z
 Nobody said being a professional software engineer meant I had to decide a lot of things on
my own and be fully and completely responsible for ALL aspects of my code
 E.g. Nobody told me I had to write unit tests; nobody told me I had to get my code integration-
tested first; nobody told me I had to verify with QA if they understood the Story
 Strategies
 Lay down CLEAR expectations that you have of each member (skill/maturity/experience-
specific). Communication is vital – ambiguity/vagueness WILL cause major problems later
 Lay down CLEAR expectations that you have of each member (universal – e.g. all dev MUST
write unit tests; must do TDD; QA must write automation scripts etc.)
 May not be always necessary, but critical when dealing with immature teams
 Educate the team on the usual and customary technical practices that are expected of them;
get them training if need be; organize cross-team training sessions on good practices

29. Recommendations
 Conduct workshops on cultural differences and sensitivities around dealing with other
cultures
 Leadership should encourage more meaningful exchanges between teams in varied
global locations (lead by example as much as possible to foster positive behaviors)
 Use Enterprise Social Media (e.g. Jive) to further encourage cross-domain and pan-
company interactions and collaboration
 Leadership should understand and drive home the point that all cultures may not value
all things the same (priorities and values differ among cultures – e.g. vacation, family)
 Spread news widely about any successful cross-cultural collaboration activities that
demonstrate solid, relevant results (e.g. success projects involving teams in multiple
locations)
 Identify local champions and leaders and encourage them to talk to their teams on a
set basis about respecting and valuing other cultures (this way the results of any
workshops/training persist and don’t dissipate quickly)

30. Q&A and Contact
 Q&A
 Contact:
 Seshadri.Veeraraghavan@ihs.com