The document summarizes the keynote presentation by Wanda Marginean on agile transformations. It discusses that agile transformations can go well when there is a clear vision for why the transformation is happening, principles are established to guide how the transformation will occur, and the right practices are implemented. It also discusses how transformations can go poorly when the why, how, or what is lacking, such as by not establishing a clear vision, not slowing down to speed up, or not properly implementing practices like retrospectives and empowering teams. The presentation calls for organizations to seriously consider why they are transforming, establish principles and practices to guide the transformation, and take action to ensure successful implementation.

1. Agile Transformations,
the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Wanda Marginean
Agile Cambridge, 27-28 September 2012

2. Wanda
Marginean
wmarginean@rallydev.com

3. WHY
:
The
Vision.
Has
goal,
aspira<on,
emo<on,
cause
and
belief
HOW
:
The
guiding
principles.
Has
logic,
a
bias
towards
ac<on
and
provides
an
infrastructure
of
inten<on
WHAT
:
Prac<ces
and
results.
Is
dynamic
and
organic

4. WHY
do
we
want
to
become
an
Agile
organisa7on?
HOW
do
we
want
to
do
it?
WHAT
do
we
need
to
do?

5. When does WHY
go Bad and Ugly?

6. Woolly WHY or no WHY
Corporate level
Departmental level
Team level
Personal level

7. Five Key Benefits of Agile,
which all executives have heard about:
1. Reduced time-to-market
2. Increased quality
3. Reduced waste
4. Better predictability
5. Better morale
From: “The Truth About Agile Processes,” by Forrester Research analyst Carey Schwaber, 8/28/07

8. checkbook
commitments

9. Not making the
vision clear
JUST
DO
IT!

10. immediate
RESULTS

11. "Apple
is
commi;ed
to
bringing
the
best
personal
compu7ng
experience
to
students,
educators,
crea7ve
professionals
and
consumers
around
the
world
through
its
innova7ve
hardware,
soBware
and
Internet
offerings."
Famous
quote
from
Steve
Jobs
in
the
1980’s:
"Man
is
the
creator
of
change
in
this
world.
As
such
he
should
be
above
systems
and
structures,
and
not
subordinate
to
them."
"Facebook's
mission
is
to
give
people
the
power
to
share
and
make
the
world
more
open
and
connected."
Zuckenberg’s
own
vision
statement:
"People
use
Facebook
to
stay
connected
with
friends
and
family,
to
discover
what’s
going
on
in
the
world,
and
to
share
and
express
what
maOers
to
them."

12. WHY do YOU want to
become an Agile
organisation?

13. When does HOW go
Bad and Ugly?

14. Think about:
Principles to follow
Slowing down in order to speed up
Investing time and effort

15. FOLLOWING
the PLAN

16. Maintaining culture that doesn’t
support CHANGE

17. 100
80
Percent
60
40
20
0
1
2
3
4
5
Number of Simultaneous Projects
Time spent working Context switching time
Gerald Weinberg, Quality Software Management: Systems Thinking

18. Not slowing down
to speed up

19. the same
metrics

20. traditional
performance
appraisals

21. rewarding
individual
heroics

22. ignoring the need
for infrastructure

23. not pulling
testing
FORWARD

24. pushing
to
deliver

25. 2
weeks
4
weeks
6
weeks
8
weeks
Build Build Build Test
8
weeks
<ll
6
weeks
<ll
4
weeks
<ll
shippable
shippable
shippable
often see this

26. 2
weeks
4
weeks
6
weeks
8
weeks
Build
T
Build
T
Build
T
Build
T
No
feature
more
than
2
weeks
from
shippable
a little better

27. Start testing here…
… instead of here
Why not this?

28. Define your HOW

29. Agile
manifesto

30. Principles
of
Lean

31. Principles
of
Product
Development

32. Principles
of
Lean
Startup
Learn
Measure
Build

33. V0.81

34. Or mix of all…
• take
a
phased
approach,
inspect
and
adapt
• transparency
and
collabora<ve
decision
making
• servant
leadership
• bring
tes<ng
forward
• release
more
frequently
• limit
queues
of
work
• implement
feedback
loops
• accept
we
need
help
-­‐
agile
coaching
• implement
infrastructure
to
support
new
approach

35. When does WHAT
go Bad and Ugly?

36. We “can’t”
create teams

37. IGNORING THAT TEAMS PERFORM
BETTER THAN INDIVIDUALS
• Persistent
• Cross-functional
• Multi-disciplinary
• WIP limit
• Slack time
• Metrics (throughput, velocity)
• Mid-range planning
• Continuous improvement

38. Ineffective use of
Retrospectives

39. what we mean by
Retrospectives
What are we doing
well?!
!
What’s not serving!
us as a team?!
!
What would we
change to improve?!

40. No
retrospectives

41. Ignored
There is
absolutely
nothing !
wrong! !

42. NO
Action

43. lack of full
planning participation

44. what is the cost of
not having the
information?

45. insights through
dialogue

46. Acceptance
and
commitment

47. unavailable
product owner

48. or, too busy for all the
communicating

49. bad
scrum master

50. and
COMMAND
CONTROL

51. serve and
facilitate

52. remove
impediments

53. not having a
onsite coach

54. who cares?
who listens?

55. advise, motivate
protect and serve

56. team lacking
authority

57. red tape
decisions

58. Bureaucracy assumes mediocrity
Agile assumes competence

59. Everyone
Pulling
Together!

60. CHANGE
is HARD

61. Rever7ng
to
form

62. Nothing would be done at all
If we waited until we could do it so well
That no one could find fault with it
Cardinal Newman

63. WHY
:
The
Vision.
Has
goal,
aspira<on,
emo<on,
cause
and
belief
HOW
:
The
guiding
principles.
Has
logic,
a
bias
towards
ac<on
and
provides
an
infrastructure
of
inten<on
WHAT
:
The
Method.
The
results
and
prac<ces
both
dynamic
and
organic

64. CALL
TO
This Way
To
ACTION
Successful
Agile
Transformation
Start from asking yourself:
WHY are we doing this agile transformation?
…answer it on the organisational as well as personal level

65. Thank you

66. 3
Keynotes
–
•
Ryan
Martens,
Rally's
Founder
&
CTO
•
Dean
Leffingwell,
World
Renowned
Agile
Author
&
Methodologist
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Tracks
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Bring
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•
GO
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Build
powerful,
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Rally
applica<ons,
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decision-­‐making
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3
Learning
Opportuni7es
–
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Training:
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Through
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Learn
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Register
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or
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