Fast Agile is a lightweight and natural scaling model focusing on self-organization and empowerment of teams, with an emphasis on dynamic team formation and intrinsic motivation. It draws inspiration from nature, utilizing simple rules to create networks of cohesive, loosely coupled groups that deliver software through micro-iterations. The model has been successfully implemented at Premera Blue Cross, highlighting its scalability and positive feedback from employees.

1. FAST Agile
SUBTITLE
A simple, lightweight & natural scaling model
RON QUARTEL – PAIGE WATSON

2. Introductions
RON QUARTEL PAIGE WATSON
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3. Another agile scaling
framework?
How did that happen?
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4. Exercise!
A FAST AGILE TASTER
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5. Exercise Recap
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6. FAST Agile Overview
FAST AGILE SCALING TECHNOLOGY
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7. The next evolution in agile is
building networks and not just
teams
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8. Command and Control – Traditional Org
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9. Agile Development – Command of Teams
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10. Team of Teams – Network Based – FAST Agile
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11. FAST AGILE

12. Conway’s Law
and
Reverse Engineering Conway’s Law
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13. FAST AGILE

14. FAST facilitates people into highly cohesive groups
that are loosely coupled
These groups create software that is:
highly cohesive and loosely coupled.
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15. Complex Adaptive Systems
AND SIMPLE RULES
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16. FAST looked to nature for inspiration on mass organization
Complexity Emerges from Simple Rules…
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17. Basic models of flocking behavior
are controlled by three simple
rules:
1 Separation - avoid crowding
neighbors
2 Alignment - steer towards
average heading of neighbors
3 Cohesion - steer towards
average position of neighbors
With these three simple rules,
the flock moves in an extremely
realistic way, creating complex
motion and interaction that
would be extremely hard to
create otherwise.
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18. FAST (Simple) Rules:
•Do the right thing
•Be a team player
•Be a coach and be coachable
•Strive for excellence in your craft
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19. Doing the right thing
and
Self-Organization
TRUST, EMPOWERMENT AND INTRINSIC MOTIVATION
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20. Treat People Like Adults – and they will act like them
As adults we ship on time all the time. Lets start treating people like adults and stop with
the command and control. Trust people to do the right thing – and they will do the right
thing…
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21. The secret to high performance and satisfaction - at
work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human
need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new
things, and to do better by ourselves - Daniel Pink
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22. Colocation
A PREREQUISITE TO HIGH PERFORMANCE
A PRE-REQUISITE FOR FAST AGILE
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23. Dynamic Team Formation
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24. Feature Teams vs Component Teams
Why not be both? FAST is breaking an agile taboo…
In FAST – teams form around work
– the opposite of Scrum
which has team pull work.
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25. Micro-iterations
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26. Our highest priority is to
satisfy the customer
through early and
continuous delivery
of valuable software.
Deliver working software
frequently, from a
couple of weeks to a
couple of months, with
a preference to the
shorter timescale.
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27. Summary
• All work is Just in Time (JIT)
• System is designed to limited Work in Progress (WIP)
• Micro iterations deliver value in short feedback cycles
• Emergent Design and Architecture
• Cross Functional tribe can meet any demand
• Intrinsic motivation is the driving force (and the only way work gets done)
• Encouraged to be Specializing generalists + Code Crafters
• FAST is Scalable (tribes of ~150 – multiple tribes)
• Self-organization is the core foundation (and based around Open Space Technology)
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28. FAST Agile Vision:
Untethering the Human Spirit
within the workplace

29. Untethering the human spirit…
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30. Case Study – FAST Agile at
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31. Premera Blue Cross Health Insurance
• More than 2 million customers primarily in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington
• More than 3,600 employees
• A network of thousands of physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare providers
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32. Premera’s Values (Notice compatibility with FAST)
• Identify with the Customer
• Act with Urgency
• Be Excellent
• Challenge Convention
• Do the Right Thing
• Work Together
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33. FAST Agile Values at Premera
• Dynamic Assembly (non-static teams)
• Empowered Execution (self-organizing and managing)
• Shared Consciousness
• Natural Leadership
• SecDevOps Culture (Code Craftsmanship, DevOps, XP processes)
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34. What’s Working?
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35. People Love It!
“I never want to work any other way”
Paige Watson
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36. What has worked well
• Two day iterations (with one slack / research / meeting day) – Preferred to one week iterations
• People want to work together in one large tribe (instead of several small)
• FAST Scales from small scrum sized teams to larger tribes (largest currently is ~30)
• One tribe can work with multiple stakeholders and backlogs
• Investing in craftsmanship (Giving teams time to practice – Kata Culture)
• Investing in training – Code Retreats, Fred George OO Bootcamp, Woody Zuill
• Creating pairing and Mob Programming environments
• Representing a story map in VSTS (online backlog tool)
• Physical marketplace
• Being Co-located and in the same area
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37. What we learned (and still need to get better at)
• Onboarding existing is harder than taking on new outside employees (esp craftsmanship)
• Need a lot of repeat communication and training on Agile, Story breakdown, FAST, XP
• Delivering value vs delivering stories (chunking) – moving off corporate scrum mindset
• Show and tell of working software – need more
• Transparency & stories rolling over (addressed with story breakdown training)
• Working from home is a challenge
• Work different hours and 4x10’s is a challenge
• Come up with Safety Mechanisms and Decision Making Protocols (self-organization get’s
harder with more people)
• Having everyone sit in the same area helped and encouraged a tribal mindset
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38. Safety a Prerequisite – Yes!
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39. Kata Nation - Creating a Craftsmanship Culture
http://katanation.com
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40. Why is craftsmanship and XP practices so important?
Unique ability of XP developers to work with each other
– instant productivity
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41. In Closing
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42. FAST Pre-requisites
• Co-location
• Safety mechanisms (How do you resolve conflict? How are decisions made?)
• Prepared to invest in Code Craftsmanship
• Prepared to become Specializing generalists
• Physical space for FAST meeting (a.k.a. Marketplace)
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43. Find out more
• Web – http://fast-agile.com
• Twitter - @OpenSpaceAgile
• Facebook -
https://www.facebook.com/fastagile
• Email – info@fast-agile.com
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44. FAST Agile is a system for organic
collaboration on creative endeavors
from the small scale to the large.