Presentation at #Lastconf on 18th September 2015. People naturally form tribes. It is just what we do. However, not all tribes are equally effective. Just like with regular teams it is the culture of the tribe that dictates its effectiveness. When we pull various technology teams to work on a program, product, value stream or Agile Release Train they will form a tribe, a team of teams. When we launch agile programs, we tend to teach our teams about the methodology, how their roles will change and how we expect them to be collaborative. What is often forgotten is the need to help these large program teams bond, foster a sense of belonging, shape their values and instil respect for one another. Successful Agile at Scale requires explicitly creating and sustaining these attributes, building a culture beyond team’s individual identity to create a sense of tribal unity.

1. Em Campbell-Pretty
Partner, Context Matters
@PrettyAgile
www.prettyagile.com
au.linkedin.com/in/ejcampbellpretty/
em@contextmatters.com.au
FROM TEAMS TO TRIBES:
Creating a one team culture

3. FAST FORWARD….

5. “Birds flock,
fish school,
people tribe.”

6. Stage 1:
Life
sucks!
Stage 2:
My life
sucks!
Stage 3:
I’m great!
Stage 4:
We’re
great!
Stage 5:
Life’s
great!
5 STAGES OF TRIBAL CULTURE
Source: Tribal Leadership by David Logan
“What makes some tribes more effective than others
is culture.” - David Logan

7. A tribe is a group of people connected
to one another, connected to a leader
and connected to an idea.
- Seth Godin

8. A tribe is a group of people connected
to one another, connected to a leader
and connected to an idea.
- Seth Godin

9. CREATE A SHARED IDENTITY…
“…the latest neuroscience research
shows that our very sense of survival
depends upon a sense of belonging.
When that sense of belonging isn’t there,
even in the workplace, fear kicks in.”
- Christine Comaford, Smart Tribes

10. AND SHARED EXPERIENCES
“…vulnerability-based trust cannot
be achieved overnight. It requires
shared experiences over time…”
- Patrick Lencioni

12. “a massive cross pollination of communication
and engagement going on!!!
….people are far less tense and defensive in the
general discussions across the department.
People are open and honest, after having
embarrassed themselves.
Basically, the teams are showing greater
interest, engagement and ‘hunger’ for what they
do, and what they are about ...
… the teams are more galvanised, and have a much
stronger sense of their own context ... and
being part of the greater whole; being EDW!!!”

13. USE CONTINUOUS “HUMAN” INTEGRATION…
9:00am 9:15am 930am
9:45am
When people share rhythms with others they
develop stronger emotional bonds and are
more likely to pitch in for the common good
- Bob Sutton, Scaling Excellence

14. AND CHAPTERS TO GLUE THE TRIBE TOGETHER
If each squad was fully
autonomous and had no
communication with other
squads, then what is the point
of having a company? Spotify
might as well be chopped into
30 different small companies.
- Henrik Kniberg & Anders Ivarsson,
Scaling Agile @ Spotify

15. THEN CELEBRATE AS A TRIBE (NOT A TEAM)
When you’ve celebrated moving
from 1 to 2, and then from 2 to 3,
you gain confidence that you can
make the next advance
- Chip & Dan Heath, Switch

16. A tribe is a group of people connected
to one another, connected to a leader
and connected to an idea.
- Seth Godin

17. CONNECT AT THE GEMBA …
"Farming looks mighty easy when your
plow is a pencil and you're 1,000 miles
from the corn field."
— Dwight Eisenhower

18. USE WHAT YOU LEARN TO SERVE THE TRIBE
To lead is to serve. Remember that. Every single outstanding
leader that ever was, is, and shall be understands that greatness
is found in serving.
- Keni Thomas, U.S. Army Ranger, Blackhawk Down

19. SHOW YOUR VULNERABILITY
“Vulnerability is the last thing I
want you to see in me, and the
first thing I look for in you.”
Brené Brown

22. A tribe is a group of people connected
to one another, connected to a leader
and connected to an idea.
- Seth Godin

24. “Vision pulls people not only to take action by also to care about
the outcome, to take personal ownership of it, and to bring their
“A game” every day”
- Christine Comaford, Smart Tribes
World Leaders
in Agile Data
Warehousing

25. If tribes are the most powerful vehicles
within companies, cultures are their
engines.
- David Logan

26. “Businesses often forget about the culture, and
ultimately, they suffer for it because you can't
deliver good service from unhappy
employees.“
– Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos

27. Employee NPS data makes the people side of the business far more
transparent and subject to learning and experimentation.
- Fred Reichheld, The Ultimate Question 2.0
QUANTIFYING CULTURE
http://www.prettyagile.com/2013/11/measuring-team-happiness.html
On a scale from 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend
working in ______ to a friend or colleague? Why?

28. LET BARTLET BE BARTLET

30. I don’t assume what worked for me will work
for you, but I do want to inspire you as you
contemplate what and intentional culture of
joy could look like in your world.
- Richard Sheridan, Joy Inc.

31. Em Campbell-Pretty
Partner, Context Matters
@PrettyAgile
www.prettyagile.com
au.linkedin.com/in/ejcampbellpretty/
em@contextmatters.com.au
QUESTIONS?

32. Em Campbell-Pretty
Partner, Context Matters
@PrettyAgile
www.prettyagile.com
au.linkedin.com/in/ejcampbellpretty/
em@contextmatters.com.au
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Check out my blog post on:
• Unity Day: http://bit.ly/UnityHour
• The Power of Haka: http://bit.ly/EDWHaka
• Continuous Human Integration: http://bit.ly/CommunicationCadence
• Chapters: http://bit.ly/SAFeSpotify
• Leading by serving: http://bit.ly/AgileTeamOfLeaders
• Leading Through Vulnerability: http://bit.ly/LeadingVulnerability
• Quantifying Culture: http://bit.ly/TeamNPS