Current Challenges, Cynefin framework, Design Thinking, Scaling challenges, systems thinking

1. Mountaineering the Agile
Transformation
Anand Murthy Raj
Director, Agile Spirit pvt ltd
Partner, Blinklane Consulting NL

2. Introduction
1. 20+ years of Industry experience
2. First to be nominated for SPCT in Asia
3. 6 years of experience in Agile Transformation
4. Director, Agile Spirit Pvt. ltd and Partner with Blinklane
Consulting NV (http://www.blinklane.com/)
5. Clients worked – Hewlett Packard, Symantec, SKF,
Healtyhways and Philips
6. Have delivered Scaled Agile training to close to 700 participants
7. Currently part of the Global Agile Transformation Program - Coach @ Philips
8. Part of a NGO www.nisvartha.org helping 600 rural talented students to see
and realize their dreams by providing “Education” in KN and TN
My Belief
If you stop learning, you are dead and if you stop breathing you are
brain dead..
I would like to die along with my brain

3. Today’s Challenges
Let us list down all the challenges faced today in IT world.
Can Agile solve all these challenges?

4. Today’s need..
Ability to deal with four forms
of friction
1. Friction in the journey
2. Friction in the process
3. Friction in the code
4. Friction among people
World does not exist without friction, you need it..but how much is
the challenge

5. Cynefin Framework
Reference: Cynefin Framework: Dave Snowden

6. What is this?

7. AgileTransformation Journey

8. A typical Industry approach for transformation

9. A systemic change
Splitting an elephant in two halves will not give two small elephants
; instead you will end up in a mess
Today’s solution leads to tomorrow’s problems

10. Breaking the organization Silos
Move from COE to CFT
Move from c and c C and C
Ref: Roger Martin : Dean of Rotman School of Mgmt
We are good in solving problems in a silo
We are not good in dealing problems across silos
Getting teams to work is hard
Getting teams to work together is really hard

11. Organization Alignment Mindset
Ref : The Lean Flow

12. Multi Level Alignment
Ref : The Lean Flow
1. Organization Vision - Why
2. Business Vision - What
3. Product Vision - How
4. Business, Product and
technology roadmap -Alignment
5. Business and IT alignment - Core
6. Inter team alignment - Essence
7. Emotional Alignment - Essential

13. Problem solving mindset
Problem
Symptoms
Understanding
of the problem
Multiple
Experiments
Validate
Results
Validated
learning and
customer
insights
The New Execution
Model

14. Transformation Success Road
Success Success
What Leaders think? What reality is ?

15. A sample transformation roadmap

16. Leadership is everywhere !!!

17. People skill transformation journey
Expertise
Execution
Exploration
Experience
T shaped
PI shaped
Flat shaped
Y shaped
Achieved
1. Focus shift from “complete the task” to “experimentation”
2. Getting more expertise on a topic will improve the intrinsic motivation
3. Exploration approach is suitable for complex system development and
increases curiosity
4. Aids Innovative thinking and Challenge the status quo
Ref: http://jp3.scaledagileframework.com/jp/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/t-and-e-shaped-resourses-in-operations.png

18. What does this mean to the organization?
Exec
Senior Leaders
Masses: Execute direction
from above
Masses: Find their own
solutions aligned with vision
Senior Leaders
Exec
Set Vision
Produce answers
Direct the masses
Set Vision
Provide
Coaching
Enable the masses
Source: “Toyota Kata” by Bill Costantino

19. Transformation Challenges

20. The Happiness Hypothesis - Change MGMT
Direct the “Rider” – Give clear direction
reduce mental paralysis
Motivate The :”Elephant” – Find the
emotional connect
Shape the “Path” – Reduce obstacles,
tweak the environment, make the
journey downhill
Change is only successful when the rider uses the logical brain, to
motivate and use the elephant strength and move in a direction that
makes sense to our business.
Reference : http://www.kummerle.com/using-behavior-change-principles-to-increase-the-performance-of-traditional-residential-energy-efficiency-programs-
13-638.jpg; Switch – Chip Heath and Dan Heath

21. Mindset Challenges
Language
Actions/Practices
Principles
Values
Beliefs
Emotions

22. Leaders - Foundation to Churn/Change
• Leaders - Lead the Change, Be the foundation..
• Successful change created only by churn
• Systematic and Rhythmic churn creates Transformation
• GEMBA – The real market place where problems needs to be solved.

23. Learning Disabilities – Peter Senge
I am my position
1. Lack of “system thinking”
2. Silo mentality
3. Auto Industry:
Japan engg vs American engg
4. America vs Argnetina Soccer match
5. “Some one else screwed it up”

24. Learning Disabilities – Peter Senge
The Enemy is out there
1. By-product of I am my position
2. Passing on the blame
3. Non systemic view of the world
4. Lack of accountability
5. Manufacturing Engg Marketing Sales
6. American companies who lost their share to
foreign competitors
1. Blamed the cheap foreign wages
2. Labor union
3. Government regulations
4. Customers betrayed

25. Learning Disabilities – Peter Senge
The illusion of taking charge
1. Proactive Antidote of being reactive
2. Face difficult issues, solve problems before it gets
into crisis
3. Crisis and Chaos teaches us great lessons
4. Mistakes make us hard
5. Pro-activeness is reactiveness in disguise
6. True proactive comes from seeing how we
contribute to our own problems
7. CI, CD, Dev-ops can solve all our problems..
8. It’s a product of our way of thinking, not our
emotional state

26. Learning Disabilities – Peter Senge
The fixation of events
1. Conversations are dominated by
events
2. In org : Sales, Promotion, fire, new
product
3. Focusing into such events leads to
“Event explanations”
4. Distract from seeing long term
pattern for change, underlying causes
5. Focus on real issues like
Employee attrition, Technology updates, Customers’ business
dynamics, Employee happiness, Pollution and issues like why are
insane humans getting into such barbaric acts

27. Learning Disabilities – Peter Senge
The parable of a boiled frog
Year Japanese
Share
1960 0%
1962 < 4%
1967 10%
1974 15%
1982 21.3%
1990 25%
2005 40%
1. Learning to see slow, gradual
requires us to keep off the
pace
2. Look for gradual processes
that define fate of the frog
3. Look for folks going back to
waterfall model way of
thinking (metrics, plans,
documentation)
4. Pay attention to human side
of development

28. Learning Disabilities – Peter Senge
The delusion of Learning with
experience
Walking, Eating and , crawling and
communicating – Trial and Error
1. Observe the consequences of our
actions
2. Learning Horizon
3. Now being perfect, being predictable,
reliable estimates
4. No scope for error
5. “We learn best from experience but
never experience the consequences of
some of our important decisions”

29. Learning Disabilities – Peter Senge
The Myth of Management team
1. Can the mgmt. teams can surmount these
learning disabilities ?
2. Maintaining the appearance of a cohesive
team
3. Most management teams break down under pressure
4. Schools trains us never to admit that we do not know the answer,
Corporations reinforce that lesson by rewarding the people who
excel in advocating their views
5. No one dares inquiring into complex issues
6. Experts in “Doing the wrong things right”!!
7. ‘Skilled incompetence’—teams full of people who are incredibly
proficient at keeping themselves from learning

30. Leaders –The Real Wisdom
An ounce of information is worth a pound of data
An ounce of knowledge is worth a pound of information
An ounce of understanding is worth a pound of knowledge
An ounce of wisdom is worth a pound of understanding
We try to teach knowledge; How can you teach if you do not posses it?
• Data , Information, Knowledge , Understanding - Doing right things
- Efficiency
• Wisdom - Doing things right – How to make it more efficient –
Defines Efficiency vs Effectiveness

31. People –The most important Assets of the Enterprise
31

32. The Flow
Ref:https://www.usedbooksearch.co.uk/flow-the-psychology-of-optimal-experience-mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/

33. Select the right coach
• Imposters know to walk the walk and talk
the talk but they simply don’t know what the
talk is all about.
• They know how to dress, how to carry their
laptops and their BlackBerrys, what cars to
drive, which clubs to join, where to be seen
and with whom.
• They use words like ‘value enhancement’
and ‘on the same page’ and ‘synergy’ and
‘win-win’.
• In other words, they know the behavior that
projects them as ‘Coaches’, but they have no
clue as to what coaching actually means.

34. Leaders Focus – Nurture Learning
Two critical factors that enable intellectual growth and wisdom are
Capacity to learn new skills
Motivation to learn

35. An example
The problem Statement
• A city in the US 100% Black population
• In the 1960s it was at the bottom
• None of them who passed the school were able to read
Observations
• Realized at 65% of the students did not have a book at home
• They had never seen a parent read
• Rival groupism existed at the age of 12
• All of kids at school were very intelligent
• Reading was a whitish thing
The Result
• By the end of the semester, all of them knew how to read; mastery in reading
• The city has received 17 national awards
• The city has given interview in 7 major national television programs
• Leadership has received all kinds of awards

36. An example
System solution
• Create an environment where there is desire to learn
• Enable students to learn
• Create a self motivational environment
What was done
• Charlie Chaplin movies were played without voice
• Any student can go and watch the movie
• No permission to be sought to watch the movie
• In order to enjoy students were forced to read the subtitle

37. DesignThinking :Three Golden Circles

38. Ref : http://www.breastcancerindia.net/statistics/trends.html
1. Millions of woman in rural India suffer from
A. Breast cancer
B. Fibro cystic breast disease
C. Complication in Pregnancy
1. Free Medicines were provided, still women
do not consume
2. Education programs no use
1. Root cause - Iodine deficiency
2. Quantity required per day 150 -
220 Micro grams daily
DesignThinking : Saving rural IndianWoman from breast cancer

39. DesignThinking : Doug Dietz

40. DesignThinking : Movie, light and toilet problems

41. Leaders –The art of problem solving
• Split problems into sections as per our perception
• In reality only six subjects existed in 1900
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Biology
• Psychology
• Sociology
• In 2010 there are 450 disciplines ; created a filing system for knowledge
• We interpret the problem based on our domain knowledge
Is it a medical
problem?
Is it a Economics
problem?
Is it a Social
problem?
Dept of Economics
Dept of Social
work
Dept of
Community
Medicine

42. Leaders –The art of problem di-solving
The art of problem di-solving
is an art of solving problems
within the context of the
system with no new issues

43. Leaders – Manage anxiety, Share and Learn

44. Leaders – Science of Continuous Improvement
Ref: Toyota Kata

45. Leaders – Science of Continuous Improvement
Ref: Toyota Kata

46. Leaders – Science of Continuous Improvement
Ref: Toyota Kata

47. Scaling..What is it?
Transforming the Organization Transforming the People

48. Scaling..What is it?

49. Typical scaling journey
Large
Slow
Bureaucratic
More Productive
More Adaptive
Response-able
Responsible
Unpredictable
Unreliable
Unable
Great!! Oh! My God

50. Scaling Challenges
1.Vision
2.Alignment
3.Reliability
4.Consistency and Reliability
5.Built in Quality
6.Coordination and Collaboration
7.Execution
8.Cultural Issues

51. Scaling Challenges
vision

52. Scaling Challenges
Alignment

53. Scaling Challenges
Execution

54. Scaling Challenges
Consistency
&
Reliability

55. Scaling Challenges
Built In Quality

56. Scaling Challenges
Cultural
Differences

57. Transformation Postulate

58. Define AgileTransformation in one word

60. Anand Murthy Raj
anandmurthy.raj@gmail.
com
+91 9845707457
When love and duty are one, there
shall be grace in you and you shall
enjoy happiness that goes beyond all
the imagination - Bhagavad-Gita