Struggling with Agile? Frustrated that people don’t really get it? Tired of fighting with organizational bureaucracy? Wondering how you could have been more successful? We provide a set of essential thinking tools for understanding Agile adoption and transformation so that your change effort avoids becoming another statistic. In particular, you will learn how to use culture to work more effectively with your organization. It is called a survival guide since so many people have found the concepts to be invaluable in understanding their experiences when working with Agile. This presentation includes: Identification of causes of the widespread Agile adoption failure A model for understanding Agile, Kanban, and Software Craftsmanship cultures An outline of key adoption and transformation approaches A framework to help guide when to use these these approaches with your organization Agile Comes to You - keynote presentation, June 19, 2012. If you would like the slides for use under creative commons licence, please ask me.

1. Culture Will Eat Your Agile
Strategy for Breakfast
@MichaelSahota

2. About Michael
STRATEGIC
PLAY®

3. Session Outline

4. http://www.flickr.com/photos/akeg/2230862848/

5. Quick Survey – What Agile Adoption
Success have you seen?
• 5 = Every time a
success
• ...
• 0 = Every time a
failure
• Raise your hand
when your number
Photo CC
comes up… http://www.flickr.com/photos/lindsey
_catherine/5808320129

6. XP Toronto Mtg 2011
Agile Tour Toronto 2011
Agile New England 2011

7. Causes of Agile Failure

8. Barriers to Further Agile Adoption
Copyright VersionOne 2011

9. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lokner/4164251472

10. Why is Culture Important?
“If you do not manage
“The only thing of culture, it manages you,
real importance and you may not even be
that leaders do is to aware of the extent to
create and manage which this is happening.”
culture.”
Edgar Schein
Professor MIT Sloan School of Management
Photo courtesy: http://leadership-tdoerffer.blogspot.com/2010/11/enjoy-interview-with-prof-edgar-schein.html

12. Agile Tour Toronto 2011
Agile New England 2011

13. Graphic ©
Jurgen
Appelo

17. Kanban Principles (Anderson)
First adopt the Then (use the 5 Core
foundational principles Properties)
• Start with what you do 1. Visualize the workflow
now 2. Limit WIP
• Agree to pursue 3. Manage Flow
incremental, 4. Make Process Policies
evolutionary change Explicit
• Respect the current 5. Improve Collaboratively
process, roles, (using models & the
responsibilities & titles scientific method)
http://agilemanagement.net/index.php/Blog/the_principles_of_the_kanban_method/

19. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lenore-m/2515800654

21. Working with Existing Culture

22. Kanban is Like an Oreo Cookie!
Outside:
Crunchy
Control
Inside: Sweet White
Agile Goodness
(collaboration,
cultivation and
craftsmanship)

23. Craftsmanship as a starting place

24. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kalavinka/4617897952

25. What are your goals?
My main focus is
to stop companies
from doing Agile.
Pascal Van Cauwenberghe
Namiya.be
Photos©http://www.flickr.com/photos/pascalvancauwenberghe/3053517274

26. http://www.flickr.com/photos/tza/3214197147

27. Adoption of Agile Practices in
a Mismatched Culture

28. Agile Transformation

29. http://www.wanderingthought.com/2012/01/squishy-balls.html

31. Adoption of Agile Practices in
a Mismatched Culture

33. Adoption - Practices  Doing Agile
When culture is not compatible with Agile
 Incremental Adoption
 Look at Context
 Pain  Practice
 Avoid
 Scrum
 Agile Manifesto
 See
 “Agile Adoption Patterns: A Roadmap to
Organizational Success” by Amr Elssamadisy
 “Becoming Agile in an Imperfect World” provides a
lot of practical advice on adopting Agile [Smith &
Sidky].

34. Agile Transformation

36. Agile Is Not Enough

37. http://www.wanderingthought.com/2012/01/squishy-balls.html

38. Plan for Hard Conversations
Agile is about people,
and as such they will
tend to be largest
obstacles, we will need
to have serious
conversations at some
point if we really want
to go Agile.
Johnny Scarborough
Photos©http://www.flickr.com/photos/pascalvancauwenberghe/3053517274 and The Innovation Games Company

40. Some Interesting Patterns of
Transformation

41. http://www.flickr.com/photos/exothermic/2547162058

44. WARNING: This will fail eventually*

45. #2 Incubate Transformational
Leadership
Leaders go
first!
• Live the values
• Lead by example
• Seek to truly understand their culture
• Be as transparent as the teams they lead
See presentation: Agile From the Top Down:
Executives & Leadership Living Agile by Jon Stahl
http://www.slideshare.net/LeanDog/agile-from-the-top-down

46. #3 Develop Transformational Leadership Team
 Deep alignment
between leadership
teams’ personal visions
and organizational
compelling shared
vision
 Continued commitment
to maintaining
integrity and
sacredness of
leadership team
See Temenos retreau
@Siraju
Ref: http://adaptivecollaboration.com/2012/04/23/temenos-retreat-a-journey-of-change/

47. http://www.flickr.com/photos/_brilho-de-conta/400937249

48. Transforming the World of Work

49. Session Outline

50. Resources
• These slides are available on
slideshare
• Videos, Blog Posts
– http://agilitrix.com/2011/04/
agile-culture-series-reading-
guide/
CC @MichaelSahota