Agile
Leadership
Practices for
Pioneers
Stefan Haas
#SCB13
Independent Agile
Coach & Trainer
www.haaslab.net
@haaslab
1

STEFAN HAAS - INDEPENDENT
AGILE COACH AND TRAINER
• 15+ years practice in Agile Product
Development
• Lead Program Manager for Media/Telco,
Product Owner and CTO in Startup
• Initiator of #PoDoJo learning community
for product owner, Agile Game Lab for
making&playing learning games of
Lean&Agile and a business culture hacker
community
• Founder of kunstraummitte, a platform for
contemporary art and Traktor, an open
space for electronic live music during 90s
in Berlin
stefan.haas@haaslab.net www.haaslab.net @haaslab facebook.com/haaslab +49 171 2878591

Build projects around motivated individuals.
Give them the environment and
support they need, and trust
them to get the job done.
http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html, principle # 5 3

The best architectures,
requirements, and designs
emerge from self-organizing teams
http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html, principle # 11

„...these software developers
had discovered a solution to the
problem of combining
disciplined execution of high-
level intellectual work with
continuous innovation...“ (Steve
Denning)
http://blogs.forbes.com/stevedenning/2011/04/29/scrum-is-a-major-management-discovery

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA4o1LUIqts&feature=share&list=PLSi_pM0_nNmPMwcUS6WlJ8EnI5zbMv_eg

„In our industry, value has a habit of
changing because, quite often,
customers don’t really know what
they want. In addition, once they see
new software in action, their idea of
what they want will invariably shift.“
Mary and Tom Poppendieck, Implementing Lean Software Development From Concept to Cash

http://theleanstartup.com/principles

„As a result Beck’s Beyond Agile Manifesto comprises:
Team vision and discipline over individuals and
interactions (over processes and tools)
Validated learning over working software (over
comprehensive documentation)
Customer discovery over customer collaboration (over
contract negotiation)
Initiating change over responding to change (over
following a plan)“ (Steve Denning)
http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/05/04/innovation-applying-inspect-adapt-to-the-agile-manifesto

WORKSHOP TAKE-A-WAYS
• Complexity Thinking as a point of view for leaders
• Appreciate Agile as a way of dealing with uncertainty
• Thinking Tools:
• Systems Thinking Diagnostic Tools (5 Why, Ishikawa
and Causal Loop)
• Moving Motivators
3 hr

SELF-ORGANIZE FOR MAXIMUM DIVERSITY
Decide on group size: 3-5
KPI: Sum of differences
Properties:
- Gender: Male, Female, Female, Complicated (3)
- Company: Wooga, Wooga, Wooga, Wooga (0)
- Job Role:
- Passion:
- Level of Experience with Agile:
- Your Choice:
Grab a sheet per group and GO!
5 Min.

WHAT IS YOUR PREDOMINANT OPERATION AND DECISION
MODEL?
5 Min.

WHAT IS YOUR LEADERSHIP STYLE?
0 - Dysfunction, I don’t care about your needs
1 - I am receptive and open
2 - I respond to teams’ needs (remove
impediments)
3 - My response generates velocity increase
4 - I anticipate teams’ needs and enable higher
business value and team performance BEFORE
becomes an impediment
* Each level builds on the previous level 5 Min.

Commitment
Focus Transparency
Openness
Respect
Courage 5 Min.

10 Min.
15

16

CAUSAL LOOP DIAGRAM

ISHIKAWA AND
5WHY DIAGRAM

Exercise:
System
Thinking
-­‐
Analyse
a
Problem
1. Pick
a
Post-­‐It
from
the
Success
&
Failure
exercise
2. Take
a
sheet
of
paper
and
draw
a
causal
loop,
ishikawa
or
5
why
diagram
3. Share
with
the
other
groups
what
you
have
found
15 Min.

1)
Address
complexity
with
complexity
The
brain
is
more
complex
than
any
tool
Use
stories,
metaphors,
pictures…
The
complexity
of
a
system
must
be
adequate
to
the
complexity
of
the
environment
that
it
finds
itself
in.
Max
Boisot,
“Complexity
and
the
I-­‐Space”
The
InteracLon
of
Complexity
and
Management

Example:
Personas
&
Stories
Requirements
as
long
pages
with
text
doesn’t
work.
hNp://www.flickr.com/photos/nnova/2081056587/
© 2007
Nicolas
Nova,
CreaLve
Commons
3.0

2)
Use
a
diversity
of
perspec6ves
Mul8ple
weak
models
can
make
more
sense
than
one
strong
model.
Complexity
itself
is
anLmethodology.
It
is
against
"one
size
fits
all."
Tom
Petzinger,
“Reality
and
Complexity”
The
InteracLon
of
Complexity
and
Management

Example:
Planning
Poker
Make
use
of
the
mental
model
of
every
team
member.
hNp://www.flickr.com/photos/wrdh/4613168626/
©
2010
wrdh,
CreaLve
Commons
3.0

3)
Assume
dependence
on
context
What
worked
in
the
past,
or
for
others,
is
not
guaranteed
to
work
for
you
now.
Best
pracLce
is
always
past
pracLce.
Dave
Snowden,
“From
Organic
to
Complex
Knowledge
Management…”
The
InteracLon
of
Complexity
and
Management

Example:
RetrospecLve
Assume
tomorrow’s
process
will
be
different
from
yesterday.
hNp://www.flickr.com/photos/magnus_d/5121009259/
© 2010
Magnus
D,
CreaLve
Commons
3.0

4)
Assume
subjec6vity
and
coevolu6on
The
observer
influences
the
system,
and
the
system
influences
the
observer.
What
you
measure
is
what
you
get.
hNp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart's_law
Goodhart’s
Law

Example:
Velocity
Focus
on
the
metric
and
it
is
sure
to
go
up.
hNp://www.flickr.com/photos/kakutani/2761992149/
© 2004
Shintaro
Kakutani,
CreaLve
Commons
3.0

5)
An6cipate,
adapt,
explore
Apart
from
looking
forward
(proac8ve),
and
looking
backward
(reac8ve),
don’t
forget
to
try
things
out
(safe-­‐to-­‐fail
experiments).
EvoluLonary
systems
by
their
nature
involve
experimentaLon.
Mike
Rother,
Toyota
Kata,
2009

Example:
Paper
Prototypes
Experiment
with
tools,
techniques,
and
architectures.

6)
Develop
models
in
collabora6on
Does
the
model
help
people
to
make
sense
of
the
world
(insight
and
understanding)?
Those
formula4ng
the
abstrac4on
are
making
a
gesture
whose
meaning
can
only
emerge
in
many,
many
local
interac4ons.
Ralph
Stacey,
Complexity
and
OrganizaLonal
Reality,
2010

Example:
Process
visualizaLon
The
process
is
what
you
see,
not
what
you
receive
in
a
binder.
hNp://www.flickr.com/photos/orcmid/3879260111/
© 2009
Dennis
Hamilton,
CreaLve
Commons
3.0

7)
Shorten
the
feedback
cycle
Systems
with
slower
feedback
cycles
have
higher
ex8nc8on
rates.
The
only
way
to
win
is
to
learn
faster
than
anyone
else.
Eric
Ries,
The
Lean
Startup,
2011

Example:
IteraLons
From
4-­‐week
sprints
to
conLnuous
delivery
in
a
few
years.
hNp://www.flickr.com/photos/lxsocon/707845930/
© 2007
Alexis
O’Connor,
CreaLve
Commons
3.0

8)
Steal
and
tweak
Successful
systems
spend
most
of
their
8me
copying
and
adap8ng
ideas
from
others.
We
usually
think
of
innovaLon
as
invenLng
new
things,
but
we
may
be
smarter
to
think
of
it
as
recombining
old
ones.
TheBuildNetwork,
“A
Smarter
DefiniLon
of
InnovaLon”
hNp://thebuildnetwork.com/innovaLon/innovaLon-­‐by-­‐combinaLon/

Example:
Brainstorming
Build
on
the
Ideas
of
Others
Defer
Judgement
Go
for
QuanLty

Complexity
Thinking
1. Address
complexity
with
complexity
2. Use
a
diversity
of
perspec8ves
3. Assume
dependence
on
context
4. Assume
subjec8vity
and
coevolu8on
5. An8cipate,
adapt,
explore
6. Develop
models
in
collabora8on
7. Shorten
the
feedback
cycle
8. Steal
and
tweak

Oh,
and
by
the
way...
We
should
not
take
our
models
too
seriously.
Gerald
M.
Weinberg
IntroducLon
to
Systems
Thinking

People
are
the
most
important
parts
of
an
organizaLon
and
managers
must
do
all
they
can
to
keep
people
acLve,
creaLve,
and
moLvated.
38

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc&feature=share&list=PLSi_pM0_nNmPMwcUS6WlJ8EnI5zbMv_eg
39

10
Intrinsic
Desires
Curiosity
The
need
to
think
Honor
Being
loyal
to
a
group
Acceptance
The
need
for
approval
Mastery
/
Competence
The
need
to
feel
capable
Power
The
need
for
influence
of
will
Freedom
/
Independence
/
Autonomy
Being
an
individual
Relatedness
/
Social
Contact
The
need
for
friends
Order
Or
stable
environments
Goal
/
Idealism
/
Purpose
The
need
for
purpose
Status
The
need
for
social
standing
40

Curiosity
The
need
to
think
41

Honor
Sharing
values
with
a
group
42

Acceptance
The
need
for
approval
43

Mastery
The
need
to
feel
competent
44

Power
The
need
for
influence
of
will
45

Freedom
Being
an
independent
individual
46

Relatedness
The
need
for
social
contacts
47

Order
The
need
for
stable
environments
48

Goal
The
need
for
purpose
49

Status
The
need
for
social
standing
50

Exercise:
Moving
Motivators
1. Put
the
motivator
cards
in
order,
from
unimportant
to
important
2. (You
may
leave
out
any
cards
you
don’t
want
to
use.)
51

Exercise:
Moving
Motivators
3. Consider
an
important
change
in
your
work
(for
example,
becoming
a
more
Agile
organization)
4. Move
cards
up
when
the
change
is
positive
for
that
motivator;
move
them
down
when
the
change
is
negative
positive
change
negative
change
52

Exercise:
Moving
Motivators
5. Explain
1
or
2
of
the
changes
6. Repeat
for
each
player
53

Exercise:
Moving
Motivators
15
minutes
54

Debrief
55

FEEDBACK
• The workshop provided me with a basic understanding
of the concepts systems thinking, complexity
thinking, agile management, intrinsic motivation,
organizational growth and situational leadership (1-5)
•The workshop provided me with concrete
practices to deal with complexity and uncertainty
as a servant leader (1-5)
•In case I brought an issue to the class I have
received mentoring for my current scaling (1-5)

I LIKE, I WISH, WHAT IF?
• ...

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, WOULD YOU
RECOMMEND THE 3 HOUR WORKSHOP TO
SOMEONE? (1-10: 1 BEING “NO”, 10
• ...
BEING “YES, ABSOLUTELY!”)

PLEASE ADD ANY ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
OR FEEDBACK THAT I CAN SHARE ...
•... write something now on a PostIt or send me an
email: stefan.haas@haaslab.net and you will
receive a discount of 15% for one of my upcoming
workshops - don’t forget to add your e-mail/
twitter contact

Agile
Leadership Practices
for PIONEERS
Stefan Haas & Mike Leber,
2-3. May 2013,
Hotel Michelberger, Berlin
60

Product
Owner DoJo,
Stefan Haas &
Catherine Louis,
June 18-20 2013,
betahaus, Berlin
61