6. Top 5 Barriers to Agile Adoption
2012
Ability to Change Org Culture
General Resistance to Change
Trying to fit Agile into into
non-Agile framework
Personnel w/Agile Experience
Management Support
2011
Ability to Change Org Culture
Personnel w/Agile Experience
General Resistance to Change
Management Support
Project Complexity
2010
Ability to Change Org Culture
General Resistance to Change
Personnel w/Agile Experience
Management Support
Project Complexity
52%
41%
35%
33%
31%
52%
40%
39%
34%
30%
Top 2 Reasons Agile Projects Failed
Company philosophy/culture
at odds w/core agile values
Culture
External pressure to follow
traditional waterfall processes
Culture
51%
40%
40%
34%
31%
Sources: VersionOne State of Agile Surveys 2010-12
11. Using the Schneider Model
• Plot organizational characteristics onto its grid
– Subjective in nature (acknowledgement)
• Where the largest cluster occurs, this is your
dominant culture
• You may have “sub-cultures” that are different
• A culture may straddle borders
• A new organization may not yet have a dominant
culture
• Recommend also plotting where you want your
dominant culture to be…
13. Culture Habits Decisions
Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change,
Richard Nelson & Sidney Winder, 1982
14. Most organizations don’t make fully rationale decisions
those decisions are unknowingly steeped in their habits.
Evil is committed
by
the well-meaning
The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg
15. What is Said
^
What is Done
^
Will = Intentions + Actions
Σ f(Keptagreements ) = Performance
17. Taking Flight Approach
• Set an aspirational target
• Examine possible routes
• Select the best route and the first waypoint(s)
– Consider each leg an experiment
– Work details/make decisions operationally
– Inspect & Adapt at each waypoint
– Make course corrections
– Squadron mates
20. End State ::
(noun)
1. The set of required conditions that defines
achievement of the commander's objectives.
21. Aspirational vs End State
• Any end state you choose may be wrong (don’t use
BUFD for your Org Change)
• Not having a defined end state means you are never
done assists mindset change
– Revisit aspiration and progress towards it regularly
– Use interim states that move towards the aspiration and
are more concrete
– Continual experiments/Contained failures
– It’s how you apply Product Thinking to your organization
• Aspirations can more easily balance between soft and
hard skills needed
22. In terms of
Organizational Transformation,
Aspirations
are…
A not too complex vision
The set of characteristics based on this vision
23. Why is Setting an Aspiration Important?
• Cast what the transformation means to the
organization; personalize it
• Determine what the most relevant principles
from Agile (or Lean, or Craftsmanship) mean to
the organization
• Guides decisions within the organizations;
achieves alignment
• Provides guidance for course corrections once we
go in-flight
• Avoids top-down directives and moves it to a
creative stimulation
Avoids Imposed Agile…
24. Lots of Approaches to Creating One
Participatory Creation > Clear Communication > Proclamation
KrisMap
Cover Story Innovation Game
Lego for Serious Play
Vision Statements
We want common agreement & understanding…
26. Reality Oriented
Aspiration on Schneider Cultural Model
Empathetic Collaborative
Considerate
Collaborative
Control
Reliable Confident
Cost Conscious
Pragmatic
Stamina
One Voice
Decisive
Integrity
Speedy
Sense of Humor
Organized
Optimistic Flexible
Focused on Business Results
Responsive
Resourceful/Can-Do
People Oriented Positive Attitude
Org Oriented
Motivated Adds
Value
Possibility Oriented
Innovative
Reader
Risk Taker
Cultivation
Competency
27. “Deliver business value daily.”
“Constantly improve doing it,
reducing waste and through new ideas.”
28. Now that
we have a
Target Aspiration,
how do we
determine
the next
incremental step?
30. Lots of Approaches to This Too…
Participatory Creation > Clear Communication > Proclamation
SWOT Analysis
Business Model Canvas
Process Models
Customer Personas
Select the appropriate mix…
34. Lots of Approaches to This Too…
Participatory Creation > Clear Communication > Proclamation
Strategy Maps
Business Model Canvas
Forcefield Analysis
Priority vs Energy Exercises
Select the appropriate mix…
38. Many Things to Change Depending on
What’s Next in Priority
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
New Strategies
New Org Structures
Find/Establish New Support Networks
New Practices
New/Streamlined Processes
Rewards for Δ in Behaviors
Create/Eliminate Ceremonies
New Habits The Hardest to Do
& the most crucial
Some of
these will be
Experiments
41. What Might Be Some of the Habits We
Want to Change?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ways meetings are conducted
Ways meetings are scheduled
How managers give feedback
Whether agreements are explicit or implicit
How decisions are made and owned
Whether people show vulnerability
How people learn new skills Use as an example
Note: want org habits reinforcing an Agile mindset
46. Finding Leverage Points
• The habit to change is formal training to
learning = self-study/experimentation
• Step 1: Habit Loop Causality Diagram
• The Habit Loop becomes a bit more complex
– More Steps
– Reinforcing Loop
• Step 2: Look for Limiting Conditions & Side
Effect Loops
47. Full Causal Diagram
Training
Request
Statement
of Intent
Avoids Showing
Vulnerability
Formal
Training
Learn the
Lingo to
“Look Smart”
Shows
Vulnerability
Self-Study
Need to Know
Something New
Experiment
Get By/
Impress
Recognition
Fulfill IDP or
Certification
Easy to
Measure
Lack of
Failure
Absorb
& Share
Learning
52. Satir Change Curve
New Status Quo
Status Quo
disruption
amount
disruption
time
A detailed depiction of the Satir Change model http://stevenmsmith.com/ar-satir-change-model/
54. Definitions
Sustainable :: Able to be maintained at a certain
rate or level. Synonym: Supportable
Change :: The act or instance of making or
becoming different. Synonyms: Alteration, Shift, Mutation
“Change Capacity”
59. Cross-cutting Teams
Failure Tolerance
Experimentation
Clear Vision
Transparency
New Employees
Employee Orientation Diversity (of thoughts)
Promotes
Starting
Aspiration
Point
Restricts
Promotion/Restriction based on
Limits to Organizational Change
by Herbert Kaufman
& Discussions @ #CultureDC
60. Cross-cutting Teams
Failure Tolerance
Experimentation
Clear Vision
Transparency
New Employees
Employee Orientation Diversity (of thoughts)
Promotes
Starting
Aspiration
Point
Restricts
Specialized Silos
Low Risk Tolerance
Successes Only
Grand Unclear Vision
Insular Communication
Hiring to Fit
Employee Indoctrination
Group Think
Promotion/Restriction based on
Limits to Organizational Change
by Herbert Kaufman
& Discussions @ #CultureDC
61. Aspiration
Org
Structure
Δs Process Δs
Habit Δs
New
Practices
Next
State
Δ Kanban
Current
State
Manage the Δ
Δ Validation Board
Adapted from Organizational Transitions,
by R. Beckhard & R.T. Harris
63. Transformation Kanban
Backlog Next Up Ready In-Work Complete Measure Done
Organizational WIP
Based
Based
Based
On
On
On
Org
Org
Org
Capacity Capacity Capacity
Based
On
Org &
Capacity
To
Measure
Team has
• Capacity
• Charter
• Measures
• Expected
Outcomes
Team has
• Completed
Actions
Based
On
Org &
Capacity
To
Measure
Team has
• Measured
Results
64. How do we figure out how much change to pull?
1. Hypothesis use communications paths as a starting
point;
• capacity = comm paths
N ppl involved
• hierarchy comm paths = direct report lines
• team comm paths = ∑(1+…+N-1)
• can have hybrids
2. Modified by Team Size
3. Multiplied by reinforcing loops
4. Consider like mid-size “story” (in terms of points);
every org will be different & large single changes
can out-strip capacity and need to be broken down
65. Team Size
≤1
≥1
5
7
<1
9 15
Scrum teams 7 +/-2
5 Best for deep comm, 15 most for deep trust, 150 most for comm
S = ƒ({P},E)
where, P = personalities “Is Five the Optimal Team Size?”,
infoQ, Vikras Hazrati &
E = environment
Jurgen Appelo on http://noop.nl
66. Display transparency in decisions
Safety
Establish clear vision
Allow experimentation
≥1
Hire for diversity
Change
Multiplier
Only concern: people’s
performance
on the job
Hire yes people
<1
Punish failure
Decisions made w/littleno input
69. Squadron Mates
• Create a support network
• Find like minds and pair
– Sounding board for pragmatic decisions
• Better yet, form a triad
– Third person holds the commitments of the other
two to each other accountable
• Grow network as pairs/triads
– Net-Map Technique is a great tool here
Triads come from The Culture Game by Daniel Mezick
Net-Map Toolkit, Eva Schiffer, http://netmap.wordpress.com
71. A Couple of Typical
Biases or Assumptions
• People just don’t want to change
– So explain to me why people will take up a new hobby
later in life or move across country?
(Hint: it is in their interest – find mutual desire)
• Agile has issues scaling to large programs
– Why do you have a program? Could this be solved in a
different manner with sets of smaller applications?
(Hint: most “programs” are put together for reasons other than
actual size & complexity, such as ability to get budget, the
size/complexity is an outcome from these reasons/decisions)