IT managers who want to improve their software development activities are quickly faced with the “Lean or Agile?” question. Are lean and agile the same thing? Should we deploy agile before implementing lean? Having been on both sides of the table, Régis shares what he has learned so far about both approaches, and how best to use them to create high performance software development organizations.

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Lean and Agile
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Lean = Agile?

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Feature comparison ?
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Look the same, right?

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Initially I was only seeing in lean what I already knew
from 10 years (120 iterations) of agile. Practicing only
lean for years under the guidance of two sensei made
me realize the fundamental difference between the
two approaches.

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Lean 101
What is the problem we are trying to solve?

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Context #1 : waterfall
Sample of 20 projects
Customers:
« We need you! What are you doing? »

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Context #2 : agile deployment
Velocity
Customer expectation
« We need you to go faster! »
A few outstanding successes
After the dust settles:
Better, but difficult to measure

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Why the difference?
Outstanding
Better

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It’s all about people!

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Operational success
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Different approaches
Agile :
BUILDING
Lean :
LEARNING
Practices for developing
the right skills
to deliver more value
with the least waste
Process for building
the right product
with the minimum overhead
in an unclear environment
⇒Production system ⇒Training system

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The lean perspective
What process and tools should we use?
Who needs to learn what to succeed?

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Developing skills
1. Define the goal
2. Understand the main obstacles
3. Create an exercise
4. Practice with frequent feedback
Exercises:
Customer satisfaction
Quality
Lead time
On the job

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Fast results
Output from two development teams practicing only lean

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Lean AND Agile
Waterfall
Unified Process
…
In a nutshell, it’s:

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The lean practice
Create a visual environment that
clarifies the challenge and reveals
problems
React immediatly
Solve problems one by one
Spread the knowledge
For each team:
Obeya
PDCA
Standards
& training

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Lean exercises
Deliver right first time
Deliver on time every day
Define value
Manager
=
Teacher
+
Solve specific families of problems

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Define value
Lean exercise #1
Go & see users:
! What is the problem we want to solve?
! Why is it important?
! How and when will we check that it is solved ?
« We need to implement features or user stories X and Y »
P
DC
A
Plan
DoCheck
Act
From:
To:

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Define Value
Dentist wants:
• Nice Mac-like interface
• Graphics
• Mouse navigation
Assistant’s problem to be solved:
• Enter patient information as fast as possible
with no errors
" fast, keyboard-based, no bells & whistles
interface
Interviews before the go&see Lessons from the go&see
Agile context

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Project goal in initial specification:
« Simplify the activity »
Define Value
As is
To be
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Initial business case Results of the go&see
Non-agile context
How do you save 1 hour out of
10 minutes?
How can we call that a simplification?

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Deliver Right First Time
At every step in the process:
! What quality problems were found?
! Why did they occur? Why? Why?
! How can we prevent these problems from happening again?
« We need more resources for testing »
Lean exercise #2
From:
To:

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Right First Time Iterations
Deliver Right First Time
Incremental
construction
Rework
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why?
⇒ Distinguish rework from learning
Iterationplan
Agile context

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Right First Time Projects
Internal reworks
UAT or production defects
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why?
Deliver Right First Time
Red bins
Non-agile context

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Deliver on time every day
! Is the project on track today? How do you know?
! What happened? Why? Why? Why?
! What are you planning to do?
« It took longer than expected, we should have planned better »
Lean exercise #3
From:
To:

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Getting past « wrong estimates »
Control Lead Time
To:From:
« The estimates were wrong »
« WHY ? »
Agile context

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On time every day
Control Lead Time
« Everything is okay »
Daily goals
Fine-grained milestones
with problems made visible
+
From: To:
(target dates updated
every week)
Non-agile context

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Agile ! Lean

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Agile first ?
Agile
Lean
What is the problem
you are trying to solve?

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Lean first!
Define the challenge
Engage the teams
Visualize the causes
What practices (agile or not) are really needed?
Let the teams own the choice to start with agile or not

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It’s all about them

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It starts with you
Let’s go beyond the taylorist habit of
imposing processes on people:
1. Clarify the challenge
2. Engage the team
3. Teach them how to solve on their own the
problems they face, without giving solutions

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Thanks!