being agile and seeing big picture

beingAgile

and seeing theBig Picture

Alex Leonovalex@knowledgelab.nz

@alexanderleonov

Agile Operations• granular• many data points• fast moving

Big Picture• multiple channels• portfolio of projects• strategic and tactical needs

The Challenge

FEELING OVERWHELMED?There is a lot of action

at the level of agile teamswhich clutters the perspective

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14FAILIn this examplestatistics arethe same for all4 data sets:Mean of xSample variance of xMean of ySample variance of yCorrelation between x & yLinear regression line

Now imaginetaking actionbased on thesestatistics!

A WIZARD IS NEVER LATE

TOO BAD YOU’RE NOT A WIZARD

By the time lessons learntor other forms of feedback are due

it is too late to act anyway

The Challenge:

be flexible and fastwith attention to detail

while keeping a perspective* and not collapsing of overload

The Solution(principles to follow)

WHYtrumps

HOW

1. Traceability2. Disintermediation3. Realtime Feedback

1. Traceability

All these are connected, and you can move seamlessly between the levels of detail, from Big Picture to my favourite cafe

2. Disintermediation

Let’s imagine that parking is a problem(if you’ve been there on Saturday morning,

you’d know it’s true anyway)

just 3 car parks at the entranceparking near shops in Ponsonby

need more parking in Aucklandbuild new CBD parking building

will it help the original problem?

3. Realtime Feedback

Just show the places to park to the visitors (on the website, in the booklet, etc.) – it’s a good and quick solution

1. Traceability2. Disintermediation3. Realtime Feedback

be flexible and fastwith attention to detail

while keeping a perspective

Some Examples

One view for theBig Picture (perspective)which allows drilling downto any level of detail

Typical “service request”form that can scare eventhe most formidableusers

Notice that it only hasone required field!

This is what the previousform should look liketo make life easy for users,improve service levels,and bring about realtimefeedback

Any major ITSM suite canshow you relationshipsbetween tickets thatenable traceability, drillingdown, and perspectives

Things like “blockers” canalso help withrealtime feedback

Typical Problems• weak signals lost due to aggregation• interpretation changes the message• too hard to use -> loopholes• too slow to change -> stagnation• incomprehensible from the outside• micromanagement

Implementation Tips• use familiar tools• ease of use over universality• react to exceptions quickly• don’t over-constrain or over-protect• no “why” – no “go”• experiment!

WHYtrumps

HOW

beingAgile

and seeing theBig Picture

Alex Leonovalex@knowledgelab.nz@alexanderleonov