A g i l e I n d i a 2 0 1 4
BROKEN STATE OF PROCESSWhy software process improvement is broken… and what
to do about it…
A BIT ABOUT ME…
ThoughtWorker Product Manager by trade See a lot of processes Unfortunate Six Sigma Black Belt Fascinated by process wonkery
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GOAL: !
TRY, MEASURE, LEARNSoftware development processes… Be incremental about your process, just like your delivery
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HOW WE THINK ABOUT PROCESS IMPROVEMENT IS BROKENToo many people like me are telling you what you *should* do…
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WE ARE OBSESSED WITH…
▫︎ Small batches, watch your queues ▫︎Measure the cost of delay ▫︎ Pair ▫︎ Scrum/Kanban/SAFe ▫︎Do TDD ▫︎Do CI ▫︎Do CD ▫︎ LeanUX ▫︎ Burn up ▫︎ Run experiments ▫︎ Build, Measure, Learn ▫︎ Control chart !!!
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Frameworks Methodologies Practices
All great guide posts but…
WHAT’S THE POINT?
Why do we have processes in the first place?
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Hans Splinter - http://www.flickr.com/photos/archeon/4885276155/ via cc
REDUCE VARIATION IN A BUSINESS OUTCOMEYour process shouldn’t get in the way…
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A BAD PROCESS
Doesn’t achieve the outcome !
OR !
Doesn’t reduce variation in that outcome !
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WHAT ARE YOUR OUTCOMES THEN?
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Facilitate a decentralized, empowered, collaborative workplace
the most critical aspects of being adaptive leaders. These are
Value(Releasable Product)
Figure 4: The Agile Triangle
Jim Highsmith’s Agile Triangle Speed
Quality
Performance
Compliance
User Experience
Responsiveness
Learning
Customer Satisfaction
…
PRINCIPLES OF PRODUCT DEV FLOW
Read it Particularly the chapter on variation ■ Pay-off functions
■ Pay-off asymmetries
■ Some of it is wrong :-)
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Reducing variation isn’t bad, reducing it irrespective of the outcome is bad
HOW DO PROCESSES AFFECT YOUR OUTCOMES?Let’s talk about throughput to make things easy…
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MARGINAL BENEFIT OF ADDITIONAL PROCESS
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It turns negative! Assuming small discrete steps as a simplification…
ALL VARIATION IS REDUCED
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INSTITUTIONAL MEDIOCRITY
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REAL EXAMPLE - CUSTOMER CONVERSATION
Problem: Poor Unit Testing Solution: Attach tests to stories, fill out form !
Cost: 300 Devs X 10mins per check-in X 200 Days X 3 checkins per day = !
30,000 Hrs or 15 Person Years!15
STANDARDIZATIONUt oh… Let’s challenge a scaling core belief
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SCALED INSTITUTIONALIZED MEDIOCRITY
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DIFFERENT TEAM OUTCOMES?
How can you go “faster” if need to follow “slow” processes? !
Do you have “special”teams?
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Neus1.jpg via cc
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN OUTCOMES CHANGE?
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Felix Burton - http://flickr.com/photos/65328860@N00/14320717 via cc
Speed
Quality
Performance
Compliance
User Experience
Responsiveness
Learning
Customer Satisfaction
…
Org process rollouts tend to be big bang.
STANDARDIZATION CREATES RESPONSIBILITY DISCONNECT
Rarely do leaders blame the process for poor outcomes
!20A2gemma - http://www.flickr.com/photos/a2gemma/1448178195/ via cc
REPORTING IS NOT AN OUTCOMEIf you have a bunch of process or unnecessary standardization to facilitate the “right” report for managers or the PMO, you’re doing it wrong… Good reporting = side effect of good process
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SCALE ISN’T AN EXCUSE FOR PROCESS COMPLEXITYScale brings complexity. Just like in a good product, your job is to strive for simplicity despite the complexity. Hide complexity from your teams.
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WHY DO WE STANDARDIZE?
▫︎Common language across teams
▫︎ People fungibility
▫︎ Reporting
▫︎Management convenience
▫︎ Investment management
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SOLUTIONS?Questions and practices as guide posts!
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How complex is your process?
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Can a random team member accurately describe your process?
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Are your processes any good?
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Are you hitting your outcomes?
Are you hitting your outcomes consistently?
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Do you have feedback loops across organizational hierarchy?
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Do your standards change?
Is there a visible feedback mechanism?
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How much time do you spend administering your processes a
day?
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Do you “work the spreadsheet”?
Does reporting take days?
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TRY, MEASURE, LEARN
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Try
Measure
Learn
Ideas
StepsData
http://theleanstartup.com/principles
EXPERIMENTS
▫︎ Clear hypothesis/problem statement
▫︎ Ability to measure the result
▫︎ Constant monitoring of biz outcomes
▫︎ Stop things that hurt outcomes or affect variation (in an unwanted direction)
▫︎ Learn a bit about stats
▫︎ Rinse, repeat
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MINIMUM VIABLE PROCESS
▫︎ Start from the minimum amount of process required to get the outcome you want.
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▫︎ Tweak until you get the right consistency (process costs)
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▫︎ Carefully add to support for other goals, as marginal additions eventually turn negative (try to subtract things, and keep measuring outcomes!)
▫︎ The Improvement Kata looks interesting (I haven’t used it
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MINIMUM VIABLE STANDARDIZATION
▫︎ Start from the minimum amount of standardization for visibility and communication. (e.g. 3 key metrics, or common names for work items) !
▫︎Make sure your base standardization gives teams plenty of wiggle room. !
▫︎Carefully add, measuring the outcomes!32
SHAMELESS PLUG
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Now O
SS!
TRY, MEASURE, LEARN !
PROCESSES HAVE COST !
KNOW YOUR OUTCOMESThen have fun with all those frameworks, methodologies, and practices
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Twitter: @twchad
THANK YOU!
