The Lesser Known Breakfast of Champions
a.k.a.
The Role of the Manager in an Agile, or Wannabe Agile, Org
Steven Koes President
Who Are You? • First: props for being here, you’ve already demonstrated more mo<va<on than 80% of par<cipants in soAware development. Need a job? J
• Developers, star<ng a company or want to start a company?
• What would you like to get out of today’s session?
Who is This Guy? • 15+ Years in SoAware Development: IBM, 2 Startups, Consul<ng,
Travel, Educa<on • Believes Agile can create more of the right products and do so at
a higher quality in less <me, regardless of the industry; has worked in orgs in which Agile did so and orgs in which it failed miserably
• Computer Science BA & Masters in Business & Management from Wharton/Upenn
• Recently started An<phon, Inc., to offer business real-‐<me insight into the rela<onships between their online & mobile marke<ng (yes, SEO, too), web site sta<cs, customer interac<ons and, of course, revenue and profit
Your Mental Model of Management
Which picture most closely resembles your mental picture when you think of a manager?
Your Mental Model Over the course of your career...
Your Mental Model At your current organiza<on…
Your Mental Model In an Agile Org…
Your Mental Model In an Ideal World?
Closer Look: What Our Mental Models of Management May Mean
• Are managers primarily disciplinarians and/or task masters?
• Should they know more and be more capable than you are?
• Are they administrators, <me-‐sheet collectors, bean counters, irritants?
• Do they, or should they, empower and support you?
• Do they help you navigate your company’s hierarchy and/or help you understand your group’s vision and the market for your services and/or products?
From Control to Commitment
• Models of management are changing in many industries, in most cases from control/admin/supervisor to glue/facilitator/enabler/nurturer/mentor
• Why? – Crea<ve labor cannot be “herded” – Compe<<ve advantage oAen comes from extrac<ng discre<onary value from employees
– Technology, of course – Company<-‐>employee loyalty is all but dead, both par<es must constantly “brand” themselves and develop and maintain a reputa<on
Aunt Jemima: Take a Closer Look
• Nurturing • Confident but approachable • Updates her image and her recipes as needed • Authen<c: sure, she’s fic<onal, but if she weren’t, the image makes it clear she makes and eats plenty of pancakes herself!
Aunt Jemima’s School of Management
• Walk the talk: know your industry, company and product and help your team navigate them all
• Pancakes/Feed your teams: share industry and company knowledge
• Roll up your sleeves: get grunt work out of your teams’ way and help individuals find and focus on what they are good, like and that adds value
Aunt Jemima’s School of Management
• Smile and look straight ahead: make decisions collabora<vely and transparently and invite others to ques<on them and make sugges<ons
• Change your recipe when it’s not working: nothing s<fles construc<ve cri<cism like having no response and/or nothing changing
Nurturing Agile at Your Org How do your managers see themselves?
Nurturing Agile at Your Org
• Assess your org’s culture: could the Marines use the Agile process? Should they?
• Know thyself: know why you are doing it and how it benefits both you and the org
• As unappealing as it may be, you will have to make appeals to emo<on and personal needs as well as logical arguments
Basic Steps • Create a sense of urgency • Build a coali<on that spans all stakeholders and their bosses
• Set “value added” goals, e.g. greater customer sa<sfac<on, more downloads, fewer defects
• Define clear, simple ways to measure progress toward your goals
Basic Steps • Some of these should benefit decision-‐makers, likely your boss, directly, for maximum impact
• Demonstrate how Agile helped if and when the group makes progress
• Accept it will likely not be as well or completely Agile as you would like and celebrate baby steps
Some Things That Are Likely to Deter Your Progress
• Going Agile in an organiza<on that is too culturally different from what Agile requires
• Saying “you don’t get it” to almost anyone; if you want to change things, it is incumbent upon you to “get” them and their business first
• Losing sight of what Agile is supposed to do for the company, a.k.a. making Agile the goal rather than a means
In Closing • Agile, and transi<oning to Agile, is challenging, rewarding and fun • If it is consistently none of the above for more than a couple weeks, pause, reflect (retrospec<ve J) and re-‐assess your process and/or transi<on • Your manager should be able to help!
Additional Materials “How to Change a Culture,” MIT Sloan Management Review, John Shook 12/2010 “Corporate Transforma<on Without a Crisis,” The McKinsey Quarterly, Jonathan Day & Michael Jung 4/2004 “Why Should Anyone be Led by You?” HBR, Robert Goffee & Gareth Jones 6/2004 “David Neeleman: Flight Path of a Servant Leader,” HBR, Bill George & Marhew Breiselder 9/2009 Organiza<on Change, Theory & Prac<ce, W. Warner Burke 6/2002 Communica<ng Change: How to Win Support for New Business Direc<ons, TJ and Sandar Larkin 1994 hrp://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-‐success/201107/is-‐loyalty-‐dead