what it really means to be agile
DESCRIPTION
Some teams think they can be agile by using a defined process or set of practices as defined by one of the agile approaches. This is just “doing Agile.” Other teams are agile in name only – the team says it’s “doing Agile” but ends up using the same old practices and achieving the same results. Teams adopt agile for a variety of reasons, but it’s not the process or set of practices they select that produces the results they seek. Teams are most successful when they adopt a particular mindset in order to “be agile”. Join Kent McDonald as he describes this mindset through 7 key ideas based on how people and organizations work best. We’ll discuss some specific techniques you can use to adopt the mindset on your project, how the project manager role changes along with the mindset, and how to help your team move from “doing Agile” to actually “being agile”.TRANSCRIPT
What it really means to “be agile”
Kent J. McDonald@beyondreqs
Agenda Overview
Doing Agile vs. Being Agile
Key Ideas in Agile What does this mean
for Project Managers?
We interrupt this presentation for a quick survey…
Doing AgileVs.
Being Agile
From Agile2012
Doing Agile
Being Agile
What is an agile mindset?
People are…A. CogsB. Resources that need extrinsic motivationC. Human beings with intrinsic motivation.
People are…A. CogsB. Resources that need extrinsic motivationC. Human beings with intrinsic motivation.
http://finding-marbles.com/2011/12/10/agile-mindset-examples/
What is an agile mindset?
People are good at their jobs because…A. They put in effort and always learnB. They’re just more intelligentC. Where I work, no one else is good.
People are good at their jobs because…A. They put in effort and always learnB. They’re just more intelligentC. Where I work, no one else is good.
http://finding-marbles.com/2011/12/10/agile-mindset-examples/
What is an agile mindset?
Decisions are taken…A. By management after conferring with the
people impactedB. By managementC. By someone up the hierarchy and we never get
informedD. Usually by consensus among the people that
are impactedE. Implicitly. We muddle through.
Decisions are taken…A. By management after conferring with the
people impactedB. By managementC. By someone up the hierarchy and we never get
informedD. Usually by consensus among the people that
are impactedE. Implicitly. We muddle through.
http://finding-marbles.com/2011/12/10/agile-mindset-examples/
What is an agile mindset?
You build the right products by…A. Rigorously analyzing requirements and
writing detailed specs.B. Frequently showing it to the customer and
prospective users
You build the right products by…A. Rigorously analyzing requirements and
writing detailed specs.B. Frequently showing it to the customer and
prospective users
http://finding-marbles.com/2011/12/10/agile-mindset-examples/
Retrospectives are…A. Not necessary anymoreB. Only done after a projectC. A place to rant about the same problems
every iterationD. A way to find improvements and implement
them.E. What’s a retrospective?
What is an agile mindset?
Retrospectives are…A. Not necessary anymoreB. Only done after a projectC. A place to rant about the same problems
every iterationD. A way to find improvements and implement
them.E. What’s a retrospective?
http://finding-marbles.com/2011/12/10/agile-mindset-examples/
When trying to improve…A. Not only do we change, we oscillate.B. What is the simplest thing that will work?
What can we start right now? Can we use something physical?
C. Obviously we need a tool/framework/process.
D. We never try to improve.
What is an agile mindset?
When trying to improve…A. Not only do we change, we oscillate.B. What is the simplest thing that will work?
What can we start right now? Can we use something physical?
C. Obviously we need a tool/framework/process.
D. We never try to improve.
http://finding-marbles.com/2011/12/10/agile-mindset-examples/
What is an agile mindset?
When people show undesirable behavior, you…A. Do nothing.B. Give feedback so they might change.C. Give feedback, but also check whether the
system inadvertently rewards said behaviorD. How should I know what’s undesirable?
When people show undesirable behavior, you…A. Do nothing.B. Give feedback so they might change.C. Give feedback, but also check whether the
system inadvertently rewards said behaviorD. How should I know what’s undesirable?
http://finding-marbles.com/2011/12/10/agile-mindset-examples/
What is an agile mindset?
Something needs clarification, you…A. Do nothing.B. EmailC. Call themD. Talk to them in personE. Clarify it, but don’t tell anyone so that several
people clarify it independently.
http://finding-marbles.com/2011/12/10/agile-mindset-examples/
Something needs clarification, you…A. Do nothing.B. EmailC. Call themD. Talk to them in personE. Clarify it, but don’t tell anyone so that several
people clarify it independently.
What is an agile mindset?
Documentation is…A. There’s none. Haven’t you read the
Manifesto?B. OutdatedC. Extensive and hard to maintainD. Just enough. When you discover something’s
missing, you add that particular part.
http://finding-marbles.com/2011/12/10/agile-mindset-examples/
Documentation is…A. There’s none. Haven’t you read the
Manifesto?B. OutdatedC. Extensive and hard to maintainD. Just enough. When you discover something’s
missing, you add that particular part.
Key Ideas in Agile
From Ron Jeffries
KEY IDEAPut people with needs in direct contact with people who can fulfill those needs
How we’ve done it.
Stakeholders Involved only here
What are your requirements?
The stakeholder goes away….
Design
Implementation
6 Months Later…
Here’s what you asked for, please
go test it.
Verification
This isn’t what I
wanted!
It’s what you asked
for!
This doesn’t work.
Stakeholders Involved only here
Involve your stakeholders
Best: stakeholders sit with project team full time
Still quite good: regular touch points with stakeholders
Bare minimum: Demo with stakeholders every couple of weeks
Active conversation looking at work, not a meeting
This also means no intermediaries!
A stakeholder’s perspective“…it [agile] allows for interaction directly between the business and the developers. While waterfall allows the business to review specs prior to development, agile allows the business to see the actual development while it’s in process. We’re able to see the developer’s interpretation of the requirements before development is completed and make changes/tweaks as necessary. This has proven to be very beneficial as we’re able to show code to the end users while it’s still in a state where changes can be made.”
KEY IDEAPopulate projects with all the needed people and capabilities to get the job done
Instead of a team built on rolesLead Business Analyst
Sr. Business Analyst
DevelopmentLead Sr.
Developer
Sr.Developer
Architect
ProjectManager
Test Lead
QAAnalyst
UX Analyst
Build one based on skillsAnalysis Development
Testing
UX
Ideal - Build a Real Team
7 +/- 2 People Necessary skills No defined roles Focused on one project Bring work to the team,
not the other way around
Have them sit together
Making it work
Select based on skills, not roles
Allow team members to focus for blocks of time (at least half a day)
Provide tools to help communication
Selecting a Program Team
What if the team is already formed and a change is needed?
KEY IDEABuild work
incrementally and check results as you
go
Meaningful feedback does not come from specs
Meaningful feedback comes from seeing actual product
We need real feedback sooner than after we’re done
We really don’t know if it’s right until here.
The more often we deliver, the more often we learn.
Identify
Scenario
Change
product
Use produc
t
Reflect on
results
Based on Kolb Learning Cycle
How to increment
Organize work by feature delivered
Fit work into time boxes Deliver small bits of
production quality work at the end of each time box
Learn from each delivery.
Incrementing a Data Warehouse
KEY IDEAPrepare for and influence the future but don’t predict it
Historic views on plans
[In preparing for battle] I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.Dwight D. Eisenhower
It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.Winston Churchill
A good plan violently executed right now is far better than a perfect plan executed next week.
George S. Patton
It is a bad plan that admits of no modification.Publilius Syrus
No [campaign] plan survives first contact with the enemyField Marshall Helmuth Graf von Moltke
Incorrect assumption about projects
The Plan is always correct. If something does not go according to plan, we messed up implementation.
Incorrect assumption about agile
Are you planning? Are you planning? ARE YOU PLANNING? There's no planning! THERE'S NO PLANNING IN AGILE!
Shi[f]t Happens
Planning Levels
Product vision
Product roadmap
Release plan
Sprint plan
Daily plan
Yearly by the Product Owner
Bi-yearly by the Product Owner
~quarterly by Product Owner and Team
Every 2 weeks by the Product Owner and Team
Daily by the team
“But the Plan said we’re supposed to start on the next release”
KEY IDEAMake tasks concrete and quickly finish them.
Small chunks of value delivered in each iteration
Tasks of 4 – 16 hours to deliver those chunks of value
Wishlisting.org
KEY IDEAGive people work to do and the knowledge to do it, do not push them around like pawns on a chessboard
Shocking Admission
Most “teams” act more like workgroups
High performing project teams should resemble communities
Shocking Admission #2
People are not “resources”
Treat team members like… people
Shocking Admission #3
3(a) Multi-tasking is not effective.
3 (b) People do not multi task. They switch rapidly between areas of focus
Let them focus.
“They’ll never volunteer for tasks”
KEY IDEAFocus on providing value frequently and rapidly, not directly on cost
Success is not based on a triangle
Cost Schedule
Scope
Success is based on meeting objectives
As Steve Denning would say: “Delighting Customers”
Address first, or phone first?
What does this mean for PM’s?
You need great relationships with your customers
Act like a kid from Ottumwa
Learn the Leadership 2 Step
Channel your inner Coach
Come see my talk this afternoon
Want another perspective?
If you remember nothing else…
Doing agile is using techniques
Being agile is changing your mindset
Tis better to be agile quietly than do agile gregariously
Questions?
Kent [email protected]@BeyondReqswww.beyondrequirements.comSlides available from:http://www.kbridgepartners.com