Dc20 james birnie - agile is a dirty word
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The document discusses how to clean up Agile and ensure it remains clean. It begins by examining why Agile has become a "dirty word" in some places due to failures when not properly implemented. Some signs that Agile is "dirty" include standardized tools that don't work for all cases, developers unable to get work done, and a cycle of declining trust. The document then provides techniques for cleaning up Agile, such as focusing on outcomes over processes, empowering teams, and eliminating waste. It suggests metrics for knowing if changes have worked, like autonomous cross-functional teams and a learning culture. Finally, it recommends staying ahead by continually learning and improving, measuring the right things, and understanding that Agile is about
Dc20 james birnie - agile is a dirty word
- 1. With thanks to our sponsors
- 2. JAMES BIRNIE
- 3. Agile is a Dirty Word We’ve been talking for a few years about Agile. Some of us have been “doing” Agile for a few years. Why does it STILL not convince some people? How can we convince those people that it isn’t a dirty word?
- 4. Was lead consultant @ ThoughtWorks Worked at a startup for 9 years Worked in software since 1996 I suffer from Prosopagnosia (face blindness) James Birnie, Codurance ABOUT ME jamesbirnie.com james.birnie@codurance.com RunningChairJB
- 5. The Problem: Why is Agile a Dirty Word and what does Dirty look like? The Journey: How to Clean up Agile The Destination: What Does Clean Look like? How do I Keep it Clean? WHAT’S ON THE MENU?
- 6. The Problem: Why is Agile a Dirty Word? How did Agile become a dirty word in some places? Why are some people obsessed with “Agile doesn’t work”? Photo by Ferenc Horvath on Unsplash
- 7. We’ve been doing Agile for 2 years, we’re not seeing good results yet
- 9. State Full name Algeria People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria DR Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo East Timor Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste Ethiopia Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Laos Lao People's Democratic Republic North Korea Democratic People's Republic of Korea Nepal Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal Sri Lanka Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Democracy rank and status 126 / 167 Authoritarian 165 / 167 Authoritarian 42 / 167 Flawed Democracy 128 / 167 Authoritarian 151 / 167 Authoritarian 167 / 167 Authoritarian 97 / 167 Hybrid Regime 71 / 167 Flawed Democracy Norway Kingdom of Norway 1 / 167 Full Democracy UK United Kingdom of Great Britain and NI 14 / 167 Full Democracy Belgium Kingdom of Belgium 31 / 167 Flawed Democracy SOURCE: Democracy Index 2018 - Economist Intelligence Unit
- 10. Our people are Scrum certified but things still aren’t working. Agile is clearly rubbish
- 11. SAFE (AND OTHER PRESCRIPTIVE FRAMEWORKS) ARE NOT AGILE Facilitating Command & Control within the guise of Agile
- 12. A BRIEF HISTORY OF FAILING DELIVERY 1990: All of our (Waterfall) software deliveries fail, we need to find a better way of doing this. 1996: I’ve heard XP is good, let’s give that a go. 1998: All of our (XP) software deliveries fail, XP is crap, let’s find a better way of doing this. 2001 - 2015: Agile is cool. Let’s retrain our project managers as Scrum masters, we’re doing Agile! 2019: All of our (Fake Agile) software deliveries fail. Agile doesn’t work. Agile is a dirty word. Photo by Ahmed Carter on Unsplash
- 13. A BRIEF HISTORY OF FAILING DELIVERY 1990: All of our (Waterfall) software deliveries fail, we need to find a better way of doing this. 1996: I’ve heard XP is good, let’s give that a go. 1998: All of our (XP) software deliveries fail, XP is crap, let’s find a better way of doing this. 2001 - 2015: Agile is cool. Let’s retrain our project managers as Scrum masters, we’re doing Agile! 2019: All of our (Fake Agile) software deliveries fail. Agile doesn’t work. Agile is a dirty word.
- 14. A BRIEF HISTORY OF FAILING DELIVERY 1990: All of our (Waterfall) software deliveries fail, we need to find a better way of doing this. 1996: I’ve heard XP is good, let’s give that a go. 1998: All of our (XP) software deliveries fail, XP is crap, let’s find a better way of doing this. 2001 - 2015: Agile is cool. Let’s retrain our project managers as Scrum masters, we’re doing Agile! 2019: All of our (Fake Agile) software deliveries fail. Agile doesn’t work. Agile is a dirty word.
- 15. AND THE COMMON FACTOR IS... Our software deliveries fail! So maybe WE are the problem?
- 16. The Problem: What Does Dirty Look Like? How do I know if Agile is a Dirty Word? What are the tell-tale signs? How can I explain this to people? Photo by Quino Al on Unsplash
- 17. STANDARDISE TOOLS TOOLS DON’T WORK WELL FOR ALL CASES DEVELOPERS CAN’T GET STUFF DONE A CYCLE OF REGULATION AND DECLINING TRUST
- 18. A DEATH SPIRAL INTO LACK OF TRUST Our Business has lost confidence in us because we cannot release new features and fixes in a timely fashion ○ ...because we do not have confidence that our release will be successful ○ ...because we cannot do the right kind of automated testing and quality assurance ○ ...because we don’t have the right tooling or disciplines to implement CI / CD effectively ○ ...and because our QA function and developers are too far away from the customer ○ ...which is all causing the feedback loops on any changes to be FAR TOO LARGE ○ ...which is giving us less confidence in our system ○ ...which is causing a vicious cycle of declining trust Photo by Ian Keefe on Unsplash
- 20. Risk Management Theatre • The organisation is process driven, not outcome driven • Processes have become detached from their original intent • Obsession with Box Ticking • Teams that add no value https://www.jamesbirnie.com/RiskManagmentTheatre
- 22. • Dysfunctional, waterfall, funding models • Blame Culture • Organisational Silos • Technology as a Cost Centre • Dishonest, “Watermelon” Reporting • Lack of trust and empowerment • Process, not Outcome, Driven COMMON ANTI-AGILE ORGANISATIONAL SMELLS 22
- 23. The Journey: How to Clean up Agile How do I go about cleaning up Agile? Given me some simple techniques. How do I avoid change fatigue? Photo by Vlad Bagacian on Unsplash
- 24. • Agile ≠ Scrum • Agile ≠ Kanban • Agile ≠ Any kind of prescriptive process • Agile DEFINITELY ISN’T something you can “buy off a shelf” • Agile is a manifesto consisting of 4 value statements and 12 principles SO WHAT IS AGILE ANYWAY?
- 27. JAMES BIRNIE’S AGILE PYRAMID Agile Manifesto - Values and Principles Empowerment, Trust and Outcomes over Processes Engineering Excellence
- 28. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan And 12 Agile principles The 4 Agile Values: SO WHAT IS AGILE REALLY ABOUT?
- 29. Customer Focus Collaborative working Delivering value early and often Empower your people TALK ABOUT THE IMPORTANT STUFF Distill the manifesto and the principles down: Trust your teams Constant improvement Communication is key (whichever seem most relevant to your circumstances)
- 30. An MVP won’t work for us, we need a finished product, no half measures
- 31. Foo is a genuine hacker! only hackers get the green glow. I know this from watching stuff like “24” and other “realistic” TV and films. THIS IS A WHAT WE ACTUALLY DID!! (A LOW-TECH MVP)
- 32. WASTE IS NOT A DIRTY WORD IN A DYSFUNCTIONAL ENVIRONMENT
- 33. • Eliminating waste is a message that is easy to land • That message moves easily on to a discussion about how opportunities are being missed or delayed • Trust teams to focus and deliver on the agreed outcomes • Waste goes away as teams start to question processes WASTE IS ELIMINATED AS PEOPLE FOCUS ON VALUABLE OUTCOMES
- 34. “Innovation is impossible without risk-taking, and if you haven’t managed to upset at least some people in management, you’re probably not trying hard enough.” GENE KIM - FROM THE THE DEVOPS HANDBOOK
- 35. EVERYBODY LOVES A GOOD METAPHOR...
- 36. ONE TEAM’S JOURNEY - TEAM GOALS AND VALUES
- 37. ONE TEAM’S JOURNEY - THE NEXT SIX WEEKS
- 38. 1. Understand Agile 2. Use Analogies and Metaphors to Help People Understand 3. Be pragmatic - Speak their Language to get what you need 4. Change one thing at a time 5. Empower and Involve Everybody 6. You will upset people - Deal with it STEPS ON THE JOURNEY
- 39. The Destination: What Does Good Look Like? How do I know that my changes have worked? How do I know that I’m doing better than before? How do I know when I’ve finished? Photo by Jon Flobrant on Unsplash
- 40. ● An organisation will build systems that will mirror the communication structures of the organisation itself ● If you have four groups working on a compiler, you’ll get a four stage compiler ● When he removed the cover of the DEC minicomputer he saw “Digital’s Organisation chart in the design of the product” ● So make it work in your favour - align your organisational units around entire outcomes CONWAY’S LAW CAN BE MADE TO WORK FOR US, NOT AGAINST US
- 41. ● Silos are recognised and removed ● Architects, if they exist, are outcome, not technology, focused ● Teams contain all the competences required to deliver on clear customer outcomes ● Technologies and teams are decoupled as much as possible AUTONOMOUS CROSS FUNCTIONAL TEAMS
- 42. ● Mistakes and failures lead to positive learnings ● The freedom and empowerment to learn through failure brings innovation ● People want to experiment and learn - “failure” has been replaced by “learning” in the company lexicon ● Blame free retros and incident wash ups LEARNING CULTURE REPLACES BLAME CULTURE
- 43. ENCOURAGE LEARNING - BOOK CLUB, ANYBODY?
- 44. ENCOURAGE LEARNING - BROWN BAGS
- 45. The Destination: How Do I Keep it Clean? Now that Agile is no longer a dirty a word, how do I make sure that I keep it clean? How do I stay ahead? Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
- 46. “The only sustainable competitive advantage is an organization’s ability to learn faster than the competition” PETER SENGE - AUTHOR OF “THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE”
- 47. Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could, given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand. Norm Kerth RETROS ARE FOR LEARNING, NOT FOR BLAMING
- 48. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU MEASURE “Tell me how you measure me and I will tell you how I will behave. If you measure me in an illogical way… do not complain about illogical behavior…” Eli Goldratt (author of the Goal)
- 49. TECH@CORE 3rdIndustrialRevolution (Informationasaresource) 4thIndustrialRevolution (Technologyattheheartofvalue) BUSINESS SUPPORTING ROLE COLLABORATION TECH-LED DIFFERENTIATION Formal walls and moats Tech creates digital assets Tech / business boundaries blur Collaborative execution Tech pervades a digital business TECH My Big Client is here MBC YOU SHOULD FIND YOUR ORGANISATION MIGRATING TO THE RIGHT
- 50. Ways of Working Process Driven Outcome Driven Cost Centre Value Creator Transactional Empathetic Reactive - Long Cycles Proactive - Quick Feedback MBC MBC MBC MBC YOU CAN FIND SUITABLE SLIDERS TO USE Funding Technology Internal Handovers DevOps Culture SUPPORTING ROLE COLLABORATION TECH-LED DIFFERENTIATION TECH@CORE
- 51. UNDERSTAND YOUR ARCHITECTURAL CHANGES ● Define fitness functions for “all the -ilities” ● Constantly monitor them ● Look for trends in the values ● Architecture can stop being a judgemental tradeoff as empirical data supports each change ● Perhaps set alerts on some fitness functions
- 52. ● Try to find things that measure the whole system ● Unit tests and other automated tests are fitness functions for an application ● Be creative - we started measuring total meeting hours for tech leads to get a sense of coupling ● Use your tools such as Jenkins and Jira to extract some useful metrics DEFINING FITNESS FUNCTIONS
- 53. FOUR KEY METRICS DIFFERENTIATE ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE ● The four key metrics differentiate high performing and low performing organisations ● Subjectively improving architecture will improve on the four key metrics ● The metrics are: ○ Lead time ○ Deployment frequency ○ Mean time to restore ○ Change fail percentage Photo by Abbie Parks on Unsplash
- 54. 24 KEY CAPABILITIES DRIVE IMPROVEMENT IN FOUR KEY METRICS ● 24 key capabilities drive improvement in performance ● Split into 5 categories: ○ Continuous Delivery ○ Architecture ○ Product and Process ○ Lean Management and Monitoring ○ Cultural ● Identify weakest areas in each team and fix them one by one
- 55. A FRAMEWORK FOR CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT - THE FIVE SIMPLE STEPS 1. List out the 24 key capabilities 2. Remove the organisational level ones if you are working with a team 3. Decide which ONE you are weakest at 4. Create a simple action with an owner to improve that capability 5. Reconvene and repeat the exercise after a suitable interval
- 56. ● Understand Agile principles and values ● Outcome over Process every time ● Make small easy to understand changes ● Measure only the stuff that REALLY matters ● Relentlessly learn and improve ● Then maybe, just maybe, you’ll find that AGILE IS NOT A DIRTY WORD! EXEC SUMMARY
Editor's Notes
- #7: Photo by Ferenc Horvath on Unsplash
- #10: Belgium 31 (Flawed Democracy) - Belgium scores lowly on “Political participation” (5.00) and “Political Culture” (6.88). It scores very highly on “electoral process and pluralism”, “functioning of government” and “civil liberties”.
- #13: Photo by Ahmed Carter on Unsplash
- #14: Photo by Ahmed Carter on Unsplash
- #15: Photo by Ahmed Carter on Unsplash
- #17: Photo by Quino Al on Unsplash
- #18: People try to “do” Agile (and continuous delivery) without putting the right fundamental building blocks in place and this leads to worse and worse stuff...
- #19: Photo by Ian Keefe on Unsplash
- #20: People try to “do” Agile (and continuous delivery) without putting the right fundamental building blocks in place and this leads to worse and worse stuff...
- #26: I was doing a little research to see if anybody else had articulated that Agile (principles) or Agile (methods) like Scrum aren’t enough on their own. I had been forming an idea that it is only part of it. We have to consider the methodology in the round with other things such as engineering capability, empowerment and trust.
- #27: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Pyramid-of-Agile-Competences_fig2_277716605
- #28: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Pyramid-of-Agile-Competences_fig2_277716605
- #29: I guarantee that the people who think Scrum is Agile have NOT looked at the Agile manifesto
- #33: TRY TO IMPROVE THE LANGUAGE OF WASTE OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE OPPORTUNITY COST IS MUCH BETTER The Poppendiecks describe waste AS hardship in the enterprise
- #41: Postscript to the third quote (the full quote) is - “Because the organisation’s structure and how its groups work together may have been established to facilitate the design of its dominant product, the direction of causality may ultimately reverse itself: The organisation’s structure and the way its groups learn to work together can then affect the way it can and cannot design new products.” read it from the Kindle...
- #52: With fitness functions it is about what better or worse looks like, not necessarily good or bad.
- #53: With fitness functions it is about what better or worse looks like, not necessarily good or bad.
- #55: With fitness functions it is about what better or worse looks like, not necessarily good or bad.