Learn Fast, Fail Fast, Deliver Fast: The MOD Squad Way at MetLife
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The document outlines MetLife's innovative 'Mod Squad' approach, emphasizing high velocity, agility, and a culture of learning through failure. It describes a cross-functional team structure that empowers diverse members to collaborate on disruptive technologies while maintaining executive support and visibility. Key success factors include embracing risk, challenging the status quo, and focusing on minimal viable products to drive ongoing innovation.
Learn Fast, Fail Fast, Deliver Fast: The MOD Squad Way at MetLife
- 1. Learn Fast, Fail Fast, Deliver Fast: The MOD Squad Way Tim Tyler Principal Solutions Engineer, MetLife, Inc.
- 3. Or What the heck did MetLife do that worked and that continues to result in ongoing benefits to the business in new areas
- 5. Is that really what happened???Pretty much, yes…So let me tell you about MetLife
- 6. Unstoppable Force (The ModSquad) • High Velocity • Fail Fast • Agile • Scrum • Kanban • Disruptive Technology • Innovate • Empower The Path • Cross Functional Team • Very Focused • Highly Diverse • Embraces Risk and Change • Common, Open, Work Area • Shook Up Culture and Hierarchy • Freedom to Explore The ModSquad
- 7. ModSquad Norms ● Formalize the ModSquad to protect culture, speed, and acquired knowledge ● A cross-functional innovation team to build and deploy new services at scale ● Rotational membership to infuse the new culture into the rest of the organization ● Insure allegiance is with Squad during rotation ● Create a permanent collaboration space
- 8. Success Factors ● Executive recognition, top down support ● Frequent visibility to executives and business ● Equality of team members and situational leadership ● Diversity of team ● Complex problems and shiny things!
- 9. Diversity ● Different points of view ● Empathy for our colleagues and our customers ● Broadens the team’s perspective ● Enriches the team’s overall experience
- 10. Team Behaviors ● We learn from mistakes and obstacles as well as successes ● Think outside of the box, there are always new ways to solve a problem ● Work outside area of expertise and comfort zone ● Don’t worry about breaking things (in our labs) ● Challenge the status quo ● Think like an entrepreneur
- 11. Mastery PurposeAutonomy choice over what work to do or who to work with the opportunity to get better at something we care about being part of something bigger than yourself
- 12. “Each of us can fail, but we can succeed fast, and we’re all going to learn together” Lance Roller, AVP, MetLife
- 13. Functionally Speaking… Rotational, dedicated team resources are fully dedicated during rotation • Members day to day work will be assigned by the squad ModSquad leadership will be key contributors to year-end performance reviews Focus on one disruptive innovation at a time (or two) Do not hold onto technologies for > 4 months Platform and Ops engaged early to insure smooth transition
- 14. Reports 14 § Quarterly executive steering committee meetings § The steering committee will set priorities § Monthly meeting with the SVP Engineering § ModSquad focuses on one or two disruptive innovations at a time Leader Security NetworkArchitect Operations App DevAutomation Platform Distributed DatabaseSol Eng Foundational - Dedicated Annual Foundational – Ad Hoc Annual Semi- Annual Rotational – Dedicated Rotational Program SVP Engineering – Executive Sponsor ModSquad Composition Executive Steering Committee
- 15. Things We Learned Focus on a Minimum Viable Product Innovation Team does not operationalize!!! Encourage Subject Matter Experts Innovate through Open AND Ad-Hoc discussions Pay attention to Norms
- 16. Immovable Object 16 • Operational Handoff • Do not underestimate this! • Your Ops Team may be wide and far flung • Many or most may not know what a microservice is • Everything you are giving them is probably new • How cleanly does your shiny, new, cost reducing, super agile, infrastructure fit to existing business processes? • How do you monitor it? • How do you prevent sprawl? ü X X X X X Monitors up? Offshore trained? Level 1 trained? Ops guides? Is that done? Is this done?
- 17. Repeatable Innovate Ideas How Innovation Feeds Production 17 Platform Innovation AD Service Service Managemen t Operations Solutions Engineering Infrastructure Architecture Team Operations Platform Engineering Day 2 Velocity
- 18. Who is the ModSquad? • We are Problem Solvers • We are Disruptors • We are Transformation • We are Limitless • We are Innovators • We are The Change • We are Experimenters • You are the ModSquad 18
- 19. “You and the wider team collectively defined a new model for collaboration that not only helped address a critical challenge for MetLife, but is one that we will look to deploy more broadly across GTO.“
- 20. Can YOU Do This?? ● MetLife’s recipe may not fit everyone ● But if MetLife can do this anyone can ● Seek Executive support ● Ensure Executive visibility ● Build and Empower a diverse team
- 21. What’s Next for the ModSquad??● Big Data is Big! ● Serverless ● Artificial Intelligence ● New IaaS and PaaS ideas ● ChatOps and Robots
- 22. Keep the Conversation Going! https://www.linkedin.com/in/ttyler/