Rational agilityEVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS

Roman Mildner

February 28th, 2012

• Should we be agile?

• Can we be agile in safety-critical environments?

• How much agility do we need?

• Should we care?

Questions

February 28th, 2012 2EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS . © 2012 UNITED MENTORS GMBH

Effective project management in three easy steps.

1. ‘Agile’ doesn’t matter.

2. Projects are releases.

3. Projects are born winners (or losers).

February 28th, 2012 3EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS . © 2012 UNITED MENTORS GMBH

STEP 1

‘AGILE’ DOESN’T MATTER

February 28th, 2012 4EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS . © 2012 UNITED MENTORS GMBH

1. Describe the process

2. Review the process

3. Print out the process

4. Rethink the process

5. Go To 1

6. Work the process

The traditional approach according to an agile programmer

February 28th, 2012 5EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS . © 2012 UNITED MENTORS GMBH

1. Make up some feature

2. Code

3. Adapt feature to code written

4. Get some pizza

5. Goto 1

The agile approach according to a process-aware programmer

February 28th, 2012 6EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS . © 2012 UNITED MENTORS GMBH

Ancient agility:

• Individuals and interactions

over processes and tools

• Working software product over

comprehensive documentation

• Customer collaboration over

contract negotiation

• Responding to change over

following a plan

QED.

Agility, the oldest approach

February 28th, 2012 7EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS . © 2012 UNITED MENTORS GMBH

Rational Empirical

Attitude First think, then do Learning by doing

What’s important Strict reasoning Experience

Dealing with errors Preventive Corrective

Effort Initially Later

Examples in our world CMMI, Automotive SPICE SCRUM

Typical anti-pattern Analysis paralysis ‘Taskforcitis’

What ‘rational’ and ‘empirical’ really mean

February 28th, 2012 8EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS . © 2012 UNITED MENTORS GMBH

How we really decide

February 28th, 2012 9

Life experience

Feel

Rationalize

‚Rational‘ decision!

EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS . © 2012 UNITED MENTORS GMBH

‘Agile’ doesn’t matter

February 28th, 2012 10EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS . © 2012 UNITED MENTORS GMBH

STEP 2

PROJECTS ARE RELEAESES

February 28th, 2012 11EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS . © 2012 UNITED MENTORS GMBH

Projects create product releases

Un

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Product maturity

Firs

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Pro

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Rationalization

February 28th, 2012 12EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS . © 2012 UNITED MENTORS GMBH

STEP 3

PROJECTS ARE BORN WINNERS OR LOSERS

February 28th, 2012 13EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS . © 2012 UNITED MENTORS GMBH

Fit for the job?

February 28th, 2012 14EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS . © 2012 UNITED MENTORS GMBH

The project-DNA

Process

dimension

Product maturity

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Development100% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 0% 0% 0% 0% 75% 75% 50% 75% 25%

Introduction100% 75% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 25% 50% 25% 75% 100% 75% 100% 50%

Growth100% 100% 100% 75% 75% 100% 100% 75% 75% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Maturity100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Saturation100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Degeneration100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

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February 28th, 2012 15EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS . © 2012 UNITED MENTORS GMBH

Practical example

Product maturity Requirements Management Project Planning

Development feature list burn down chart, milestones

Introduction + specification (use cases)

+ user reviews

+ simple traceability

+ effort estimations

+ scheduling

+ exact responsibilities

+ project plan

Growth + full traceability

+ full specification

+ management reviews and

quality gates

Maturity + formal project lifecycle

Saturation

Degeneration

February 28th, 2012 16EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS . © 2012 UNITED MENTORS GMBH

Un

its

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pm

en

t

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Mat

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Satu

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Deg

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Product maturity

Firs

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Pro

cess

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Rationalization

The human factor in your project

D I S C

Team 1

D I

Team 2

S C

D Dominance

I Influence

S Steadiness

C Compliance

February 28th, 2012 17EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS . © 2012 UNITED MENTORS GMBH

Answers

February 28th, 2012 18EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS . © 2012 UNITED MENTORS GMBH

Q&A

Q: Should we be agile?

A: Wrong question! You should be EFFECTIVE.

Q: Can we be agile in safety-critical environments?

A: Yes-but. With the carefully crafted project-DNA.

Q: How much agility do we need?

A: Align with product maturity.

Q: Should we care?

A: Yes, urgently!

February 28th, 2012 19EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS . © 2012 UNITED MENTORS GMBH

Step 1: ‘Agile’ doesn’t matter.

Step 2: Projects are releases.

Step 3: Projects are born winners or losers.

Effective project management in five easy steps.

CHECK

YOUR

PROJECT’s

DNA!

February 28th, 2012 20EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS . © 2012 UNITED MENTORS GMBH

Roman Mildner, PMP

United Mentors

Eupener Str. 139

50933 Cologne, Germany

Tel +49-221-2605266

http://unitedmentors.com/RomanMildner

http://twitter.com/RomanMildner

http://www.projectcrunch.com

http://www.projectcrunch.de

About the author

February 28th, 2012 21EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES: THE RIGHT DNA FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS . © 2012 UNITED MENTORS GMBH