research on impediments to product development flow

Lero© 2013 THE IRISH SOFTWARE ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTRE

KEN POWER IMPEDIMENTS TO PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT FLOW

Technical Leader Video and Collabora1on Group Cisco Systems


The Fastest Learner Wins Ideas

Build

Products

Measure

Data

Learn


About my research in ALPS

•  Focus on improving the flow of work in teams and organiza1ons

•  Adap1ng the Lean concept of Waste to soIware product development –  Iden1fying and Managing Impediments to Flow


Request Planned Ready

Analysis

Done Accepted

System Testing

Design Coding Code Review

Code Updates Testing Test

Complete

System Test Done

Deployed to Staging Verification Deployed

to Live

In Progress

Deployed


“He without bad habits has seven”


Framework for Impediments Extra Features • Features that are not wanted • Do not have an economically jus1fied need

Handovers • Includes tacit knowledge lost when work is handed off between people or groups • Causes delays.

Failure Demand • Demand created on our system because of something we did wrong, or failed to do. • Includes Defects, Technical Debt, Work caused by poor docs or service

Work In Progress • Work that does not yet meet its Defini1on of Done • Hides problems

Task Switching • Waste caused by working on mul1ple tasks at the same 1me and the 1me lost in switching between them. • Decreases produc1vity.

Unnecessary Mo1on • Difficult to see in soIware development. OIen caused by inaVen1on to team environment and workspace layout, e.g., teams not co-‐located

Unmet Human Poten1al • Underu1liza1on of people and in par1cular their ideas and crea1ve input to make improvements

Extra Processes • Aspects of the process used by the team, or mandated by the organiza1on, that do not add value. • Process that cause knowledge to be lost, forcing relearning to occur.

Delays • Slow down or inhibit movement • Slow down feedback and hinder learning • The fastest learner wins (Ries) • Can occur anywhere along Value Stream


Examining Causes of Waste


Literature Landscape

Waste&impacts&effec,veness&in&project&and&por3olio&

management&

Por3olio&Management&

Organiza,ons&manage&Por3olios&of&mul,ple&projects&Projects&

Metrics&quan,fy&the&impact&of&

Waste&Metrics& HSD&

Waste&manifests&as&obstacles&and&impediments&

Scrum&

Waste&influences&the&dynamics&in&human&systems,&and&vice&

versa&

Projects&and&Por3olios&(and&the&people&that&are&responsible&for&them)&are&best&understood&as&complex&adap,ve&human&

systems&

Scrum&is&used&to&understand&and&

improve&the&efficacy&of&a&process&for&

delivering&projects&

Waste&


How does the work flow?

Lead Time

Planned Ready In Progress Done Accepted

Exit Policy: Meets

Definition of Ready

(5) Requested Deployed

Exit Policy: Meets

Definition of Done

Exit Policy: Item meets Acceptance

Criteria

Exit Policy: Ready to be

deployed

Exit Policy: Prioritized for

grooming

(3)

Exit Policy: Targeted for a

specific release

Exit Policy: Feature is in active use

(10)

Cycle Times

Flow


PDSA

•  Follows the steps of the Scien1fic Method •  Plan: develop a hypothesis or experiment

•  Do: conduct the experiment •  Study: collect measurements •  Act: interpret the results and take appropriate ac1on

•  Also known as •  PDCA •  The Deming Cycle •  The Shewart Cycle

Plan

Do Study

Act


Seeing Impediments by looking at Throughput

Failure Demand

Value Demand


Seeing Impediments through Cumula1ve Flow


Seeing Impediments through Reac1on Time


“The Principle of Queuing Waste: Queues are the root cause of the majority of economic waste in product development”

(Reinertsen, 2009).


Make Queues Visible

Planned Ready In Progress Done Accepted

Exit Policy: Meets

Definition of Ready

(5) Requested Deployed

Exit Policy: Meets

Definition of Done

Exit Policy: Item meets Acceptance

Criteria

Exit Policy: Ready to be

deployed

Exit Policy: Prioritized for

grooming

(3)

Queue In Process

Queue In Process

Queue In Process

Queue In Process

Queue In Process

Queue In Process

Exit Policy: Targeted for a

specific release

Exit Policy: Feature is in active use

(10)


Influencers of Flow at Different States

Planned Ready In Progress Done Accepted Requested Deployed

Lead Time

Delivery Cycle Time

Acceptance Cycle Time

Deployment Cycle Time

Work Wait Time

Porcolio Planning Time

Porcolio Team

Product Owners

Delivery Teams

Product Owners

Release Management

Discovery Time

Product Owners

Total Reac1on Cycle Time Total Delivery Cycle Time


RetrospecHves •  One of the top 10 reasons

that Agile projects fail is poor use of retrospec1ves

•  Your opportunity to Inspect and Adapt

•  Foster organiza1on learning •  Iden1fy Obstacles / Wastes

Daily Standups •  The third ques1on can be

asked different ways: –  What’s geing in your way? –  What’s slowing you down? –  What’s preven1ng you from

being effec1ve? –  What’s blocking you?

Where to Find Impediments?


Impediment Removal Process Identified In Progress Resolved

Becomes a record of improvements

Obstacle Title

Scrum Master: Name Date Opened: 8-Jan-2012 Date Closed: 14-Feb-2012 Description: alsdals,d askdkas asdkma Asdasd lasdlkalskd alksdl asd asdaskl Resolution: askdmkasd asd asdj nasd Asdasdj asjdj nasd

|||| || \

Minimum Viable Change


Summary •  Waste exists as Impediments or Obstacles to Flow •  Agile Development provides the short feedback cycles that

help to see and manage Impediments •  See Impediments through Lead Time, Cycle Times,

Throughput, Cumula1ve Flow, Reac1on Times •  The Influencers of Impediments might be a surprise •  Use Retrospec1ves, Daily Standups and other forums to

iden1fy Impediments •  Create an Impediment Removal Process in your Organiza1on


Ken Power •  My day job

–  Co-‐Founder, Agile Office at Cisco; Leader in Agile and Lean across Cisco –  Internal Agile & Lean Consultant, working directly with leadership, management, teams

•  Background –  Different environments, from startups to Fortune 100 global companies –  SoIware Engineering, Architecture, Product and System Development, Management, Consul1ng, Educa1on –  Roles including engineer, technical leader, chief architect, engineering manager, educator, project manager, consultant –  Co-‐Ac1ve Coach; Human Systems Dynamics Prac11oner

•  Areas of Exper1se –  Organiza1on Change, Agile and Lean Transi1on, Coaching, Consul1ng, Porcolio Management, Product and System Development, Methodology Design,

Systems Design

•  Research Areas –  Lean, Agile, Organiza1on Flow, Complex Adap1ve Systems, Human Systems Dynamics, Porcolio Management, Organiza1on Agility, Team and Organiza1on

Effec1veness, Con1nuous Improvement, Managing Waste

•  Extra-‐curricular ac1vi1es –  Founding Fellow of the Lean Systems Society (hVp://LeanSystemsSociety.org/) –  Award-‐winning publica1ons in Agile and Lean product development –  Frequent speaker at major interna1onal Agile and Lean conferences –  Involved in organizing interna1onal Agile and Lean conferences –  Industry/academic collabora1ve research on Agile and Lean soIware development –  Lean Startup Mentor

•  Find me online –  Blog: hVp://SystemAgility.com/ –  TwiVer: @ken_power –  LinkedIn: hVp://www.linkedin.com/in/kenpower –  slideshare: hVp://www.slideshare.net/kenpower/

research on impediments to product development flow

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