ugly truths about scaling agile
TRANSCRIPT
The Ugly Truth of Scaling Agile
Scott BlackerVP Product & ServicesAgileCraft
Kreisler NgSr. Manager, Agile DeliverycPrime
2
Drive Agile and DevOps success through a blend of unified software services
Simply Software at Scale
To Gain Strategic Advantage
AGILECRAFT
3
#1
I T ’ S T R U LY A B O U T S U R V I V A L
THE GAME IS RAPIDLY CHANGING
Software is eating the world1 The acceleration of the technology curve is quickening the turnover of large enterprises / the fortune 500.
2Increasingly software is highly strategic and has a major impact on outcomes regardless of the vertical / industry in question
3 4
5
Agility has replaced market share as a key driver of competitive advantage
I T ’ S T R U LY A B O U T S U R V I V A L
THE GAME IS RAPIDLY CHANGING
STATE OF AGILET H E B A S I C S
1st Generation - (approx. 1994 – 2002) searched for and found a different way of building solutions focused on small teams of developers.
2nd Generation – (approx. 2002 – 2010) realized requirements & testing must be agile as well to create development flow.
3rd Generation – (approx. 2010 – present) builds on development flow and deals with scale, value stream, product lines, portfolios and integration to strategy and the rest of the enterprise.
6Courtesy of SolutionsIQ
Scaling is a well understood concept at this point.
Plenty of frameworks exist.
We’ll just pick one and train the teams.
Right?
Introducing the 5 ugly truths of scaling agile
7
T H E U G LY T R U T H O F S C A L I N G A G I L E
8
Ugly Truth #1:
Semantics(Your epic is my
initiative)
Scoping(Your “3” isn’t the same as my “3”)
Sprints(My sprints MUST start
on a Tuesday)
Even the seemingly simplest aspects of a transformation are massive headaches
9
Ugly Truth #1:
Semantics(Your epic is my
initiative)
Even the seemingly simplest aspects of a transformation are massive headaches
Epic
Feature
Story
Initiative
Epic
Story
SAFe JIRA
Scoping(Your “3” isn’t the same as my “3”)
Sprints(My sprints MUST start
on a Tuesday)
10
Secret Weapons
• Agile Coalition / Communities of Practice
• Listen and explain the why• Knowing when to pick a
strong stance
11
PREDICTABILITY, SPEND & RESULTS
STRATEGY,GOALS,
& PRIORITIES
Ugly Truth #2: Your top-down transformation is going to fail……and so is your bottoms-up.
12
Secret Weapons:
• Start from the top and from the bottom
• Listen and empathize• Make it a safe
environment to fail
T H E U G LY T R U T H O F S C A L I N G A G I L E
13
Bimodal Ceiling
Ugly Truth #3: There will be a glass ceiling.Breaking through will not be easy.
Management CeilingFinance Ceiling
14
Secret Weapons:• Meet me in Bimodal• Pilot as results speak for
themselves• Use the organization’s informal
network
T H E U G LY T R U T H O F S C A L I N G A G I L E
15
Ugly Truth #4:Teams have been locally-optimizing since the beginning of Agile. System-optimization is much harder.
16
Secret Weapons:• Paint the big picture• Link local data to org-wide data• Focus on Agile HR
T H E U G LY T R U T H O F S C A L I N G A G I L E
17
Ugly Truth #5: Many teams don’t actually want to scale.Your job is to show them the light.
• Scaling = transparency which is scary / drives accountability / reduces freedom to whatever you want• Don’t want to be compared….game the system if
compared
18
Secret Weapons:• Collaborate with Teams• Build Trust
T H E U G LY T R U T H O F S C A L I N G A G I L E
19
Ugly Truth Secret Weapon(s)
Even the seemingly simplest aspects of a transformation are massive headaches 1
2
3
4
5
T H E U G LY T R U T H O F S C A L I N G A G I L E
• Agile Coalition / Communities of Practice• Listen and explain the why• Knowing when to pick a strong stance
Your top-down transformation is going to fail……and so is your bottoms-up.
• Start from the top and from the bottom
• Listen and empathize• Make it a safe environment to fail
There will be a glass ceiling.Breaking through will not be easy.
• Meet me in Bimodal• Pilot as results speak for themselves• Use the organization’s informal network
• Collaborate with Teams• Build Trust
Many teams don’t actually want to scale.Your job is to show them the light.
Teams have been locally-optimizing since the beginning of Agile. System-optimization is much harder
• Paint the big picture• Link local data to org-wide data• Focus on Agile HR