Measure for MeasureL e a n P r i n c i p l e s f o r E f f e c t i v e M e t r i c s a n d M o t i v a t i o n

Paul Rayner

AGILITY. CRAFT. ARCHITECTURE.

Thinking About Work

A story…

and a quote.

Tom Sawyer

Work consists ofwhatever a bodyis obliged to do...

Play consists ofwhatever a bodyis not obliged todo.

- Mark Twain

“You can’t control what you can't measure.”

- Tom DeMarco

How Work Has Changed

The Compliance EraThe economics of the times:

• Stable environment with with heavy demand

• Standardized products and services

• Simplified work

Command and Control

Sound management meant:• Simplifying work tasks• Producing thick rule

books• Building tall hierarchies• Close supervision

Extrinsic Rewards

Metrics and Measurement

Human Development

The Last 3 Decades

27%32%

28%

66%

55%

69%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

The work I do is meaningful to me

It is basically my responsibility to decide how my job gets done

My job lets me use my skills and abilities

1977 2002

Workers answering “Strongly

agree”

The Last 3 DecadesRestructuring

• Flatter organizational structures• Cross-functional teams• Free flow of information

Computers and Automation• Reduced number of low-skilled jobs• Increased need for worker judgment• Greater worker access to information

The “New Work”

Purpose is back!

Employee Engagement

The degree to which peopleactively self-manage in their work

Origins of Lean

7 Principles of Lean Software Development

Mary and Tom Poppendieck. Implementing Lean Software Development

Self-Management

Commit to a meaningful

purpose

Choose activities to accomplish the purpose

Monitor progress

towards the purpose

Monitor activities for competence

Perform activities

Intrinsic Rewards

Sense ofChoice

Sense ofMeaningfulness

Sense of Progress

Sense ofCompetence

OpportunityRewards

AccomplishmentRewards

From Task Purpose

From TaskActivities

From Kenneth Thomas. Intrinsic Motivation at Work

A specific example of something that made me feel energized about my work was when …

• Someone appreciated me for my input into problem-solving• We deliver as we projected• Project went to production with great success• I was trusted to do it my way.• My boss told me I'd done a good job. I've had bosses who don't - it's nice to hear it.

• I'm working on something that has a very positive and lasting impact on on organization.

• I was given freedom to accomplish a strategic task and not hindered or had goals change mid-stream.

• We won some good new business.• A project that I had been working on went live and real customers began seeing value added to their work because of the work that I had done. I could draw the line directly between my effort and value added... that felt pretty good.

From Kenneth Thomas. Intrinsic Motivation at Work

The Energy Cycle

Sense ofChoice

Sense ofMeaningfulness

Sense of Progress

Sense ofCompetence

Intrinsic Rewards

ChoosingActivities

Committingto Purpose

MonitoringProgress

MonitoringCompetence

Self-Management

Judgments

Energy

Organizational Dysfunction

I was going to thrash them within an inch of their lives, but I didn’t have a tape measure

- Groucho Marx

Genuine Results

Dysfunction

Informational/Inquiry

Performance/Control

Intrinsic Extrinsic

Intention

Motivation

Motivation and Intention

Some Lean Principles

Build Quality In

“You can not inspect quality into the product; it is already there.”

- Deming

Diagnostic Metrics

Duplicated CodePoor test coverageComplexityPerformanceError handling…

Respect for People

Sense ofChoice

Sense ofMeaningfulness

Sense of Progress

Sense ofCompetence

Intrinsic Rewards

ChoosingActivities

Committingto Purpose

MonitoringProgress

MonitoringCompetence

Self-Management

Judgments

Energy

Optimize the Whole

Measure upby reducing the number of measurements, and

find a higher level of measurement that will drive the right results for the

lower level metrics and establish a basis for making tradeoffs”

- Poppendieck & Poppendieck, 2007.

Key Resources

Conclusion/TakeawaysIntrinsic Rewards:

Work can be so much more than what a personis obliged to do.

As workers:Be aware of our own level of self-management andenergy, take pride in our work and build quality in.

As leaders:Respect our workers by helping them self-manageand optimizing the whole.

Questions

Paul Rayner

Thank You…

paul@virtual-genius.com

www.virtual-genius.com

www.virtual-genius.com/blog

www.slideshare.com/virtualgenius

AGILITY. CRAFT. ARCHITECTURE.

ResourcesAustin, Robert D. Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations. New York: Dorset House,

1996.Austin, Robert D. and Lee Devin “Knowledge Work, Craft Work, and Calling.” In Global Neighbors:

Christian Faith and Moral Obligation in Today’s Economy, eds. Hicks, Douglas A. and Mark Valeri. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008.

Bakke, Dennis. Joy at Work: A Revolutionary Approach to Fun on the Job. Seattle: Pearson Venture Group, 2005.

Bolton, Michael. “Three Kinds of Measurement and Two Ways to Use Them.” Better Software, July/August 2009, Vol. 11:5.

DeMarco, Tom. “Software Engineering: An Idea Whose Time has Come and Gone?” IEEE Software, July/August 2009.

Foucault, Michel. “Discipline and Punish.” In Philosophy and the Problems of Work: A Reader, ed. Kory Shaff, 59-72. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001.

Jones, Capers. Applied Software Management: Global Analysis of Productivity and Quality, 3d ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Osborne, 2008.

Poppendieck, Mary and Tom Poppendieck. Implementing Lean Software Development: From Concept to Cash. Boston: Addison Wesley, 2007.

Putnam, Lawrence H. and Ware Myers. Five Core Metrics: The Intelligence Behind Successful Software Management. New York: Dorset House, 2003.

Thomas, Kenneth W. Intrinsic Motivation at Work: What Really Drives Employee Engagement, 2d ed. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2009.

Weinberg, Gerald M. Quality Software Management: First Order Measurement. New York: Dorset House, 1993.

References• Fonts:

– Euphemia, Leelawadee

– BoBsFrAnTiC True Type http://www.searchfreefonts.com/free/bobsfrantic.htm

– BigMisterC : http://www.urbanfonts.com/fonts/BigMisterC.htm

• Tom Sawyer painting the fence (by Norman Rockwell): http://todaysinspiration.blogspot.com/2009/07/norman-rockwells-tom-sawyer-part-1.html

• Groucho Marx: http://sporeflections.wordpress.com/2009/05/30

• House Doctors: http://www.thealmightyguru.com/Reviews/House/House-Quiz.html

• Man in the Grey Flannel Suit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_in_the_Gray_Flannel_Suit

• Antique cash register: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zizzy/89696604/

• Motivation: http://demotivational.blogspot.com/2008/03/tps-reports.html