Fostering the Agile Culture

Joe Combs

Principal Consultant, SEI Cincinnati LLC

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Average schedule overrun on IT projects of almost 70%

Average cost overrun of 27% and higher in many cases

Harvard Business Review

Why Your IT Project May Be Riskier Than You Think

September 2011

A Challenging Environment

The Current State of Affairs

The Current State of Affairs

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A Challenging Environment

The Current State of Affairs

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A Challenging Environment

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Culture Defined

the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time

a particular society that has its own beliefs, ways of life, art, etc.

a way of thinking, behaving, or working that exists in a place or organization (such as a business)

- Merriam-Webster Online dictionary

culturenoun | cul∙ture | \ kəl-chər \ˈ

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Why Culture?

The Scrum Guide Gets An Update

Increased emphasis on the 5 values of Scrum

“When the values … are embodied and lived by the scrum team, the agile pillars of Transparency, Inspection and Adaptation come to life. We added these values to The Scrum Guide because successful use of scrum depends on people becoming more proficient in living these five values.”

- Ken Schwaber

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Why Culture?

Intensive technical interviews are losing their luster

Companies are succeeding by getting intentional about culture

Better alignment with the interests and values of the growing millennial population in the workforce

Culture is King in Modern Organizations

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Key Considerations

OK, Culture is Important. So What Do We Do About It?

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Key Considerations

Understand the Why and How

2 -4 weeks

24 hours

Product Backlog of User Storiesas prioritized by Product Owner

Sprint Backlog

Backlog tasksexpandedby team

Daily ScrumMeeting

Source: Adapted from Agile Software Development with Scrum by Ken Schwaber and Mike Beedle.

Demonstrable New Functionality

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Key Considerations

Understand the Why and How

The processes and ceremonies of an agile team are inter-related, they support one another

Having a deep understanding of what the team does and why they do it keeps you from requesting shortcuts and tradeoffs that seem OK in the short run but cause havoc in the long run

This deep understanding also helps you be able to hold the team accountable

Shows the team you’re all in

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Key Considerations

Agile teams LOVE metaphors

Just as a good metaphor can help you articulate attributes of the system under development, a metaphor can help spark new thinking about how the team works.

Embrace the Metaphor

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Key Considerations

Agile teams LOVE metaphors

Just as a good metaphor can help you articulate attributes of the system under development, a metaphor can help spark new thinking about how the team works.

Embrace the Metaphor

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Key Considerations

Agile teams LOVE metaphors

Just as a good metaphor can help you articulate attributes of the system under development, a metaphor can help spark new thinking about how the team works.

Embrace the Metaphor

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Key Considerations

Take your time

Know what fit really means

Don’t over-value the alphabet soup – a resume is a conversation starter

Be smart about how you vet tech skills

Look for the spark

Open exchange of feedback among interviewers

Hire Smart

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Key Considerations

Blindly sticking to your beloved metrics from your non-agile days is a surefire recipe for disaster

Most measures are best viewed as relative values, not absolutes

NEVER compare metrics across teams

Don’t let unit of measure become a distraction

Do embrace information radiators

Avoid Dubious Metrics

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Key Considerations

Be careful what you subsidize – you’ll get more of it

We’re after the free exchange of ideas – don’t quash this with actions that run contrary to your words

Place an emphasis on lessons learned, personal and team growth to unleash the team’s full potential.

Misplaced incentives can be every bit as harmful as incentives

Lose the battle to win the war

Incentivize the Right Things

Key Considerations

Encourage Sustainability

Yes, this means take charge of your work-life balance but its so much more than that...

Are you diligently watching team commitments, size of stories, etc?

Do you have the right tool set?

Is the team making wise choices or are you leaving tech debt in your wake?

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Key Considerations

Wrapping Up

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Wrapping Up

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Working software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

Remember the Manifesto

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Wrapping Up

Key Considerations to Fostering An Agile Culture

Understand the Why and How

Embrace the Metaphor

Hire Smart

Avoid Dubious Metrics

Incentivize the Right Things

Encourage Sustainability

Wrapping Up

THANK YOU!!

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Twitter - @jgcombs

Blog – jgcombs.wordpress.com

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