Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- what_are_the_changes_in_culture_that_need_to_happen_with_agile [2017/03/19 16:31] – hpsamios
+++ what_are_the_changes_in_culture_that_need_to_happen_with_agile [2019/09/11 06:45] – Managing back hpsamios
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ====== What Are The Changes in Culture That Need To Happen with Agile? ======
-Note: this discussion is closely related to [[what_are_the_changes_in_management_approach_that_need_to_happen_with_agile|What Are The Changes in Management Approach That Need To Happen with Agile?]]
+<WRAP todo>Work in progress</WRAP>
-The "inability to change the organization culture" is listed by most people as the biggest obstacle to implementing a Scrum / Agile approach. Here is a more detailed list of some of the culture changes that need to be made for an organization to become more agile in it approach:
+The "inability to change the organization culture" is listed by most people as the biggest obstacle to implementing a Agile approach.
+Some wit once said "if you think agile is simple, just try it". The basics of Agile are pretty simple (a focus on people and collaboration, continuous improvement through feedback, iterative and incremental delivery of value, etc). The problem is that while this is pretty simple, the result in your complex organization, when adopted is far from simplistic. What you see is the effect of "network effects" - small changes that ripple through your entire system and impact "everything" from governance, management, finance, budgeting, HR, architecture, and so on.
+Someone once asked me "what kinds of changes are we talking about?" The chart below captures some of the changes we see. Of course, "your mileage may vary". You will find that some these are bigger deals in your environment, while others just make sense and you will have no problem implementing thinking in your organization.
 <searchtable>
@@ Line 9: / Line 13: @@
 ^ Traditional Organization ^ Agile Organization ^ Role ^ Comments ^
 | "Local optimization" | "System optimization" | Management | In general, local optimization leads to sub-optimization of the system. Think about a delivery system set up where developers get bonuses for developing new features, while testing gets bonuses for finding bugs. In terms of delivery of value to the customer this system will result in behavior where developers will cut corners to show fast deliver, while testers will find hundreds of trivial bugs. We need to focus instead on "delivery of value to the customer" and optimize that system. The idea is to "watch the baton, not the runners". The baton is what is important in a relay race - if the runner with the baton crosses the finish line first, they win. Just watching the runners will mean that you will worry, for example, if your runners are not busy "running" while the baton is being moved by another runner. The question should be "what can the runner do to help move the baton". |
-| Manage looking backward | Manage looking forward | Management | Traditional approach of managing by the numbers, focusing on “make the month” targets which is essentially manage looking backwards at these results. Instead we should bemanaging forwards by improving processes as a means of improving future results |
+| Manage looking backward | Manage looking forward | Management | Traditional approach of managing by the numbers, focusing on “make the month” targets, and working to determine what went wrong (and in the worst case finding someone to blame). This is essentially managing by looking backwards. The problem is that while we can learn from past, we cannot change the past. Instead we should be managing forwards, improving processes as a means of improving future results. |
 | Resource efficiency | Flow efficiency | Management | The focus with agile is on delivering business value as a smooth flow. This may mean that the best thing for people to do is not to be busy the whole time. Traditional management focuses on "resource utilization" which often means you reduce the flow going through the system because of context switching and contention for scarce people or resources. |
 | Large annual bets based on plan | Multiple small actively managed bets based on reality | Management | Traditional approaches to implementing an organization plan is to do a yearly plan, and then determine if we meet the plan. The agile approach assumes we have plans, but they are smaller, more regularly reviewed so we can more easily adapted based on the changing business situation. See [[why_should_we_start_without_doing_a_complete_analysis|Why Should We Start Without Doing a Complete Analysis?]], [[what_is_the_effect_of_batch_size_on_how_long_something_takes_to_get_done|What Is The Effect of Batch Size On How Long It Takes to Get Something Done?]]. This leads to ... |
@@ Line 61: / Line 65: @@
 | Status is assess through document (phase-gate) review | Status is assessed by seeing working code at cadence boundaries | PM | |
 | Release date determined by wishful thinking | Release dates are fixed - manage scope expectations | PM | |
+| Meetings / events / reports happen at convenience of manager | Meetings / events / reports happen at convenience of team / train | Manager | This is part of servant leadership. Idea is to ensure that management doesn't slow the team / train down. |
 </sortable>
 </searchtable>
@@ Line 69: / Line 74: @@
   * [[https://findingmarblesdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/agile_mindset.jpg|Excellent graphic describing some of the transitions from the perspective of traditional project management viewpoint]]
   * FYI: I expect to edit this list as I figure out better ways of saying things and identify other changes that are required. And I expect to focus this list and edit it to make it more concise as it is pretty lengthy at the moment.
+  * This discussion is closely related to [[what_are_the_changes_in_management_approach_that_need_to_happen_with_agile|What Are The Changes in Management Approach That Need To Happen with Agile?]]
-Note: page is getting big so need to refactor. Perhaps based on "things that are general" vs "things that a coach would need to change"?
 {{tag>Consultant Tools CultureChange Organization FAQ PresentationIdea ToDo}}
-~~LINKBACK~~
-~~DISCUSSION~~