Agile Business: A Leadership Perspective - Bob Gower - Agile SG 2013

Presented in Agile Singapore 2013 Conference

Most discussions of Agile start with methodologies like story points, cyclical planning, sprints and stand-ups. We start talking so quickly about nuanced practices that we miss the big questions of context. It's a narrow focus that misses the larger and more relevant story leaving many confused and playing catch up.

Ask 10 people in your organization what Agile is or why it's important and you'll get 10 different answers. There's often little unity of thought around what we are actually trying to accomplish or the goals and vision of an Agile transformation. Worse yet leaders are often confused about how best to support an Agile adoption, or even more troubling, apprehensive about whether to spend political capital on what they perceive to be the latest flavor-of-the-month methodology.

But Agile is not a methodology. True there are many methodologies that fall under the large Agile umbrella, but Agile itself is an approach and a mindset. It is not a method.

If we are to reap the benefits of this Agile mindset we need to have a view of the landscape. In Agile Business: A Leadership Perspective I'll offer an holistic perspective on what it means to be Agile. We'll start with foundational concepts of a whole-systems approach to business, place the specific practices and concepts of Agile within this larger framework, and end with specific next steps leaders can take to improve your organization's product quality, morale, and time to market.

Transcript

1. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business! A Leadership Perspective! with Bob Gower (@bobgower)! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
2. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower! bobgower.com @bobgower à
3. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
4. Whole System View
 
 Leadership"
5. www.rallydev.com! ©2013 Rally Software Development Corp ! Leadership
 
 Agile Business
 
 Make The Turn!
6. www.rallydev.com! ©2013 Rally Software Development Corp ! Leadership
 
 Agile Business
 
 Make The Turn!
7. What defines a leader? "
8. Followers."
9. Courage."
10. www.rallydev.com! ©2013 Rally Software Development Corp ! How to be an expert.! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
11. www.rallydev.com! ©2013 Rally Software Development Corp ! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower! Separation: avoid crowding Alignment: steer with others Cohesion: steer toward others
12. www.rallydev.com! ©2013 Rally Software Development Corp ! Leadership
 
 Agile Business
 
 Make The Turn!
13. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower! [Xiaojun Deng: flickr.com/photos/hktang/]
14. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business! 1.  Build the Right Thing 2.  Build the Thing Right 3.  People, Not Resources 4.  Agile Steering 5.  Transform Your Organization Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
15. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! 1. Build the Right Thing" Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
16. It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong.! —Richard P. Feynman! “ “
17. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Building the Right Thing! •  Release early and often •  Start with a vision •  Work with your customer Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
18. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Building the Right Thing! •  Release early and often" •  Start with a vision •  Work with your customer Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
19. www.rallydev.com! ©2013!
20. www.rallydev.com! ©2013!
21. www.rallydev.com! ©2013!
22. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Building the Right Thing! •  Release early and often •  Start with a vision" •  Work with your customer Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
23. www.rallydev.com! ©2013!
24. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Building the Right Thing! •  Release early and often •  Start with a vision •  Work with your customer" Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
25. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! From Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers by Dave Gray, Sunni Briown and James Macanufo
26. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Source: Stanford d school (dschool.stanford.edu)
27. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower! [small batch size] Picture: ?? [ James Lee: jronaldlee.com ]
28. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! 2. Build the Thing Right" Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
29. You can’t have great software without a great team, and most software teams behave like dysfunctional families.! —Jim McCarthy! “ “
30. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! UX Engineering Business QA
31. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower! 25% 25% 50%
32. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower! 50% 50% 75%
33. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
34. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
35. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Vision: A System that Builds it Right! •  Pull quality forward •  Test automation •  Continuous integration •  Teams own quality •  The people that do the work estimate the work •  Pull based system Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
36. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! 3. People, Not Resources" Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
37. For me, this is a familiar image—people in the organization ready and willing to do good work, wanting to contribute their ideas, ready to take responsibility, and leaders holding them back, insisting that they wait for decisions or instructions.! —Margaret J. Wheatley! “ “
38. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Leaders:! •  Clear the way •  Support People •  Model Agile – Respect – Openness – Courage – Simplicity – Focus – Trust Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
39. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Servant Leader"
40. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! 4. Agile Steering" Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
41. Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth.! —Mike Tyson! “ “
42. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower! [plan for change] Picture: Space shuttle dynamic steering
43. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Vision Roadmap Release Iteration Day
44. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Planning & Feedback! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
45. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Scaled Agile Framework™ Big Picture! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
46. But …
 
 The Map is not 
 the Territory"
47. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! 5. Transform Your Organization" Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
48. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower! [ Jared Tarbell: complexification.net ]
49. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower! [ Michela Mongardi: flickr.com/people/keela84 ]
50. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
51. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower! [fractal system] [ Anders Sandberg: flickr.com/people/arenamontanus ]
52. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
53. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower! [chaotic] deterministic and unpredictible Picture: Butterfly to a Storm [ flickr.com/people/hulagway ]
54. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Leadership
 
 Agile Business
 
 Make The Turn"
55. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! How to be an expert.! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
57. Kaizen & Kaikaku"
58. Crisis"
59. Crisis"
60. You never want a serious crisis to go 
 to waste. —Rahm Emanuel! “ “
61. Cognitive Dissonance photo"
62. Denial
 photo"
63. Checkbook commitment photo" [CarbonNYC]
64. The Turn"
65. The Turn Graphic"
66. The Turn Graphic" 1 3 2
67. The Turn Graphic" 1 3 2
68. The Turn Graphic" 1 3 2
69. The best way to predict the future is to invent it. —Alan Kay, PARC! “ “
70. Smoking picture" [stayhealthier]
71. trigger à habit à reward"
72. The Turn Graphic" 1 3 2
73. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! [woodleywonderworks]
74. The Turn Graphic" 1 3 2
75. Puppydog close photo" [edanley]
76. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Go Agile! 1.  Pick a value stream 2.  Draw a circle 3.  Get started 4.  Inspect and adapt Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
77. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
78. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
79. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Go Agile! 1.  Pick a value stream 2.  Draw a circle 3.  Get started 4.  Inspect and adapt Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
80. The only sustainable competitive advantage is an organization's ability 
 to learn faster than the competition. ! —Peter Senge! “ “
81. The Turn Graphic" 1 3 2 The Turn"
82. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! How to be an expert.! @bobgower!
83. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower! bobgower.com @bobgower à
84. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!
85. www.rallydev.com! ©2013! Go Agile. Go Rally.! Agile Business: An Overview with Bob Gower!