Towards Autonomous Aligned Teams with Domain-Driven Design

I’ve been involved in several transformations over the years, from DevOps to Digital to Agile. These transformations typically focus on transitioning people into near-autonomous teams of no more than eight people who will work in an agile manner. Every company I’ve worked for asks the same questions at these transformations: How do we divide the current software between the teams, and how do we align these teams to our business architecture?

To address these questions, companies request my help to design microservices using a Domain-Driven Design (DDD) approach. This approach makes it easier to distribute the software between teams based on identified boundaries, called “bounded contexts.” While I believe enterprises involved in an Agile transformation need at least a Domain-Driven Design approach to create autonomous aligned teams with a loosely-coupled architecture, this process presents unique challenges. In this talk I will present my experience report, I share my experience over a period of six months using DDD to transition a financial enterprise towards Agile autonomous teams.

Transcript

1. Towards Autonomous Aligned Teams with Domain-Driven Design
2. @kenny_baas
3. 3 @kenny_baas https://teamjimmyjoe.com/2015/02/you-had-one-job-you-fails-30-pics/
4. Kenny Baas-Schwegler Strategic software delivery - Socio-technical architect - Domain-driven design - Facilitator @kenny_baas Baasie.com xebia.com/blog/author/kbaas/
5. @kenny_baas
6. 6 @kenny_baas
7. 7 Any organization that designs a system (defined more broadly here than just information systems) will inevitably produce a design whose structure is a copy of the organization's communication structure. — Mel Conway @kenny_baas
8. @kenny_baas
9. 9 @kenny_baas Buildings 7 people Roads 16 people Wires System Buildings system Roads system Wires 30 people
10. 10 @kenny_baas Buildings 7 people back-end 6 people Wires System Buildings system Roads system Front-end 6 people Poles 7 people Wires 9 people Connections 9 people
11. 11 @kenny_baas https://www.martinfowler.com/articles/microservices.html
12. [In our study at Thoughtworks we found] work takes an order of magnitude longer when it leaves a team. — James Lewis (@boicy) Credit: Nick tune
13. 13 @kenny_baas https://www.martinfowler.com/articles/microservices.html
14. 14 @kenny_baas Buildings 7 people Road 6 people Wires Systems Buildings system Roads system Sidewalk 6 people Electra 7 people Internet 9 people Telephone 9 people
15. Mortgage company Lowlanders @kenny_baas
16. @kenny_baas Big ball of mud
17. 17 @kenny_baas https://www.martinfowler.com/articles/microservices.html
18. @kenny_baas
19. 19 Essence of Domain-Driven Design ➔ Using models for creating software ➔ Focus on part of the software handling complex business requirements ➔ Focus on a language where we really crisply concisely describe the situation in the domain ➔ Shared language created through conversations between business people (specialists) and software people which becomes the ubiquitous language ➔ Instead of one canonical language, create multiple bounded languages @kenny_baas
20. Context is everything @kenny_baas
21. “We finally have more insight into the software we need to build” @kenny_baas
22. @kenny_baas “We already knew everything that was discussed”
23. 23 @kenny_baas Book: Corporate tribe, Braum & Kramer
24. IT as a factory @kenny_baas
25. 25 @kenny_baas
26. @kenny_baas
27. 27 @kenny_baas
28. “It is not the domain experts knowledge that goes to production, it is the assumption of the developers.” -Alberto Brandolini @kenny_baas
29. 29 Problem Space Our world as we perceive it (Sub)Domains Business Architecture Independent of Software Language is fluid Stable system, strategic changes @kenny_baas
30. @kenny_baas The business architecture and the wiki.
31. @kenny_baas It is not documentation that we want, It is a shared state of mind.
32. @kenny_baas The big picture…..
33. @kenny_baas Inviting the right people together in a room
34. @kenny_baas Go emic…. Finding the pain…. Don’t talk about methods….
35. Talking complexity around a table @kenny_baas
36. 36 @kenny_baas Brain Science - the 6 trumps by Sharon Bowman - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAiXOgFu8Wc
38. 38 Collaborative modelling tools @kenny_baas
39. 39 @kenny_baas https://www.eventstorming.com/
40. Lack of Oxygen will kill your workshop @kenny_baas
41. Check in... @kenny_baas
42. 42 @kenny_baas https://www.eventstorming.com/
43. 43 @kenny_baas Mortgage request received Mortgage application passed Tender signed Declaration rejected
44. @kenny_baas Business relevant
45. @kenny_baas Managing uncertainty without influencing.
46. @kenny_baas Group dynamics….
47. @kenny_baas Be careful structuring chaos to fast, you might lose valuable insights
48. Tender signed Mortgage application passed 48 @kenny_baas We already have the customer information, but we make them fill it in. This is not customer-friendly. We are ping-ponging tasks with another team.
49. @kenny_baas Stories will tell itself, as long as you listen So slow down….
50. @kenny_baas Events; How instead of why
51. @kenny_baas language is fluid and subject to people’s whims
52. 52 @kenny_baas
53. Check out... @kenny_baas
54. You had to be there….. @kenny_baas
55. @kenny_baas Everything has been said before; but since nobody listens, we must always start again
56. @kenny_baas
57. @kenny_baas
58. 58 @kenny_baas https://www.eventstorming.com/
59. 59 @kenny_baas https://www.eventstorming.com/
60. 60 @kenny_baas https://www.martinfowler.com/articles/microservices.html
61. @kenny_baas Single source of truth….
62. 62 A model is a simplified representation of a thing or phenomenon that intentionally emphasizes certain aspects while ignoring others. Abstraction with a specific use in mind. - Rebecca Wirfs-Brock @kenny_baas
63. 63 Solution Space Our world as we designed it Bounded Context Software Architecture Linked to the business language is consistent Constant changes, depending on insights Problem Space Our world as we perceive it (Sub)Domains Business Architecture Independent of Software Language is fluid Stable system, strategic changes @kenny_baas
64. 64 @kenny_baas “Architectural design is system design. System design is contextual design — it is inherently about boundaries (what’s in, and what’s out, what spans, what moves between), and about tradeoffs.” —Ruth Malan
66. @kenny_baas Culture, Boundaries, Leadership
67. 67 @kenny_baas
68. 68 @kenny_baas Software Architect Socio-technical Architect -Nick tune
69. 69 If we have a system of improvement that is directed at improving the parts taken separately. You can be absolutely sure that the improvement of the whole will not be improved. Russ Ackoff @kenny_baas
70. 70 To achieve autonomous alignment, we need to stop thinking in terms of business and IT and start acting as an integrated team. @kenny_baas
71. 71 To achieve autonomous alignment, we need to form a culture in interactions, in conscious dialogue and in decisions, by having rituals and marketplaces. @kenny_baas
72. 72 To achieve autonomous alignment, we need to have an open modern culture with a leadership to match. @kenny_baas
73. @kenny_baas Hire an anthropologist
74. 74 @kenny_baas Want to know more? Experience Report https://www.agilealliance.org/resources/experience-reports/towards-autonomous-aligned-teams-with-domain-driven-design/
75. @kenny_baas #CatTax @kenny_baas Baasie.com xebia.com/blog/author/kbaas/ https://speakerdeck.com/baasie @kenny_baas