How to Copy Spotify in 60min (LeanDus)

** A longer version of this talk done specially for LeanDus in Dusseldorf, Jan 14 2016
** Included examples and stories of how Tribes have evolved over the last few years at Spotify.

Often we hear of people trying to be like Spotify because we have “solved all our problems".
As a result many copy some of our most visible artifacts and practices.

While we like that people draw inspiration from us, it’s important to remember the papers and talks we’ve shared are only part of the story.
The picture is incomplete, only show a snapshot. Much change has occurred and It’s hard to capture all of this is a single paper or talk.
It’s also important to understand why we did certain things, not just what we did, as they are solutions to our specific problems.

In this talk I’ll explain why attempting to copy us might be harder than it looks.
Specifically I'll cover some common approaches we don't use, what we do instead, and why I believe this to be very important.

Transcript

1. How to copy Spotify in 60 min* Cliff Hazell Coach at Spotify Find me on Twitter: @ixhd
2. Perhaps? Seen our “model” Henrik’s Videos? Conference Talks?
4. 30+ people in 1 site
5. 100+ teams in 5 sites
8. All models are wrong… some are useful (just a snap shot)
9. Some things we avoid Why we avoid them What we do instead Whats changing
10. What’s it like inside?
11. IT Shelf - Project Lolipop Lollipop
13. Pelle 1:1
15. The Story of a Learning Organization
16. “Be the best at getting better”
17. Punishing Failure Avoid
18. “People are all for the truth, unless it’s embarrassing or threatening” Chris Argyris
21. Celebrate Learning Instead
22. Hero Worship Avoid
23. 
 “A System … is not the sum of it’s parts, but the product of its interactions”
24. Collaboration Encourage
25. Human Interaction
26. Occasional Proximity
27. Structure Carefully
28. Workspace Design
29. Centralizing all Decisions and Control Avoid
31. 
 “Decentralizing control requires decentralizing both authority to make decisions and the information to make them correctly” Don Reinertsen
32. Leadership at all Levels Encourage
33. So… What have we changed? What have we learnt?
34. Strong mission containers Tech -> TPD Budget experiments
35. Strong Mission Containers amplify purpose, make it common. Shared.
37. Responsive constellations
38. From “Tech” to “TPD”, increasing alignment and focus
40. P P PO is now part of the squad
41. P T D Tech, Product and Design: C level Trio (Enabled by stronger missions)
42. P T D Mid level slightly awkward
43. P T D Tribe Leadership TPD Leadership
44. Fractal Pattern (squad, tribe, alliance, TPD)
45. Budgets affect containers and significantly influence autonomy
46. P T D TPD Tribe Tribe Mobile Chapter Mobile Chapter BE Chapter
47. P T D TPD Tribe Tribe Mobile Chapter Mobile Chapter BE Chapter — Too much detail! — No Control :( $$
48. P T D TPD Tribe Tribe Mobile Chapter Mobile Chapter BE Chapter :) :) $$ :( ??! $$
49. Remember the yarn theft?
50. Continuous evolutionary change wins!
52. Celebrate Learning, Encourage Collaboration and Leadership at all Levels
53. But, We’re special: “We don’t have time to change!” “People won’t do work if we don’t tell them!” “Teaching, Mentoring and Coaching takes time and is too expensive!”
54. Where should I start?
55. Go to the Gemba Start Experimenting Get a Mentor or Coach
56. Thank you Cliff Hazell Coach at Spotify Find me on Twitter: @ixhd