Systems (Hons) Graduated 2005 @elgrom Head of Development at Metro Newspapers (DMGT) Manage two cross functional technical teams delivering software to hit Metro’s mobile audience and revenue targets Recently launched Metro Play a new start up gaming business Previously worked in businesses ranging from all stages of start up to multinational corporations WHO AM I
trains on the Western Railroad had a head on collision Following a public outcry Major George W. Whistler tasked with creating an organisation to prevent this from happening again He had two options to base his decision… FAST FORWARD 4000 ODD YEARS
centre Focused on order and certainty Practices: » Centralisation, Coercion, Formality, Tight Rein, Imposed Discipline, Obedience, Compliance ARMY CONTROL STRUCTURE
they might do the wrong thing Goal is to reach optimal decisions, even if they weren’t the most rapid Linchpin is brilliant General at the top giving directions Communications top down, explicit and linear Management style was directive and transactional FOUNDATIONS BASED ON MISTRUST
alongside a set of principles to be followed Application of values and principles handled at lower levels depending on local knowledge Self-discipline and individual initiative highly valued Great deal of trust placed on individuals FLAT ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURES
it created order, workability, and predictability The risk that such a system might limit individual initiative, #exibility, and innovation seemed less important than the goal of creating order THE APPROACH
into tiny parts which was reconstituted as a process controlled by management » After initial revulsion from workers Ford eliminated other companies that did not adopt » Ford prospered even if the jobs were monotonous HENRY FORD
(1920s) » Created decentralised divisions » Operations not seen as a top management responsibility Executives managed by numbers: » Output, inventory, sales, margins, market share, pro#t and loss APPLYING TAYLORISM TO MANAGEMENT
division was performing in accordance with their plan. » If not they made adjustments Managerial work was sliced into smaller pieces in the same way that manual work had been ACCORDING TO THE PLAN?
a risk that its decisions would not correspond with realities of the workplace 1950’s & 1960’s this was a minor risk due to the growing demand for goods and services and barriers to entry into the market In a world where paying customers could be taken for granted adding more workers and managers simply equaled more pro"ts PLANNING, PROGRAMMING & BUDGETING
had changed » Rise of the global economy » Global networks of partners » Escalating power of customers » Multiplications of media channels » Rise of knowledge workers CHANGE
minimise hando$s and enable smaller teams to work on tasks from start to "nish Managers were not required to change their behavior Technology introduced did little to address root causes Experts often didn’t understand work requirements BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING
start-ups have created 40 million jobs in the USA, established "rms created none. Economies of scale evaporating Barriers to entry eroded Competition has intensi"ed Increasingly disloyal customers THE CRISIS WORSENS
have a deep background in education and experience and are considered people who "think for a living.” What di$erentiates knowledge work from other forms of work is its primary task of "non-routine" problem solving that requires a combination of convergent, divergent, and creative thinking Knowledge workers spend 38% of their time searching for information THE RISE OF THE KNOWLEDGE WORKER
Assessing input in order to evaluate complex or con#icting priorities Identifying and understanding trends Making connections Understanding cause and e$ect Ability to brainstorm, thinking broadly (divergent thinking) Ability to drill down, creating more focus (convergent thinking) Producing a new capability Creating or modifying a strategy KNOWLEDGE WORKER BENEFITS
» Over budget » Plagued by problems In 1993 Je$ Sutherland asked the question… “Is there some way that I can transform a group of fairly ordinary developers into something extraordinary?” SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT TRANSFORMED
crisis had proven to be the best model for handling innovation » Clear goal that was viewed as something important » Deadline based » Space to get the work done » Cross-functional » Less that eight or nine people » Output completely done by the deadline HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS
to set direction, eliminate anything that was preventing the team from performing at an extraordinary level and then get out of the way. ROLE OF MANAGEMENT
Schwarber presented a paper called SCRUM Development Process at a software conference 2001 The Agile Manifesto was signed in Snowbird, Colorado AGILE WAS BORN
» Individuals and interactions over processes and tools » Working software over comprehensive documentation » Customer collaboration over contract negotiation » Responding to change over following a plan THE AGILE MANIFESTO
satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale. 12 PRINCIPLES OF AGILE
work together daily throughout the project. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done. The most e%cient and e$ective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation. 12 PRINCIPLES OF AGILE
measure of progress. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace inde"nitely. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility. 12 PRINCIPLES OF AGILE
amount of work not done--is essential. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams. At regular intervals, the team re#ects on how to become more e$ective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly. 12 PRINCIPLES OF AGILE
client Work in self-organising teams Work in client driven iterations Deliver value to clients at each iteration Be totally open to impediment to improvement Create context for continuous self-improvement Communicate through interactive conversations SEVEN BASIC PRINCIPLES
are you to recommend these goods or services to someone else? » Apple’s key metric One unhappy customer can now tell millions through social media “United Breaks Guitars” by Canadian singer David Carroll now has been viewed over 13 million times on YouTube DELIGHT YOUR CLIENTS
di$erent to us we begin see the world through their eyes False assumptions are much quicker to be discounted However » Problem must complex » Group must be cognitively diverse » Group must given responsibility » Must be focused on solving the problem SELF-ORGANISING TEAMS
better decisions to be made quicker Prioritisation based on clients value ensures that they are delighted sooner User stories best way of capturing requirements, these are the beginning of the conversation rather than the end CLIENT DRIVEN ITERATIONS
client delighted Encourages work to be broken down into smaller pieces Ensures that feedback can be incorporated into the process as early as possible DELIVER VALUE IN EACH ITERATION
what they are working on and any impediments When an impediment is raised they must be dealt with e$ectively Visual displays of simple information that anyone can understand are a requirement RADICAL TRANSPARENCY
of every iteration Requires and open and honest environment Requires a willingness to have change as a constant Actually "nding the root cause of a problem is not always straight forwards CONTINUOUS SELF-IMPROVEMENT
conversations Communications based on stories are much more e$ective than abstractions This is how people naturally think and allows everyone to engage in the process INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION
Form a nucleus for change Proceed through conversations Establish a beachhead Begin in a safe place Use common terminology Let ideas evolve HOW TO ACHIEVE CHANGE
practices over three months in 2007 » 94% more features delivered in year 1 » 38% more features per developer » 500% more value to customers delivered SALESFORCE
tools needed to design, develop, test, and release to production Self- organizing team and decide their own way of working Have a long-term mission Experts in their area 10% of their time on “hack days” No formal leader “Think it, build it, ship it, tweak it”. Mini startup SPOTIFY - SQUADS
in related areas Physically located in the same o%ce “incubator” for the squad mini-startups Tribes hold gatherings on a regular basis » Demos, New Tools, Techniques Designed to be smaller than 100 (Dunbar Number) SPOTIFY - TRIBES
without sacri"cing too much autonomy Chapter » A chapter is people having similar skills and working within the same general competency area, within the same tribe. » Line management is done via chapter Guild » A Guild is a more organic and wide-reaching “community of interest”, that want to share knowledge, tools, code, and practices » Guild usually cuts across the whole organization » Share knowledge continuously and meet regularly to collaborate on the high level organizational improvement areas SPOTIFY - CHAPTERS AND GUILDS
a future, but they should clearly articulate their vision, and then actively grapple with the implications of that vision, on every dimension. Successful execution is not about the most e%cient individual transactions, but about sustaining the organisation over the long term. Only by empowering a culture that clearly places current work in the context of longer-term goals does the current work becoming meaningful—and that context is now multilayered, no longer just about a company and its employees, but about the entire ecosystem of relationships, from partners to contractors, to employees and customers. http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/ps10680/ps10683/ ps10668/C11-657924_design_org_next_WP.pdf FINAL THOUGHTS
Hamel The Lean Startup – Eric Reis The Power of Pull - John Hagel, John Seely Brown and Land Davison Agile Project Management with Scrum – Creating Products that Customers Love FURTHER READING
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