From Principles to Practices

In 2012 Henrik and Anders published a paper about scaling agile at Spotify and the “Spotify Model” was born. It since became both an inspiration and an instruction manual for building agile organisations. Sadly, more of the latter, with an implicit assumption that copying an organisational structure results in growth into agility. It is rarely so.

In this talk we’ll go back to principles that underline how Spotify grows and operates. Using the Playback Tribe (one small part of Spotify) as an example, you will be able to see how these principles translate into specific practices. Practices that don’t only relate to how we build software but ones that can be applied in many business domains. Practices which help us navigate and develop the complex adaptive system that any organisation inevitably becomes.

Transcript

1. From Principles to Practices
2. Marcin Floryan Tech Tribe Lead, Playback Tribe @mfloryan #ABD18
3. @mfloryan #ABD18
4. the team structure works well for us because it is well-aligned with our culture, our technical architecture and platform, our product, and even our workspace @mfloryan #ABD18
5. What’s the story? @mfloryan #ABD18
6. What’s the story? ‣Key Takeaways @mfloryan #ABD18
7. What’s the story? ‣Key Takeaways ‣Principles and practices @mfloryan #ABD18
8. What’s the story? ‣Key Takeaways ‣Principles and practices ‣A year in the Playback Tribe @mfloryan #ABD18
9. What’s the story? ‣Key Takeaways ‣Principles and practices ‣A year in the Playback Tribe ‣Summary @mfloryan #ABD18
10. What’s the story? ‣Key Takeaways ‣Principles and practices ‣A year in the Playback Tribe ‣Summary ‣Questions? @mfloryan #ABD18
11. Tweetable nuggets of wisdom™ @mfloryan #ABD18
12. Tweetable nuggets of wisdom™ ‣We operate in complex adaptive systems and we need to pick our tools accordingly @mfloryan #ABD18
13. Tweetable nuggets of wisdom™ ‣We operate in complex adaptive systems and we need to pick our tools accordingly ‣Setting expectations and following up is crucial for success @mfloryan #ABD18
14. Tweetable nuggets of wisdom™ ‣We operate in complex adaptive systems and we need to pick our tools accordingly ‣Setting expectations and following up is crucial for success ‣Be realistic, things take much longer than you may want them to take @mfloryan #ABD18
15. Tweetable nuggets of wisdom™ ‣We operate in complex adaptive systems and we need to pick our tools accordingly ‣Setting expectations and following up is crucial for success ‣Be realistic, things take much longer than you may want them to take ‣Go back to basics to build the foundations @mfloryan #ABD18
16. What are your principles? @mfloryan #ABD18
17. @mfloryan #ABD18
18. Transparency @mfloryan #ABD18
19. Top 3 Check-in • Creates transparency in two directions • Helps with focus • Spreads by example • Sparks conversations !
20. Collaboration @mfloryan #ABD18
21. Tribe Standup • Started as OKR sync • Became Delivery Standup • Now a Tribe Standup • Representatives from every squad meet once a week Focus Commitment Belonging Learning
22. Big room planning • Run every quarter • Seeded with goals (company, mission, tribe, squad) • Every squads presents their ideas • Leads present priorities • Together we agree on the work and create OKRs #
23. Feedback loops @mfloryan #ABD18
24. Taps with squads • Leads meet with every squad • Usually 1-2 per Quarter • Four topics: • Impact • Delivery • Health • Help !
25. Lunch with the leads • Informal opportunity for a conversation • Easy sign-up • Close connection
26. Aligned Autonomy @mfloryan #ABD18
27. Setting clear expectations • People need expectations • Defining clear boundaries enables autonomy • Autonomy comes with responsibility $
28. Setting clear expectations • People need expectations • Defining clear boundaries enables autonomy • Autonomy comes with responsibility $ Autonomy isn't a benefit; it's an expectation of responsibility.
29. Setting clear expectations • People need expectations • Defining clear boundaries enables autonomy • Autonomy comes with responsibility $ Autonomy isn't a benefit; it's an expectation of responsibility. @jchyip
31. Structure for thinking about principles
32. Discussing aspirations • Seeded with initial ideas • World-cafe style conversations • Discuss, suggest improvements
33. Creating aspirations collaboratively • Review outcomes of the conversations • Vote on the most relevant “to focus on”
34. Aspirations
35. Aspirations
36. Aspirations
37. Aspirations
38. Aspirations
39. Aspirations
40. Psychological safety @mfloryan #ABD18
41. Introduction workshops First we create a shared understanding
42. Getting data Understand what is the “current state”
43. Action-focused squad workshops • Each squad (and leadership team) worked on practical actions • Some were tiny, some lead to interesting new practices
45. Feedback jar • We run a series of workshops on giving and receiving feedback • We needed a tool to help people visualise progress #
46. Mistakes column • Existing culture of blame-free incident post-mortems • Wanted local practice as a regular reminder • Small things reflected upon weekly $
47. • From Sociocracy 3.0 (now called “Peer Review”) • Facilitated workshop • 360 participants • Direct, honest Effectiveness Review https:/ /patterns.sociocracy30.org/peer-review.html !
48. What’s not to like about this code • How to get better talking about problems in code • Separate author and the code that is written • Identify “problems” • Mob-programming session to fix them $
49. Revisiting aspirations • A year later we’re closing the loop • Now we’ll create a new iteration
50. • Knowledge sharing • Enhanced feeling of belonging • Creates inspiration • Helps people grow Job Rotation !
51. What kind of practice? ‣ Distinguish between different types of practice ‣ Establish an allergic reaction to Best Practice ‣ Use Good Practice when it’s evident ‣ Focus on developing Emergent Practice By Snowded - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https:/ /commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33783436 @mfloryan #ABD18
52. Inspiration for your set of principles @mfloryan #ABD18
53. Summary @mfloryan #ABD18
54. Summary ‣ Things take a long time @mfloryan #ABD18
55. Summary ‣ Things take a long time ‣ Choose your own practices @mfloryan #ABD18
56. Summary ‣ Things take a long time ‣ Choose your own practices ‣ Practices coherent with you set of principles / values @mfloryan #ABD18
57. Summary ‣ Things take a long time ‣ Choose your own practices ‣ Practices coherent with you set of principles / values ‣ Every new practice is an experiment @mfloryan #ABD18
58. Summary ‣ Things take a long time ‣ Choose your own practices ‣ Practices coherent with you set of principles / values ‣ Every new practice is an experiment ‣ Never stop iterating, create a good rhythm @mfloryan #ABD18
59. Summary ‣ Things take a long time ‣ Choose your own practices ‣ Practices coherent with you set of principles / values ‣ Every new practice is an experiment ‣ Never stop iterating, create a good rhythm ‣ Don’t scale things up, break things down @mfloryan #ABD18
60. “Things become better when we accept them as they are; not as we want them to be.” From Tobbe Gyllebring (@drunkcod) via Gitte Klitgaard (@nativewired) @mfloryan #ABD18
61. Thank you! Marcin Floryan Tech Tribe Lead at Spotify Questions? @mfloryan Looks like a place you want to work at? Ask me!