Transitioning to Agile: Overcoming Waterfallacies and Agilephobias

If there’s so much to like about agile, why do some team members resist it so strongly? Agile expert, author, and trainer Mike Cohn explores two of the main reasons for resistance to agile: Waterfallacies and AgilePhobias. A Waterfallacy is a mistaken idea or belief about agile that stems from prolonged exposure to waterfall projects. An AgilePhobia, on the other hand, is a strong fear or dislike of agile, usually due to the uncertainty of change.

Of the two, Waterfallacies have the potential to do the most damage to your transition effort, but fortunately, they are the more easily overcome. During his presentation, Mike examines the most common Waterfallacies and how to eliminate them. He also discusses the most prevalent AgilePhobias, how to identify the afflicted team members, and how to help them overcome their fears.

Transcript

1. Transitioning to Agile: Overcoming Waterfallacies and Agilephobias Mike Cohn May 15, 2007 1
2. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC 1. Why transitioning to agile is hard 2. A framework for transitioning 3. Overcoming waterfallacies and agilephobias Topics today... 2
3. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Why Transitioning to Agile Is Hard 3
4. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Three reasons 1 Change is not top-down or bottom-up; it’s both 3 The transition process must be congruent with the development process 2 We fall into the predictability trap 4
5. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Top down or bottom up? N Two simplistic views of transitioning to agile: N Top down N Powerful leader shares a vision N Bottom-up N 
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   new approach N But, transitioning to agile is neither top-down nor bottom-up N It’s everywhere, all together, all-at-once 1 5
6. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC N How we traditionally view our organizations N Behavior is highly predictable N Once set in motion, will continue in motion N Predictable N An organization change strategy can be mapped out: N A
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7. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC “This machine imagery [Newtonian view] leads to the belief that studying the parts is the key to understanding the whole. Things are taken apart, dissected literally or U9GD3F;H7>K3@6
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   is that the more we know about the workings of each piece, the more we will learn about the whole.” ~Margaret Wheatley in Leadership and the New Science 7
8. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC What we do on projects N On projects we learn we cannot precisely anticipate: N our users’ requirements N how long it will take to develop a feature or entire system N which design will be best N the set of tasks necessary to develop a feature N So we devise alternative approaches N Rather than ask for upfront specs, we deliver partial solutions, solicit feedback, and repeat N Rather than design the whole system, we design incrementally and adjust based on what we learn N We need to do the same for the transition effort 8
9. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Use a congruent approach 3 Part of the move to agile is a move to self-organizing teams Moving to self- organization requires self-organization “You will self-organize!” 9
10. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC A Framework for Transitioning 10
11. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC An agile process Cancel Gift wrap Return Iteration 2-4 weeks Return Iteration goal Iteration backlog Potentially shippable product increment Product backlog Gift wrap Coupons Cancel Daily ... ... ... Transition backlog ... Iteration monthly Weekly Altered organization An agile transition process 11
12. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Activities to support the goals Quarterly Monthly 3-4 goals Decide how pervasive to go with agile—development only or full company All Identify which issues agile can solve or help with. DF Transition backlog Weekly
    Discuss progress
    Remove impediments Meet weekly to execute, monthly to plan, quarterly to strategize 12
13. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Treat the transition as a project N Establish an “Agile Transition Team” (“Agile Adoption Team,” etc.) N Who? N Sponsor—senior person responsible for success N Area managers or leads who can make it happen N Meet weekly N Run monthly iterations managing work from a Transition Backlog N Run a quarterly cycle like the release cycle on an agile project 13
14. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Overcoming Waterfallacies 14
15. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Waterfallacy noun. mistaken belief or idea about agile that stems from prolonged exposure to waterfall projects 15
16. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC 9;>7
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    and a commitment to what will be in the product. 1 Is the answer just to under- commit and then deliver more than expected? 16
17. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Knowing the scope and date N It’s always been impossible to know both the scope and the date of a project N The vast majority of waterfall projects get this wrong, too N 'GFEAGD5;@9
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18. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Knowing the scope and date N It’s always been impossible to know both the scope and the date of a project N The vast majority of waterfall projects get this wrong, too N And then end up delivering too little of the wrong functionality N 'GFEAGD5;@9
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19. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC 1. acknowledge the impossibility of guaranteeing functionality and date 2. 3@6
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20. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Fixed-date planning: an example Desired release date 30 June Today’s Date 1 January Number of sprints 6 (monthly) Low velocity 15 High velocity 20 6×15 6×20 Will have Might have Won’t have 20
21. Fixed-date contracting 6×15 6×20 Will have Might have Won’t have N You won’t likely win the contract N But you’ll probably make money if you do If you write a contract for just the will haves: N You will likely win the contract N But probably not make money on it If you write a contract that includes the might haves: It’s a risk issue Where do you want to be? 21
22. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Fixed-scope planning: an example Total story points desired 120 Low velocity 15 High velocity 20 120÷20= 120÷15= 22
23. Fixed-scope contracting N You’ll likely win the contract N But may not make any money If you write a contract for the short duration: N You probably won’t win the contract N But will make money if you If you write a contract for the long duration: It’s a risk issue Where do you want to be? 23
24. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC The value of customer feedback N 9;>7
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    projects harder N Because it acknowledges N the importance of customer feedback N and the existence of emergent requirements N Sequential processes treat these as changes of scope 24
25. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Agile requires our testers to be involved and testing right from the start. But they’re tied up on other projects. 2 We can’t move to agile because we can’t move testers from these other projects. 25
26. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Agile is not a silver bullet N Doesn’t solve a single problem you have, only exposes the problems you do have N Hopefully exposes these problems to those who can solve them N By repeatedly solving the problems you identify, things improve N Agile is hard work N There will be days you wonder why you’re doing this 26
27. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Digging out of this problem N !8
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    do so N Perhaps just enough to move some small number of testers (1?) to the new project N Have the new project run cross-functionally N Whole team does whatever it takes to pay off the testing debt N Rule from day one: On new projects don’t allow any new debt to build up 27
28. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Agile requires everyone to be a generalist. 3 That isn’t cost-effective and doesn’t make sense for my project. Some of what we do is highly specialized. 28
29. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Everyone must be a generalist N H7DK
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    people; “generalizing specialists” N This happens naturally on most agile teams because of their cross-functional composition N Some domains require specialists N bioinformatics, video game development, etc. 29
30. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC We work in distributed environment, frequently with some team members in India, China, or the Ukraine. Self- organization seems to clash with some cultures. 4 How will agile development work in these environments? 30
31. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Self-organization around the world N I suspect it’s true that that self-organizing teams in the different countries will organize differently N G>FGD3>
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32. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Agile relies primarily on face- to-face communication. Our projects are distributed across many time zones. And many people choose to work from home. 5 How does this work with agile? 32
33. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Multi-site agile N We rarely choose to highly distribute a project for F:7
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34. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Encourage face-to-face communication N Do whatever you can to have as much face-to- face communication as possible N Videoconference > phone > email N Fly people together at the start of the project N Send three people from one to the other N Get people together for iteration planning meetings and reviews 34
35. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC N I’m afraid I’ll have nothing to do N I’m afraid I’l lose my job N I’m afraid people will see how little I actually do N I’m afraid I won't be able to keep up N I’m afraid I won’t be able to learn the new software N I’m afraid this will mean hard work N !S?
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    5A@E7@EGE Agilephobia noun. strong fear or dislike of agile, usually due to the uncertainty of change 35
36. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC More agilephobias N I’m afraid I won’t get raises or promotions anymore N !S?
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    5A@E7@EGE N Drat! There go my 3-hour lunches N Drat! This means I can’t mosey in at 10:30 anymore N Drat! This means I’ll have to actually think now N Drat! This means I’ll actually have to talk to people now N It’s just so much easier and safer when someone else tells me exactly what to do N Its just so much easier and safer when I can tell them exactly what I want them to do 36
37. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Overcoming agilephobias N Being aware of what people fear is half the challenge N Acknowledge these agilephobias and over time work to have solutions for them N Over time people will lose their fear of losing their job N But will likely still need revised job descriptions in an agile enterprise 37
38. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Mike Cohn contact info mike@mountaingoatsoftware.com www.mountaingoatsoftware.com  
     
    A8U57 (303) 810-2190 (mobile) 38
39. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Agile puts a lot of emphasis on unit testing. I’m not working on a legacy application (yet!) but we are nine-months in and haven’t made automated testing a priority. 6 Can we still be agile? 39
40. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Agile without a lot of tests in place N Two most important principles of agile: 1. Inspect and Adapt 2. Iterate N Start where you are, do something, see how you did N And then do it again until you get to where you want to be 40
41. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC A three-step process 1 We end this iteration with less manual testing than we started. Go after the “low-hanging fruit” by automating some easy-to-automate tests of great value. 2 All new features come with automated tests. 3 Everything (maybe, we hope) has an automated test. 41
42. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC 200 300 400 500 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Months (Iterations) Hours of Manual Testing 42
43. © Mountain Goat Software, LLC Mike Cohn contact info mike@mountaingoatsoftware.com www.mountaingoatsoftware.com  
     
    A8U57 (303) 810-2190 (mobile) 43