@devpg
Agile Enterprise War
Stories
André Neubauer, JAX 2014, Mainz
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@devpg
Preamble
No blaming - Just reviews & learnings!
Respect - Without the effort to gain agility,
there would be no war stories!
Don’t repeat - This is not a blueprint, but only
my experiences!
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@devpg
About me
“Software engineering enthusiast. Moved to
the dark side. Now executive and strong
advocate on lean leadership. Totally
motivated by 'Y'. Loving startup culture.“
@devpg
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@devpg
Agility
“My understanding of #agility isn't an efficient
IT department but an effective overall
organisation!“ @devpg
→ Process, Structure, Culture!
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@devpg
The Need For Enterprise Agility
Welcome to the post-industrial age!
“Companies are really being driven by the need for change and innovation
instead of doing the same thing year after year better.
[...]
Companies are having to change from a focus on stability to a focus on being
able to change very quickly.
[...]
What these companies need is to tighten the feedback loop to understand
where the market is going.” (Jeff Sussna, WJAX 2013)
@devpg
Degraded by Scrum
Examples:
● “I’m just a Scrum Developer.” (former team
leader)
● Impediments needs to be approved by
management!
→ Management by control is no longer needed!
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@devpg
Degraded by Scrum
Learning:
You have to have a clear view on what‘s the
future purpose of management!
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@devpg
#2 Stakeholder Overflow
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@devpg
Stakeholder Overflow
Stakeholder: Als Stakeholder [ˈsteɪkhoʊldɐ]
(engl. ‚Teilhaber‘)[1] wird eine Person oder
Gruppe bezeichnet, die ein berechtigtes
Interesse am Verlauf oder Ergebnis eines
Prozesses oder Projektes hat.
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@devpg
Stakeholder Overflow
Situation:
● Experts advicing from the outside rather than
working in the team
● Masked as stakeholder
Attention: Veto culture!
Solution: Put them in the team!
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@devpg
#3 Overwhelmed by
Speed of Change
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@devpg
Overwhelmed by Speed of Change
Situation: Product changes went live without
any notification...
Protip: As a product guy you should always be
better informed about the product than your
boss! ;-)
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@devpg
Overwhelmed by Speed of Change
Complication: Information flows are difficult,
especially in a matrix organization …
Result: Lots of newsletters → Find the fine line
between information overload and
information deficit!
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@devpg
#4 “People over Process”
Meets Internal Audit
@devpg
Meets Internal Audit
People
Process
over
Who has fixed that bug?
Me!
Who allowed you that?
Um … well ...
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@devpg
Meets Internal Audit
Context: Doing things right, not doing the right
things!
Task: Integrate cross-departments (Legal,
privacy, ...)
People
Process
over
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@devpg
Meets Internal Audit
Attention: Process compliance may limit the
assumption of responsibility!
Approach: Ensure process complaince in
background (by automation)
People
Process
over
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@devpg
#5 Waiting for Big Bang
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@devpg
Waiting for Big Bang
“As long as it’s not marketable, I'm not
interested.” (VP Product)
Lessons learned: Classical businesses often
don‘t know the iterative approach. They think
in perfect products not in „Beta‘s“.
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@devpg
#6 Scrum as Performance
Program for IT
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@devpg
Scrum as Performance Program for IT
„We need technical project management to
make the teams performing.” → Rapid
implementation of big things is needed!
Complication: Incremental over Iterative ...
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@devpg
Scrum as Performance Program for IT
Attention: Business doesn‘t make advantage
of „continuous improvement“!
Efficiency is nothing without effectiveness!
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@devpg
#7 Doing The Right Things
vs.
Doing Things Right
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@devpg
Doing
Situation: Strong focus on
● On time delivery
● Team utilization
Result: Reason for failure: „Doing it wrong“
instead of „Doing the wrong thing“
The Right Things
Things Right
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@devpg
#8 The Planning Dilemma
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@devpg
The Planning Dilemma
“We needs a detailed roadmap for the next
year!” (Department XYZ)
Learning: Questioning need! Some are
myth ;-) (Some are not ...)
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@devpg
#9 Continuous
Reprioritization
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@devpg
Continuous Reprioritization
There are always more ideas than teams!
Prioritization needed!
Situation: Continuous reprioritization in order
to realize all projects!
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@devpg
Continuous Reprioritization
Learning: Continuous reprioritization leads to
standstill!
Project A
Project B
Project C
Project D
Project A
Project B
Project C
Project D
Project A
Project B
Project C
Project D
Project A
Project B
Project C
Project D
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@devpg
#10 Avoid Failure,
Be Innovative
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@devpg
Avoid Failure, Be Innovative
Situation: Classic business try to avoid failure.
Most times it‘s part of the company culture.
Reason why: Do the same thing year after
year better is the core requirement from the
industrial age!
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@devpg
Avoid Failure, Be Innovative
Result:
● No learning (because failure don‘t happen)
● Failure prevention kills your innovativeness
But: There is no success without failure!
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@devpg
Avoid Handle Failure
● Mindset change: Failure → Opportunity
● Reduce risks by using techniques like
interviews, prototypes, …
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@devpg
#11 Passive Product
Management
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@devpg
Passive Product Management
PM
Team(s)
C(X)O
Sales Marketing
BusDev ...
Situation: Product
management as gateway
not creator of the product
Complication: Missing
product validation
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@devpg
Market-Driven Product Management
Business
unit C
Team(s)
Business
unit B
Team(s)
Business
unit A
Team(s)
Passive
→ Setting-up
business units
each focussing
on a market
segment
@devpg
Product Ownership Meets P&L
Question: Who owns a product when you
have a strong focus on profit and loss?
Business owner (BO) or product owner (PO)?
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@devpg
Product Ownership Meets P&L
Situation:
● No independent decisions → Slow decision
making processes
● BO: Overruling...
● PO: „Stuck between a rock and a hard
place“
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@devpg
Product Ownership Meets P&L
Approach:
● Team of responsibilities! (Business & product)
● Separation of tasks based on e. g. T-shape
or mid-/ longterm)
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@devpg
Done!
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@devpg
Learnings
● Being agile over doing agile!
● Effectiveness over efficiency!
● Process, Structure, Culture!
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@devpg
Thanks for your attention! Any questions?
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterjlambert/97671748/sizes/o/in/photostream/