Agile Adoption

1
Agile Adoption

• A Corporate Retrospective
• Alan J. Bartnik The Vanguard Group Inc.

2
Why Agile?

• Continuous improvement
• DMAIC (Process Measurement Optimization)
• Innovation
• Market forces
• Time-to-Market
• Speed of Change
• Build Deploy Highest Value Features
• Workforce Demands
• Less micro-management
• More flexibility
• Cost
• Pay-as-you go
• Pay for what you need not what you think you want

3
Agile! The next big thing
Yeah I know about Agile

• Its about being faster
• Its about being better
• Its about being cheaper

• theres no planning
• theres no control
• theres no managers

• Its about ltinsert misconception heregt

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Agile _at_ Vanguard

• The ship turns slowly
• Vanguard is an appropriately conservative
  Organization
• Initial Agile success was scrutinized ironically
  because
• Cycle Time decreased dramatically
• Productivity increased dramatically
• Quality increased dramatically
• Crew Morale (never-go-back to waterfall feedback)

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Cycle-Time Improvement (? 2x)
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Productivity Improvement (? 2x)
7
Quality Improvement ( 25)
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Crew Morale

• Self Organization
• Sustainable Pace
• Empowerment
• Predictability
• Accountability

• Death Marches
• Finger-pointing
• NVA Documentation

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Whats not to like?
Whos in control?
I dont like the current process but
I know whats expected
Sponsor Controls Scope!
Sponsors have to engage daily!!!
No Plan?
I dont have time for a daily meeting!!!
No Requirements?
Shared Roles?
Im skeptical
No Change Control?
Change!
Who will tell me what to do?
No Schedule?
Im lost
I worked hard to become a manager
now managers are not needed?
Sustainable Pace? - Right! unless we fall behind
Im confused
Im afraid
Self-Organizing Team?
If we let employees set the pace theyll slack
off
Sustainable Pace? - Sounds like authorizing
laziness
Too risky
If we fail well be punished
Ive worked hard to become a project manager
now project managers are not
needed?
Its too loosie-goosie
Im unsure
No Status Reports?
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The Big challenge

• Giving up our Command Control Infrastructure
• Of course - lets be Agile (but) dont change
  our organizational status quo
• Im totally onboard except that part about
  changing my process
• Sponsor/Product Owner delegation
• delegate engages make daily decisions (sounds
  good)
• Ill reserve the right to reverse decisions made
  (now Im comfortable)
• Team Empowerment (walking the walk)
• team decides unless (until?) Leadership
  disagrees
• team decides but command control is ready -
  if the Team might fail
• Re-orienting our best brightest
• Im the expert in the current process
• Im skeptical of empowerment
• Agile is too risky for my comfort level
• Ill become less important than I am in the
  current organization

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Wheres your Organization?

• Pilot Resistance is low and decreases as
  pilot team adapts to Agile
• Rollout Organizations, People Processes
  resist change try to adapt Agile to existing
  environment
• Adoption Stakeholders embrace the innovative
  force unleashed emphasize Agile improvement,
  team empowerment and maximization of benefits

ADOPTION Organizational Internalization
Agile Experience
ROLLOUT Rising change resistance
Organizational Conflict
2 Years
Change Resistance
PILOT Limited Organizational Awareness
Vanguard is about here
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Vanguard Retrospective

• What are we doing well?
• People
• Executive Management Support
• Businesss eagerness to give Agile a try
• Supporting Infrastructure
• Team Adoption
• Practices
• Co-Location (effect on Agile Team)
• Adaptation to Agile Stories Front-burner
• Release-level burn-up multiple teams
• Continuous Integration Regression Automation
• Outcomes
• Co-location reduces integration issues
• Employee Morale - better with Agile

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Whats gone well?

• Leadership Organization
• Executive Leadership sees the value and supports
  adoption
• Support infrastructure Process Owner, Expert,
  and Advocate, Consulting Coaches
• Most Teams quickly adopt Agile
• Business Receptiveness
• Some very real buy-in on the business side
• Some very engaged in Sprint 0, Sprint Planning,
  eager to try and succeed
• Some have set-up war rooms, co-located teams,
  manage a front-burner with stories and tasks via
  stories, use SCRUM, etc.
• Agile Practices
• Co-location is the initial bitter pill for team
  members fades within a sprint or two
• After initial hunting pecking for their
  type of task, team learns to move L2R
• Initial pilot efforts toward Automated Testing
  and Continuous Integration

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Vanguard Retrospective

• What could be better?
• People
• Departmental Line Manager Adaptation
• Team mentality not fired up to achieve sprint
  goals
• Practices
• Sponsor Business Partner Education
• Debunking Agile Myths Water-fallacies
• Providing adoption flexibility adhering to the
  Manifesto
• Busting Organizational Impediments Managing Up
• Infrastructure (Environments, CI Test
  Automation)
• Adoption of XP / LEAN practices
• Target Outcomes
• Less work as usual Team view rather than
  individual view
• Eliminate (impact on) sub-contractors
• Highly responsive IT enabling business to meet
  Clients Needs and Exceed expectations

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What can we do better?

• Leadership Teams
• Prevent adaptation of Agile to current Process
  (redefine Agile NOT embrace Manifesto)
• Overcome resistance of leaders who perceive Agile
  as a threat (use transparency)
• Decrease time required for teams to gel (not
  every PM is a born Scrum Master)
• Reduce Business Sponsor micromanagement (educate
  and build trust)
• Operational Impediments
• Vanguard faces headwinds providing UNIX DEV
  environments impedance when migrating from
  windows to UNIX causes friction in release
  process (need more?)
• Test Automation is making progress locally
  (federate to scale)
• Role-aligned delivery model is not XP Lean
  friendly limit flexibility and productivity
  potential of our crew (paradigm shift, HR
  involvement)
• Cross-skilled crew are less common than wed
  like many get conflicting direction from
  management stick to their role tasks NOT become
  adept at any task (paradigm shift)
• Not enough TDD (training and paradigm shift)
• Teams don't really get XP, LEAN enough to try
  radical things (training)
• I've had to make it a personal objective for
  everyone on my team (to "drive them) to
• think / act innovatively when it comes to doing
  their work in the Agile Framework

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Where are we Headed?

• How?
• Track Results
• Respond to Feedback
• Apply Lessons Learned
• Inventory Share Best Practices
• Manage Up
• Foster Lean Principles
• Implement Lean Practices
• Trust Support the Team

• What?
• Internalize Skills
• Realize Benefits
• Adapt Improve
• repeat steps (1 3)

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Change Resistance
Group discussion topics

• Isnt Resistance futile?
• Why do people (and Organizations) resist?
• Can resistance be avoided?
• Can active resistance be overcome?

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Is Resistance Futile?

• Top-down
• They said so we have to comply
• Bottom-up
• They demand it we have to comply

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Change Resistance

• Isnt resistance futile?
• Why do people (and Organizations) resist?
• Can resistance be avoided?
• Can active resistance be overcome?

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Logically -
Why Resist?

• The algebra of change resistance.
• A B C
• Change Risk
• Risk Survival Threat
• Change Survival Threat!!!

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Change Resistance

• Isnt resistance futile?
• Why do people (and Organizations) resist?
• Can resistance be avoided?
• Can active resistance be overcome?

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Avoiding Resistance

• Can we talk?
• If people know they fear less
• If people understand they can make informed
  decisions
• How (do we) educate?
• Agile Manifesto ? Sponsor/Product Owner buy-in
• Co-locate Business Technical (paired-learning)

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Change Resistance

• Isnt resistance futile?
• Why do people (and Organizations) resist?
• Can resistance be avoided?
• Can active resistance be overcome?

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Overcoming Resistance

• Its clichéWIIFM
• Emphasize and quantify the benefits to those
  affected
• Business Outcomes (time-to-market, customization)
• Technical Growth (learning, versatility,
  satisfaction)
• Results Count
• Perseverance and determination through challenges
• Let the results speak for themselves
• Conscript antis as scorekeepers

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Change Resistance

• Isnt resistance futile?
• Why do people (and Organizations) resist?
• Can resistance be avoided?
• Can active resistance be overcome?

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Comments, Observations, Questions