Agile Communities In Japan

1Eiwa System Management (C) 2008Agile Conference 2008

Agile Communities in Japan

EIWA System ManagementYASUI Tsutomu a.k.a. Yattom

Nippon Information Development Co, Ltd.KUSHIDA Yukie


Table of Contents Quick glance of agile in Japan Two important communities in Japan –

XP-jp / XP Japan Users Group (XPJUG) Agile Process Association （ AgPA)

Other communities Five points about agile communities in Japan


About Me YASUI Tsutomu a.k.a. Yattom ( ) work for EIWA System Management agile coach / programmer

Certified Scrum Master love Python, like Ruby, can live with Java

work as a staff for XPJUG, Object Club currently translating Mike Cohn’s

“Agile Estimating and Planning” please buy it if you like Japanese version


Also About Me Amateur TAIKO (Japanese drum) player


Quick glance: agile in Japan getting used widely

mostly about programming, a little in managing and business

not mainstream, but smaller companies adapting well

not sticking to certain processes XP is well-known, Scrum is catching up each organization builds its own process,

borrowing some practices from XP or Scrum communities are strong media

mainly offline activities no direct connection with TOYOTA or TPS

re-imported as Lean Software Development


Five notable things about agile communities in Japan

1. There are two types of communities – people oriented and business oriented

2. Agile is individual’s nature – agile people act agile

3. Offline activities are active4. There’s a gap between development and manag

ement5. Agile is for the quest for values, business value

s – AgPA’s view


You tell me!


The goal of this presentation To learn from each other We are communities, you are communities,

in somewhat different way Let’s talk about what’s the difference and why

Questions are welcome


Come to Open Jam There’s “Japanese space” We will be loitering around sometime Come at 7pm Wed. for a dinner

write your name on the list at Open Jam we’ll go to a Japanese restaurant

Let’s talk about communities in Japan or other topics you are interested in


a bit more about Japan structure of IT industry / business geopolitical concentration or “locality”


Structure of IT Industry in JapanUser Company

Large System Integrator (SIer)

Smaller System Integrators

Tiny Software Houses

Freelances

Order System

Subcontract

Subcontract

This layering can go 4 - 6

levels

• actual developers have only very thin and long connection with actual users

• each organization has its own process

• difficult to change process either top-down or bottom-up


High concentration or “Locality” in Japan

Tokyo alone is responsible for more than 50% of IT sales in Japan

IT related employees are also strongly concentrated in Tokyo-Kanagawa area followed by Osaka

offline activities are easy and rather large It means you most likely can meet

anyone in particular within an hour


Tokyo

Kanagawa

Osaka

Aichi

Fukuoka

Hokkaido

Others (41 Prefs.)

Distribution of software developers in each prefecture

Research by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, 2008


XP

Timeline for Agile Communities in Japan

14Eiwa System Management (C) 2008

2000 2001 2002 2003 2006 2007 20082004 2005

XP-jp XP Japan Users Group (XPJUG)

Agile Process Association (AgPA)

PFP

Object Club

TPS Lean

Agile

ProjectFacilitation


two important communitiesXP-jp / XP Japan Users Group (XPJUG) and Agile Process Association (AgPA)

XP-jpXPJUG AgPA

values heart, mind business

target individuals companies

aim / purpose

motivate peoplemake better environment

spread agile in organizations change the

industry

activity online and offlinemailing list

offline event

offlineworking groups

seminars

membership open / free closed / not free







s – AgPA’s view


XP



2000 2001 2002 2003 2006 2007 20082004 2005

XP-jp

PFP

Object Club

TPS Lean

Agile

ProjectFacilitation


XP Japan Users Group (XPJUG)XP-jp


XP-jp mailing listand XP Japan Users Group (XPJUG)

XP-jp mailing list started at 2000 the first to use XP in its name Spearheaded XP in Japan probably the largest online XP

community 2200 addresses but now almost silent

XP Japan Users Group users group for offline activities 2001


Topics on the mailing list “Virtual XP” on mailing list software reuse and XP document translation project case studies A large part of the traffic was about

technical discussions, especially testing Another “popular” theme: is XP good or

bad in general? questioning XP “XP rocks!” vs. “I cannot do that here”


Past topics on the mailing listearly 2000 Reading (English) books (XP whitebook) translation (XPractices http://www.xprogramming.com/Practices/xpractices.htm , Fowler's work,

etc.) JUnit and unit testing offline meetings news from overseas (XP ml) virtual xp over mailing-list pattern (JPLoP, Alexander, etc.)late 2000 mailing list server (virtual XP) counterarguments to XP responses from others testing (unit, funcational, acceptance, when to test, languages topic, etc.) first official offline meeting XP whitebook Japanese translation extreme modeling rhythm


Past topics on the mailing list (contd.)early 2001 UML Forum more testing software reuse and XP cases in japan Java, Ant, GUI an article on Nikkei Computer (a famous paper magazine)late 2001 Object Day 2001 (an large event held by OGIS) process in hardware (TOYOTA, cell, KANBAN, etc.) lean how to translate 'agile' 'subtle' questions Java anti patterns metaphor offline meeting with Kent Beck snacks XP seminar in Osaka misunderstanding XP CMM and XP


Past topics on the mailing list (contd.)2002 TOYOTA Production System and XP contract and XP XP books translated "Software Craftsmanship: The New Imperative" unit testing framework for CPP generating test document with doclet quality metrics (test coverage, code coverage, etc.) XP and Agile seminar GUI test runner practices pros/cons


Past topics on the mailing list (contd.)2003 at this stage, very small number of members were actively posting NUnit is test-first enough? testing mathematical logics Giko-Neko pair programming for new graduate more books (translation and Japan original) how to propagate XP? some XPs which are not exactly XP (WindowsXP, Printers, Joystick, etc.) (joke) international ageil conference "An Extreme Programming Episode" translation principles test and database cases (TIS) mock object


Past topics on the mailing list (contd.)2004 DeMarco came to Developers Summit (in Japan) JaSST Ruby and GC refactoring and eclipse and how to teach TDD extreme training, code kata, etc. Japan XP user meeting with Martin Fowler and Gregor Hohpe DbC on Java/C#2005 from this point, most of the traffic are some kind of announcements what do you do if your partner is someone who learns nothing? Agile Manifesto translation2006 XP Official Song (will be played on the banquet on Thursday!)


XP-jp mailing list activities

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 20070

50

100

150

200

250

300working groupmembers (AgPA)posts

[offline]XPJUG

MATSURI

[offline]Agile

Process Association

[offline]Start of

PFP


XP



2000 2001 2002 2003 2006 2007 20082004 2005

XP-jp

Agile Process Asscociation (AgPA)

PFP

Object Club

TPS Lean

Agile

ProjectFacilitation

XP Japan Users Group (XPJUG)


XP Japan Users Group - XPJUG Offline side of XP-jp

2001 – about a year after XP-jp Holds several events offline

XP MATSURI (Festa) / annual User Meetings / several per year tried a few Agile Nights

XP KANSAI – a sister community covers Kansai region including Osaka,

Kyoto and Kobe


XPJUG is…


•MATURI•users meetings

core members

staffs

INETAMicrosoft

support

externalspeakersFree

membership

XPJUG


XP MATSURI


XPJUG’s purpose To motivate people to act Providing a place where participants know

each other and communicate Introduces new agile practices, real cases,

miscellaneous techniques To hold a drinking party after an event

(cheers!)


XPJUG changes individuals

No one’s on my side

Hard work

Cannotchange

environment

Manyothers

Techniquesand examples

You canchangeyourself


Live example: myself I was as an usual programmer, a bit geekish, 8 years ago started to go to events like XP MATSURI, Object Club saw many other people and talked MANY THING HAVE CHANGED!

it’s also a challenge by a community to come here together

tried XP in a project – usually a manager’s job,

not programmer’s, in my company

also changed jobsstarted working as

a staff for

XPJUG and Object Club

ended up here,

now in front of you!

started a few

communities – LEGO, agile night, etc.


Team Goyattom


Agile is attitude common understanding:

Agile people act agile you can’t teach agile; a person becomes

agile agile is not a style – it’s a way of thinking this is why XPJUG targets people

“Social change starts with you.” – Kent Beck







s – AgPA’s view


XPJUG history 2000

Feb. XP-jp was created Dec. the first XP-jp offline meeting at bar "XP" in Shibuya

2001 Mar. XPJUG was established Apr. invited Kent Beck 3 users meetings

2002 Jul. The first XP MATSURI: XP MATSURI 2002 2 users meetings


XPJUG history (contd.) 2003

Jul XP MATSURI 2003 1 users meetings

2004 Apr. Invited Martin Fowler and Gregor Hohpe Jul. XP MATSURI 2004

– latest agile software development and situations in overseas 3 users meetings

2005 Sep. XP MATSURI 2005

– future of XP ～ you can start now! ～ 1 users meetings


XPJUG history (contd.) 2006

Sep. XP MATSURI 2006 “Aha!” experience for XP – practice, share, XP –

2 users meetings

2007 Sep. XP MATSURI 2007 ～ XP Bootcamp! ～ Dec. introduces SCRUM at 19th users meeting 2 users meetings

2008 Apr. Invited Danish agile people Sep. XP MATSURI 2008 (planned)


Summary of XP-jp / XPJUG mailing list and offline community theme is XP but has broader topics holding MATSURI and user meetings values people and individuals







s – AgPA’s view


XP



2000 2001 2002 2003 2006 2007 20082004 2005


PFP

Object Club

TPS Lean

Agile

ProjectFacilitation



Agile Process Association Business Oriented

members are corporations currently 40 approx.

attendees are mainly managers and executives, few developers and engineers

requires annual fee to participate Consists of Working Groups

small, offline activities producing its own outputs gathers everyone at general meetings


Trivia: Agile Process Association = AgPA

Pronounced Ah – Ja – Par “gi” in “agile” is 2 syllables in Japanese –

“ja” and “ee”

It also sounds like “Agile Japan”

Agile i

PA


Agile Process Association is…


working group meetingsgeneral meetingsseminars in local areas

Internalspeakers

workinggroupoutputs

Working groupsWorking groups

Strict

mem

bership

externalspeakers

small HQ

Agile Process Association


Purpose of AgPA Spread agile in horizontal and vertical

IT / software development

users / business

horizontal

vertical

society / other industries


Purpose of AgPA Spread agile to companies Support organizational effort for agile Industrial development and structural

improvement with industry, government and academy gain business chances with agile develop not only IT but all the industries

in Japan encourage lobbying, academic research

and effort to expanding agile


Agile in AgPA’s view Agile is about creating new values

It's NOT just about programming Structural reform of IT industry embrace uncertainty, not only change

agile development

agile business

society

value

value


Structure of IT Industry in JapanUser Company



Tiny Software Houses

Freelances

Order System

Subcontract

Subcontract

This layering can go 4 - 6

levels

• actual developers have only very thin and long connection with actual users

• each organization has its own process

• difficult to change process either top-down or bottom-up


Structural Reform – This needs to be changed!

direct contact between developers and users

no layers with little benefit

a single process covers all members

simply put –developers must develop user values!

User Company



Tiny software houses Freelances







s – AgPA’s view


embrace uncertainty business in general always face uncertainty agile is a good way to tackle uncertainty so agile is one good way to do business –

not only software development!


AgPA’s Achievements Spreading agile into companies /

organizations enlightenment

general meeting, regular meeting sessions in areas other than Tokyo and

Osaka invited Kent Beck and Alistair Cockburn

catalyst act to establish APA


Agile spreads in Japan

Internal assessment by Agile Process Association, 2006

transition of the number of organizations using agile and projects using agile

number of organizations

number of projects

nu

mber

of

pro

ject

s

nu

mber

of

org

aniz

ati

on

s

year


Agile is well taken


Will you use agile from now on?(valid answers: 29)

will keep usingdepends on

projects

will try

no


Agile is effective


How effective is your agile process?

big plussmall pluszerominus

ability to adapt to change

short-term development

good internal quality

lower costs

good balance of external quality


Working Groups Agile Project Management Agile Mind Agile Software Cell Agile TOC (Theory Of Constraints) Embedded Software and Agile Process Estimating and Contracts

each group usually have a meeting per a month APA HQ has little function –

WGs are the body part


Summary of Agile Process Association

Community of corporations spreading agile into organizations has achievements and outputs aiming to utilize agile in business consists of working groups







s – AgPA’s view


XP



2000 2001 2002 2003 2006 2007 20082004 2005



PFP

TPS Lean

Agile

ProjectFacilitation

Object Club

PFP


Object Club started by Kenji Hiranabe as a community

for object oriented technologies holds 2 events per year for 5 years

with a fee now its topics are very broad, including

agile horrible true stories Project Facilitation and KAIZEN Leadership Developers’ Testing Ruby many workshops


Object Club is…

Object Club

externalspeakers

staffs = core members

free membership

•events

•mail magazine

•web contents / papers

internalspeakers

employees


Project Facilitation Project (PFP) promote Project Facilitation –

utilize facilitation techniques to improve software engineers’ teamwork and working environment communication action awareness trust smile

PF is another significant topic proposed by Kenji Hiranabe

holds several workshops all around Japan in strong relationship with Object Club


Nagoya Agile BENKYO-KAI pretty new community started in Chukyo

area – between Tokyo and Osaka BENKYO-KAI is a style of a community

“Study/learn/research”-“meeting/group”

relaxed membership – anyone can come but typically someone brings his/her friend

gather to study a topic or to read a book tends to become a core of a larger

community


Summary Many communities with their own targets and

values XPJUG – people, heart AgPA – organization, business

Various styles mailing lists periodical events working groups BENKYO-KAI







s – AgPA’s view


Come to Open Jam There’s “Japanese space” We will be loitering around sometime Come at 7pm Wed. for a dinner

write your name on the list at Open Jam we’ll go to a Japanese restaurant

Let’s talk about communities in Japan or other topics you are interested in


About this presentation http://www.slideshare.net/yattom/agile-commu

nities-in-japan-537747 or search “agile community japan”

at slideshare.net Will be reproduced at XP MATSURI 2008

in Japanese language (probably)

Agile Communities In Japan

Technology

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