Agile Mindset For Executives

www.plays-in-business.com

ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

The Agile ImperativeAn Introduction to Agile For ExecutivesMichael Tarnowski, Plays-In-Business.comJosh Hallett, https://www.flickr.com/photos/hyku/421684654/


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

“The world is becoming turbulent faster than companies are becoming resilient”

Gary Hamel - HBR

The “fog of the future” requires greater focus creating an “execution culture”

Donald Sull - London School of Business

Volatility is redefining the business environment and today’s “best practices” are completely inadequate

Gary Hamel - HBR

We now live in a VUCA World that requires leaders and organizations to become more AGILE if they aim to be successful and survive!

Why Agile or Business Agility?Speed and Agility Training, https://www.flickr.com/photos/speedandagilitytraining/4440690268/


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

The Key To Survival In A Constantly Changing Environment

“In times, where chaos, turbulence and rapidly changing business environment has become the «new normal» “

Vision, Understanding, Clarity and Agility

is the VUCA Prime.”

Bob Johansen, Institute for the Future in Silicon Valley


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

When to Apply AgileSpeed and Agility Training, https://www.flickr.com/photos/speedandagilitytraining/4440690268/

Waterfall(“Best Practices”)

Agile(for anything complicated

or complex)

Stacey MatrixIssues or decisions are close to certainty when cause and effect linkages can be determined.

The vertical axis measures the level of agreement about an issue or decision within the group, team or organization.

(Rational Decision Making)

(Political Decision Making)

(Complex Decision Making)(Disintegration &Anarchy)


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

• Shorten Time to Market• Increase Productivity• Improve Alignment with the Business• Improve Predictability

Reasons to Adopt AgileHernán Piñera, https://www.flickr.com/photos/hernanpc/6788702542/


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Agile in a Nut-Shell: Some Benchmarks

2015, http://techbeacon.com/survey-agile-new-norm

• an increased visibility, during the project life-cycle;

• a better adaptability;

• delivering biz value starting with the first iterations;

• managing lower and lower risks.

Reasons for Agile Adoption

Project Success and Failure Rates

When should I use Agile/Scrum vs Waterfall?• https://www.linkedin.com/groups/52030/52030-6197093360415551489• https://hbr.org/2007/11/a-leaders-framework-for-decision-making

https://www.versionone.com/agile-101/agile-software-development-benefits/

Benefits of Agile Development

http://techbeacon.com/survey-agile-new-norm



https://www.linkedin.com/groups/52030/52030-6197093360415551489



https://hbr.org/2007/11/a-leaders-framework-for-decision-making







ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

You can face Agile from two perspectives:

• creating awesome, innovative products – Product Development

…or…

• creating high-efficient and performant collaboration between teams – Management, Organizational Design

Andy Wells, https://www.flickr.com/photos/31843304@N02/8562583593/sizes/c/


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

WARNING: your Life Won’t Be The Same!Kanban Tool, https://www.flickr.com/photos/kanban_tool/20329271933/

All facets of your professional live will be touched:

• your personal way to live

• your organizational design

• your style of management

• your style of leadership

• your employee development

• your customer relationship

• …

• …

• …

• …

• …

Agile Will Turn Your Business Life Upside Down!


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Mapping The Pyramids@gapingvoid, http://www.gapingvoidart.com/gallery/now-vs-future/


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Continuously Delivering Value djkaraok, https://www.flickr.com/photos/djkaraok/12752657623/

Agile is…• People-centric way to create innovative products and solutions

• Market-centric model to maximize business value

• Demand-Driven model based on lean principles:Continuous Delivery to avoid “waste”/muda


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Product Owner Challenger – Agile Game by Plays-In-Business.com: Agile Game Workshop Demonstrating Agile Adoptionhttp://www.plays-in-business.com/pochallenge-product-owner-challenge-game/

In Agile you do not get what

you ordered…

…you will get what you need, instead!

Agile in a Nut-Shell: Customer’s Need First!


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Customer Focus & Market Demand: Unshippable = Waste !http://blog.nongkhaidesign.com/tag/udon-thani/


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Partially Done Has No Value!http://blog.nongkhaidesign.com/tag/udon-thani/

Definition of Done (DoD)consistent acceptance criteria across all User Stories (Requirements).

The DoD drives the quality of work and define when a User Story has been completed.

It is a simple list of activities (writing code, coding comments, unit testing, integration testing, release notes, design documents, etc.) that add verifiable/ demonstrable value to the product.


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Agile in a Nut-Shell: Adaptive Development Approach

Adaptive process: the vision creates feature estimates• Time, Cost, and Quality are Fixed• Features (Requirements) are variable,

negotiable with the customer

Customer Happiness / Market Demand

Create a MVP – Minimal Viable Product, i.e. Minimal Released Product

Ship at end of each increment.

Create stand-alone solutions – increase value independently.

Feedback Loops are appreciated – no risk!

You can stop at each phase without loss! – “Pivoting”

1. Shift of UsabilityMarket Disruption

New Focus GroupsInnovation

Ship-It: Biz Value a

Ship-It: Biz Value b

Ship-It: Biz Value c

Ship-It: Biz Value d

Ship-It: Biz Value!

Time

Feat

ure/

Req

uire

men

ts

Hendrik Kniberg, crisp.se

Hendrik Kniberg, crisp.se,






ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

1 3

2

4

Idea

Build

Launch

Learn

30 Days

1 Day 1 3

4

Idea

Build

Launch

Learn

2

Agile in a Nut-Shell: Adaptive Development Approach

Software in 30 Days: How Agile Managers Beat the Odds, Delight Their Customers, and Leave Competitors in the Dust.Ken Schwaber, Jeff Sutherland


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

5 Day Design Sprint Framework (Jake Knapp, Google Ventures)http://www.gv.com/sprint/, https://zapier.com/blog/google-ventures-design-sprint/

Agile in a Nut-Shell: Adaptive Prototyping Approach

1 3

2

4

5 DaysIdea

Build

Launch

Learn


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Scrum Framework – Pull Principle

Product Backlog

24 hrs

1 - 2 weeks

SprintPotentially Shippable

Product

Sprint Backlog123456789

10 Features

(Requirements)

Product Backlog Item

1112

12345678

Tasks

Product Increment

Scrum it's a simple framework to organize in a different way how people perform their work.


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Scrum Framework – Pull Principle

No Changes!in Duration or Goal

during Sprint

123456789

10 Features

(Requirements)

Product Backlog Item

1112

24 hrs

1 - 2 weeks

SprintPotentially Shippable

Product

Sprint Backlog12345678

Tasks

Product Increment

3 Artefacts:Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Product Increment

3 Roles:Team, Product Owner, Scrum Master

4 Ceremonies:Sprint Planning, Daily Standup, Sprint Review, Retrospectives

The team has complete control over the amount of work it takes on: team is self-organized, it pulls only the tasks they can handle in one sprint!

No “(Project)”Managers!

Scrum teams are cross-functional, including the skills (but ideally not the job titles) of software engineers, architects, programmers, analysts, QA experts, testers, UI designers, etc.

Product Owner

Prioritizes features:Product Backlog

Scrum Master

Daily Scrum Standup meeting

(15 min)

Sprint Review

Retrospective(after 4-5 sprints)

Backlog Refinement Meeting

(during each sprint)

Sprint Planning Meeting


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

blog.crisp.se

Scaling Agile – Agile Project Management

Scaled Agile Framework – SAFE: http://scaledagileframework.com/

Large Scale Scrum – LeSS: https://less.works/less/framework/index.html

Nexus – https://www.scrum.org/Resources/The-Nexus-Guide

http://www.cio.com/article/2974436/agile-development/comparing-scaling-agile-frameworks.html

Continuous Value Stream(s)

Project / Product LevelProduct AProduct C

Product B

SM‘

PO‘

SM‘

PO‘

SM‘

PO‘

Team LevelTeam 01Team 03 Team 02

Team 04

SM

PO

SM

PO

SM

PO

SM

PO

Sprint Planning Meeting with all teams (≥120 pls, 2 days, each ≈8 weeks)

Minimize handovers –

Less meetings as possible!

http://scaledagileframework.com/

https://less.works/less/framework/index.html

https://www.scrum.org/Resources/The-Nexus-Guide

http://www.cio.com/article/2974436/agile-development/comparing-scaling-agile-frameworks.html


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Agile Success = “Smoth” Tool Chain

Agile Project Mgt Tools:• Jira, Atlassian.com (DOORS, SAP interf.)• Ralley, CA Software• VersionOne.com• …..

Task / Requirements & Release Planning

Task / Requirements & Release Planning

Delivery & Deployment

„Total Value“ of all implemented requirements

in a sprint „How many“ requirements are implemented in a sprint (Velocitity)

Reporting & Status Monitoring


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Controlling something, not someonehttp://www.forbes.com/sites/jurgenappelo/2015/12/30/why-management-is-dead-is-stupid/Scott Lewis, https://www.flickr.com/photos/99781513@N04/16662111864/

Agile Managers recruit and construct teams, gather and provide feedback, guide career paths, and coach results.

They set the Vision clearly, in a way that the team

can adopt it as their own..

But, never ever, they command how to do

tasks.

Trust the people doing the job.


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Traditional Project ManagerMicro-management & Bureaucracy:

Stop; Wait, Go!

Agile Manager vs Project ManagerMetaphor proudly stolen from Dave Sharrock & Martin von Weissenberg (agile42): http://www.agile42.com/en/blog/2016/11/04/scrum-master-vs-project-manager/; Pete Bellis, https://www.flickr.com/photos/video4net/4103124627/


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Agile ManagerNo central directions to be followed.

Instead drivers need to apply a number of rules to their own local position in the junction.

Self-organisational teams

Agile Manager vs Project ManagerMetaphor proudly stolen from Dave Sharrock & Martin von Weissenberg (agile42): http://www.agile42.com/en/blog/2016/11/04/scrum-master-vs-project-manager/; Andrew Skudder, https://www.flickr.com/photos/skuds/48288551/


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Agile Manager vs Project ManagerMetaphor proudly stolen from Dave Sharrock & Martin von Weissenberg (agile42): http://www.agile42.com/en/blog/2016/11/04/scrum-master-vs-project-manager/; David Skinner, https://www.flickr.com/photos/branestawm/17088955200/;

SCALING traditional approach

Bureaucracy & Command-n-Control

At it‘s best!


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Agile Manager vs Project ManagerMetaphor proudly stolen from Dave Sharrock & Martin von Weissenberg (agile42): http://www.agile42.com/en/blog/2016/11/04/scrum-master-vs-project-manager/; Swindon roundabout, Great Britain, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OGvj7GZSIo

SCALING Agile approach

Adopt to increasing complexity.

And self-organization remains!


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Agile Manager vs Project ManagerMetaphor proudly stolen from Dave Sharrock & Martin von Weissenberg (agile42): http://www.agile42.com/en/blog/2016/11/04/scrum-master-vs-project-manager/; http://60let.com/2015/09/27/accident-prevention-traffic-lights-to-make-safer-roundabouts/

Agile in Waterfall environments

Over-Control – SABOTAGILE the agile transformation


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Agile Is AMINDSET

Described By 4 VALUES

Agile Values Graphic inspired by Ahmed Sidky, ICAgile, Riot Games

Defined By 12 PRINCIPLES

Manifested In MANY PRACTICES

Agile Manifesto 2004, http://agilemanifesto.org/

http://agilemanifesto.org/




ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Agile Is AMINDSET

Defined By 12 PRINCIPLES

Satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery…

Welcome changing requirements, even late in development…

Deliver working software frequently…

Business people and developers must work together…

Build projects around motivated individuals….

Face-to-face conversation…

Working software is the

primary measure of progress.

Agile processes

promote sustainable

development

Continuous attention to

technical excellence

Simplicity – the art of maximizing the amount of

work not done…

Self-organizing teams….

Team reflects on how to become more effective…

Agile Principles Graphic inspired by Ahmed Sidky, ICAgile, Riot Games

Agile Manifesto: A set of guiding concepts supporting you in implementing agile projects. http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html

Described By 4 VALUES

Individuals and their interactions

Delivering working software / products

Responding to change

Customer collaboration


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Agile Is AMINDSET

Agile Practices Graphic inspired by Ahmed Sidky, ICAgile, Riot Games

Manifested In MANY PRACTICES

LeanKanban

Mindsets

Scrum

LeSSSAFeNexus

Frameworks (Scaling)

DSDM

TDD

FDD

BDD

Crystal

XP

Methods


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Agile ValuesNina Matthews https://www.flickr.com/photos/21560098@N06/6722653055/sizes/l/

Individuals and Interactionsover Processes and Tools

Respect for the worth of every personTruth in every communicationTransparency of all data, actions, and decisionsTrust that each person will support the teamCommitment to the team and to the team’s goals

Working Softwareover Comprehensive Documentation

Working software is one of the big differences that agile development brings. The “Definition of Done (DoD)” defines “working software”.The DoD also covers the extent of documentation as essential and valuable deliverables.

Customer Collaboration over Contract Negotiation

Cooperate and collaborate in short feedback loops and direct contact with the customers continuously.

Responding to Change over Following a Plan

Changes always improve a

product; changes provide additional value.


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com


Our highest priority is to

satisfy the customer through early and

continuous delivery of valuable software.

Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the

customer's competitive advantage.

Business people and

developers must work together daily throughout the project.

Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the

environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.

Working software is the

primary measure of progress.

Deliver

working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the

shorter timescale.


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com


Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to

maintain a constant pace indefinitely.

Continuous attention to

technical excellence and good design enhances agility.

Simplicity – the art of maximizing

the amount of work not done – is essential.

The best architectures, requirements, and designs

emerge from self-organizing teams. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more

effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.

The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is

face-to-face conversation.


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Traditional Team & Agile TeamForbes, http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2016/09/08/explaining-agile/

AGILE TEAM• Autonomous (self-organized)• Team responsibility – ”blame the team”• No silo-ing – Cross-functional• Much interaction

BUREAUCRATIC TEAM• Top Down• Individual responsibilities – ”blame the person”• Trend to “silo-ing”: department boundaries• Little Interaction


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Self-Organizing Teams

A group of motivated individuals, who work together toward a goal, have the ability and authority to take decisions and readily adapt to changing demands.


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Self-Organizing TeamsDVIDSHUB, https://www.flickr.com/photos/dvids/5546514579/

Essentials of Self-organizing Teams

Ownership & Commitment: they pull work for themselves and don't wait for their leader to assign work.

Self Management: they manage their work (allocation, reallocation, estimation, re-estimation, delivery, and rework) as a group.

Coaching & Mentoring: they require mentoring and coaching, but they don't require "command and control."

Communication: they communicate more with each other.

Learning: they continuously enhance their own skills and recommend innovative ideas and improvements.


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Self-Organizing TeamsU.S. Army, https://www.flickr.com/photos/familymwr/5081186618/

Essentials of Self-organizing Teams

Competency: Individuals competent for the job at hand. Result: confidence in their work and no need for direction from above.

Collaboration: They work as a team rather than as a group of individuals. Teamwork is encouraged.

Motivation: Team members are focused and interested in their work.

Trust and respect: Team members trust and respect each other. They believe in collective code ownership and are ready to go the extra mile to help each other resolve issues. No “Blame-Game” .

Continuity: The team stay together for a reasonable duration; changing its composition every now and then doesn't help.


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Agile Team Building – Cross Functional TeamsJeremy Keith, https://www.flickr.com/photos/adactio/16214923873/

Cross-Functional Teams• There are the right people (skill set) on the

team to do the job.

• They are led from within the team, not managed.

• They understand their mission.

• They communicate and collaborate continuously.

• They are accountable for their results.

Cross-Functional Teams ≠ Cross-Functional People• cross-functional people do not possess

every required skill set

• experts in the individual skill sets required who can complement and work well with the rest of the team.


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

What Drives People? – 3 Pillars of Intrinsic Motivation!specchio.nero, https://www.flickr.com/photos/65242918@N05/8703538435/, george erws, https://www.flickr.com/photos/erwss/3129884643/, Gene Kogan, https://www.flickr.com/photos/genekogan/15090583026/

Mastery

Purpose

Autonomy

Daniel Pink: Drive. The Surprising Truth What Motivates Us.


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Agile Leadership – No Silos!Rex Hammock, https://www.flickr.com/photos/docsearls/5500714140/

Organisational silos:

• Business politics: “Turf-wars” between departments / sites

• Organisational Department Boundaries (Matrix-Organisation)

• Multiple Tools, or Formats to store Information


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

The biggest Threat to InnovationJuly 2016 Gartner Financial Services Innovation Survey, via @ValaAfshar, pic.twitter.com/CHsF3dyHlD


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

If You implement Agile without Mindset…

Paul Keller, https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulk/5131407407/


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Q: Five birds are sitting on a wire. Four decide to jump off. How many birds are left on the wire?

killabodhi, https://www.flickr.com/photos/23200601@N05/2222767202/


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Q: Five birds are sitting on a wire. Four decide to jump off. How many birds are left on the wire?

killabodhi, https://www.flickr.com/photos/23200601@N05/2222767202/

A: Five, because deciding and doing are not the same thing.


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Further Readings: Agile SW Development


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Further Readings: Agile / Lean Management


ww

w.P

lays

-in-B

usin

ess.

com

Twitter: @M_Tarnowski, @PlaysInBusinessFacebook: http://bit.ly/PiB-FBLinkedIn: http://bit.ly/MT-LinkdInXing: http://bit.ly/MT-XingSlideShare: http://bit.ly/MT-SShare

Or call me: +49-172-69 152 61

You Enjoyed It? – Drop me a note:[email protected]

This document may be further distributed free-of-charge in its original, complete form only. Please credit Plays-in-Business.com.

All images used are – if not stated otherwise – taken from flickr.com under Common Creative License.Julien GONG Min, https://www.flickr.com/photos/bfishadow/3634884928/

https://twitter.com/M_Tarnowski

https://twitter.com/M_Tarnowski

https://twitter.com/PlaysInBusiness

https://twitter.com/PlaysInBusiness

http://bit.ly/PiB-FB

http://bit.ly/MT-LinkdIn

http://bit.ly/MTxing

http://bit.ly/MT-SShare

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.plays-in-business.com/

http://flickr.com/

http://creativecommons.org/

mailto:[email protected]?subject=I'am%20interested%20in%20Org.Chg.Mgt

mailto:[email protected]?subject=I'am%20interested%20in%20Org.Chg.Mgt

Agile Mindset For Executives

Leadership & Management

Transcript of Agile Mindset For Executives