Post on 22-Jan-2018
The Agile Transformation Hell
By Vitor Queiroz
Who am I?
● Software Architect● Agile Coach ● Have been through some Agile Transformations
It's not about changing one team.
It's about changing the whole system.
What about you? Which stage are you in?
Agile Transformation Stages
Imagine Highway to Hell
Stairway to Heaven
John Lennon
AC/DC
Led Zeppelin
Let's talk about the "Highway to Hell" stage today.
Have fun !
What we will not talk about today...
Agile: How it used to be
vs. How it is today
Back then...
● Obscure
● Dangerous
● Mythical
● Just the crazy ones
tried it
… Now
● Cool
● Necessary
● Efficient
● The market
demands it
Suddenly, everyone wants an AGILE COACH
Not a Scrum Master, an AGILE
COACH
Even though they do not exactly know why...● Is it a Project Manager?● Is it a Product Manager?● Is it a Scrum Master?
Agile Transformation or Agile Adoption?
What??? Hey!! I just want to be Agile OK?
Agile adoption
Is about "Agile doing."
Is about knowing tools, applying techniques.
Is the beginning.
Agile transformation
Is about "Agile being."
Is about environments, culture, mindset.
Is the result.
Agile adoption
Creates cultural conflicts.
Poor conflict management creates problems.
Conflicts will happen anyway, so learn how to deal with it.
"Ready to go" models won't work the first time
To change something at its core...
You need to understand how it works first
System thinking
Schneider Culture Model
Agile Culture
Understand where you are:● How is the culture?● How are the problems related to the
culture?● Prioritize the problems to attack.
Stop pushing Agile
● In fact, nobody wants to be Agile● They just want to improve their value
delivering● Use Agile as a mean, not as an end goal
Measure the current state● How many bugs do you have?● How hard is it to deploy something?● How hard is it to validate a hypothesis?● How hard is it to measure progress?
Everybody has some kind of pain
● C-Level, Directors● Middle Managers● Developers, Business Analysts, Testers
Everybody has some kind of pain
● Strategic Level pain● Management Process pain● Development pain
Understand how the pains are connected
Understand the current flow
Choose tools that leverage results
Keep measuring the results
● Share the successes● Share the failures● Create rapport
Conflicts and Problems
Big "ready-to-go" frameworks● You can't install Agile● Big complex diagrams, when pushed, will
fail● You can't run an Agile Transformation in 2
months● The consultant ALWAYS goes away
The Spotify model (squadification)
● "We watched the Spotify video" - first warning
● "We created the squads already" - second warning
● "But we had to adapt" - third warning
But… it works on Spotify
● It took YEARS for Spotify to reach this result
● It took a lot of "try-fail-change"● It's not a "copy-and-paste" model● If you don't care about the values, don't
even try
Higher management support
● The C-Level, President, and Directors must understand what changes will be caused
● You can't work on an Agile Transformation and deal with hierarchy issues at the same time
Middle management interference
● They can say it's OK, but may change their mind in the near future
● They can be afraid about become meaningless● You need to provide coaching and training to
change them into facilitators● Don't fight them, invite them to work together
Team issues
● Nobody becomes Agile just because the boss told them to
● Empower them by showing that they can suggest changes
● Give them tools to check their own progress● Celebrate their victories● Expose them to new approaches (conferences,
events, etc)
Understand, teach, change
● Understand the way they work● Teach new patterns to solve problems● Give them the freedom to break patterns to
improve even more● Always measure the results--it gives a sense of
evolution and progress
Start small and let it grow
● Put "trojans" in the system● Collect feedback● Measure the results, change more● Wait untill the system absorbs the changes● Do it again
That's it - Thank you!