Adapting to the Warfighter

Why the Defense Industry moved to Agile Practices

Presented by Mike Ballou and Darin Plum

About Mike● Software and Systems engineering background

○ BS Computer Engineering, MS Systems Engineering● 15 years of industry experience

○ 5 years as software engineer○ 10 years as MITRE Systems Engineer in DoD Program Management Office

● Advocate for agile practices within waterfall-oriented DoD Acquisition System○ PMO responsible for balancing needs of Users, Functional Managers, Contracting,

Development Contractors, all while demonstrating DoD Policy Compliance● Co-founded Agile for Defense in April 2013● Presented at Agile for Defense meetup

○ Agile Principles○ Contracting Agile Projects○ Pomodoro Technique

About Darin● Software engineering background (BS & MS in Computer Science) ● Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) & Certified Scrum Professional (CSP)● 19 years of industry experience

○ 13 years in traditional waterfall (CMMI Level 5)○ 6 years working with agile practices

● Led agile transition for multiple organization○ Large multi-team dev/science organization representing military, GS, and multiple

contracting companies transitioning from waterfall to agile (Scrum/kanban)○ Corporate leadership role coaching and shaping the agile processes○ Program Management of a project built with agile practice from the beginning

● Co-founded Agile for Defense in April 2013● Presented at Nebraska.Code() and Prairie.Code()

○ Zombie Apocalypse: http://bit.ly/pczombie

Agile for Defense Meetup Overview

● Mission○ The purpose of the Agile for Defense meetup is to foster a culture of agile practices in the

defense community and share local agile successes in a safe environment○ 350+ members

● Meetup Format○ Meet the first Wednesday each month (35-50 members)○ Close to base○ Food and beverages provided○ Lean Coffee○ Topics for everyone

■ Process, Soft Skill, and Technology

Agile for Defense Meetup Topics

XP PracticesCyber Security through AgileApplication TransparencyClean Code (Book Club)Release It (Book Club)Ansible enables AgilePromises in JSTesting Pyramid and Unit TestingDocker

TechnologyAgile PrinciplesAwesomeness through stable teamsThe Servant (Book Club)Crucial Conversations (Book Club) Agile CoachingEmpowering TeamsThe Phoenix Project (Book Club)Turn this Ship Around! (Book Club)Leadership and Self-Deception (Book Club)

Soft SkillsContinuous DeliveryMaximizing RetrospectivesContracting for Agile ProjectsKanban for the People!Agility Health RadarPomodoro TechniqueLean Startup (Book Club)The Process of Innovation

Process

Department of Defense Overview

Roles in the Defense Acquisition System

Users / Warfighter Identifies operational military needs

Functional Managers Gathers and prioritizes requirements, advocates for funding

Program ManagersSystems Engineers

Develops RFPs, performs Source Selection, manages cost, schedule, and performance

Contracting Ensures compliance with Federal Acquisition Regulations

Development Contractors Writes proposals, performs software development

IT Contractors Writes proposals, administers operational IT systems

Why Change?

● Delivering out-of-date requirements● Missed Requirements● Quality cut at end● Time-to-market● Lack of intrinsic motivation

DoD Agile Initiatives (1 of 3)

● NDAA 2010 signed by President Obama in 2009○ Agile DoD IT Guidance

● Kundra, Federal Government CIO, 25 point plan to reform IT○ “27 Billion is spent on IT projects that go over budget or are behind schedule

● GAO Report -- July 2012○ “Start with Agile guidance and an Agile adoption strategy”

● Stephen Welby, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Systems Engineering, AFEI Agile Government Summit November 21st, 2013

○ “Incremental delivery is the preferred strategy, not waterfall.”● Digital Services Playbook

○ PLAY 4: Build the service using agile and iterative practices

DoD Agile Initiatives (2 of 3)

● Prototyping phase prior to full-scale development○ Gives developers the opportunity to experiment in low-risk environment○ Provides users the opportunity to better understand their own needs

● Shorter contract periods○ Rather than one five-year contract, do five one-year Task Orders○ Affords opportunity to adapt requirements and delivery after each cycle○ Needs to be shorter still

● More releases and early fielding○ Code that has been written but not deployed, integrated, and tested in operational

environment is inherently risky○ Frequent releases and deployments reduces this risk

DoD Agile Initiatives (3 of 3)

● Increase feedback from actual users○ Keep “shall” statements as high-level and open-ended as possible○ Facilitate frequent (at least weekly) engagements between actual users and actual

developers (no proxies) to increase feedback and shared understanding

Agile Contract Execution (1 of 3)

● Time and Material (T&M) Sustainment Contract○ Requirements

■ Severable contract for one year■ Typically broad support for an existing system■ Product Owner is key■ Refine Backlog regularly

● Product Owners, PM, FMs, ScrumMaster, and engineers work together to create and prioritize stories

● Includes everything from user needs to system patches○ Cadence

■ Demo every two weeks■ Move to prod immediately or wait for formally testing event

Agile Contract Execution (2 of 3)

● Fixed Scope Contract○ Requirements

■ Non-severable contract with specific deliverables and schedule■ Clarifications prior to contract award

● PM, FMs, Product Owners, ScrumMasters, and engineers work together on the Requirements and refine them into Epics

■ Contract award● Break Epics into stories● Weekly Product backlog refinement

○ Cadence■ Demo every two weeks with air-gap delivery discs provided to the PM■ System deployed on base for FM/PM feedback■ Formal testing event at the end

Agile Contract Execution (3 of 3)

● Core Principles○ Align goals

■ The 4 Disciplines of Execution■ “All on the same ship”

○ Inspect and Adapt Loops■ User feedback ■ Enabling tools / continuous delivery pipeline

○ Team Owns the work■ Establish pull system ■ Work the highest priority / risk stories first■ Make it safe to fail

○ Kaizen■ “Good change”

Biggest obstacles for Agile buy-in

● Contracting types● Fixed Scope● Big Batch Mindset

○ Mindset that big batch sizes create “economy of scale” is hard to overcome○ Contracting overhead is painful, so organizations do it less often○ Formal testing overhead is painful, so organizations do it less often○ Big batches increase uncertainty, increase waste, and trap risk in the system

Lean Coffee

● Add your topics to the backlog● Dot vote

○ 3 votes per person

● Prioritize the backlog● Group discussion for 3 minutes, then vote

References

1. http://www.acq.osd.mil/se/briefs/2013_11_21-AFEI-Agile-Summit-Welby-Final.pdf

Backup

State of Agile Report by VersionOne:Barriers to Further Agile Adoption?

● 2006: #1 Personnel with the necessary agile experience● 2007: #1 General resistance to change● 2008: #1 Ability to change organizational culture● 2009: #1 Management opposed to change● 2010: #1 Ability to change organizational culture● 2011: #1 Ability to change organizational culture● 2012: #1 Ability to change organizational culture● 2013: #1 Inability to change organizational culture● 2014: #1 Ability to change organizational culture● 2015: #1 Ability to change organizational culture● 2016: #1 Company philosophy or culture at odds with core agile values