Agile conf 2011:From team to wow team - An agile team's journey
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WORKING DRAFT Last Modified 8/15/2011 2:17 PM Eastern Standard Time Printed 8/15/2011 2:17 PM Eastern Standard Time From Team to “Wow Team”: An Agile Team’s Journey Gourav Tiwari and Zainab Alikhan
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Our department had been practicing Agile for three years. In the first two years, we learned how to be really good. Then we began to plateau...complacency crept in, we drifted away from the spirit of agile and began to skip the basics. In this talk we describe we overcame this. How we went from being a team on the slide to a "wow team" by seeing every problem as an opportunity, converting small thoughts into great ideas and finding innovative solutions for problems. Do you want to know the simple yet powerful basics that can make a huge impact and make your team a Wow Agile Team? Video on vimeo: http://vimeo.com/29574313
Transcript of Agile conf 2011:From team to wow team - An agile team's journey
WORKING DRAFT
Last Modified 8/15/2011 2:17 PM Eastern Standard Time
Printed 8/15/2011 2:17 PM Eastern Standard Time
From Team to “Wow Team”:An Agile Team’s Journey
Gourav Tiwari and Zainab Alikhan
Project 2: May-Jul 2010…a few short months later
Project 1: Feb-Apr 2010
▪ An Agile team…being mechanical in following practices
▪ Though they got the work done… they missed sprint commitments often
▪ When things went wrong they struggled…
▪ Just “Managing”
▪ Doing something new and exciting every day
▪ Rarely missed sprint commitments+ “stretch” stories + refactoring on the side
▪ When things went wrong, their best came out
▪ “Two steps ahead”
Velocity = 17Velocity = 17Velocity = 17Velocity = 17 Velocity = 35Velocity = 35Velocity = 35Velocity = 35
Project 1: Feb-Apr 2010 Project 2: May-Jul 2010
Project delivered Project delivered Project delivered Project delivered 2 weeks behind schedule 2 weeks behind schedule 2 weeks behind schedule 2 weeks behind schedule
Project 1: Feb-Apr 2010
Project delivered Project delivered Project delivered Project delivered 3 weeks early3 weeks early3 weeks early3 weeks early
Project 2: May-Jul 2010
Clients = full of Clients = full of Clients = full of Clients = full of praisepraisepraisepraise
Project 1: Feb-Apr 2010 Project 2: May-Jul 2010
Clients ≠ happyClients ≠ happyClients ≠ happyClients ≠ happy
How did they get from Project 1 to Project 2?
1. What we think is a “wow team”
2. Our team before wow…the “agile rut”
3. Getting to wow - our Four CommandmentsOne: Get the basics rightTwo: No idea is too sillyThree: Make everything fun!Four: Start small
Today’s agenda
1. What is a “wow” team?
…ideates, innovates, and takes pride in its
work
A team that…
http://static.iclipart.com/thumbs/022/batch_05/adolescents_children_189021_tnb.png
…inspires others around them
http://www.writespirit.net/inspirational_talks/political/martin_luther_king_talks/martin-luther-king2.jpg
…delights its clients
http://www.theultimategameoflife.com/new/wp-content/uploads/Happy_people_dancing_Back50.jpg
…and is driven to get from “Good to Great”
2. Our “team” (before wow)
Who are we?
Gourav Tiwari,Team member
Zainab Alikhan,Product owner
Ritcha Malhotra,Team member
Agile adoption begins
Jan 2007
All projects waterfall
…continues
Jan 2008 Jan 2009
Becoming really good
Jan 2010
Complacency creeps in
1. Taking shortcuts
2. Becoming mechanical
3. Little freshness
1. Prod deployments every 2 to 4 weeks
2. Dept size 50%, doing same work
3. Quality 4. Support costs
Project 2: May-Jul 2010…a few short months later
Project 1: Feb-Apr 2010
▪ Being Agile…but somewhat mechanical
▪ Get the work done…but did miss sprint commitments
▪ When things go wrong they struggle..
▪ “Managing”
▪ Doing something new and exciting every day
▪ Rarely miss sprint commitments+ “stretch” stories + refactoring on the side
▪ When things go wrong, their best comes out
▪ “Two steps ahead”
How?
To “Two steps ahead”From “Managing”
3. Getting to “wow”
How did we realize our complacency?
Bonus: Organizational culture that encouraged us tolearn, fail, push the limits
1. Being in touch with the external world: books, blogs, talks
2. Asking ourselves the right questions
A “wow” team… gets its drive from within
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__laXXxBLiss/TC4Q-mBrUUI/AAAAAAAAAAY/-RvdQsPqFcI/s1600/push.gif
Our Four Commandments
Do you remember your ABCs?
When you’re losing track of the principles, go back to the practices
Commandment One: GET THE BASICS RIGHT
SHU HA RI
Practitioner Journeyman Expert
When you’re losing track of the principles, go back to the practices
Commandment One: GET THE BASICS RIGHT
SHU HA RI
Practitioner Journeyman Expert
Never skip retrospectives
Commandment One: GET THE BASICS RIGHT
Get stories to done-done
Commandment One: GET THE BASICS RIGHT
Do you think an idea is silly?
http://www.weirdwarp.com/2010/05/newtons-apple-falls-upwards/
Don’t judge ideas before giving them a shot
Commandment Two: NO IDEA IS TOO SILLY
Commandment Two: NO IDEA IS TOO SILLY
Thought for the week
Commandment Two: NO IDEA IS TOO SILLY
http://www.abriefhistoryofdisbelief.org/atheism-vs-christianity.html
Are you doing anything that’s boring?
Image source http://www.beyond-bananas.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/fun.gif?w=298
Commandment Three: MAKE EVERYTHING FUN
If something’s not fun, you’re not going to do it well
1 Footnote
Feature Matrix
Commandment Three: MAKE EVERYTHING FUN
Raise your hand
Commandment Three: MAKE EVERYTHING FUN
http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/raised%20hand.JPG
Do you have a big goal?
Image source http://www.beyond-bananas.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/fun.gif?w=298
Commandment Four: START SMALL
SOURCE:http://deedseeds.com/
Most team-ish room
Commandment Four: START SMALL
Commandment Four: START SMALL
Parking lot
Takeaways
▪ Without innovation and learning even agile can get into a rut
▪ Preventing this rut is about the people and their drive to
learn and stay fresh
▪ Our Four Commandments will help get on the path to “wow”
One: Get the basics rightTwo: No idea is too sillyThree: Make everything fun!Four: Start small
