Servant Leadership in Agile

Presented to Rotary International

David Babicz, CSMJuly 28th, 2011

A Little About Me

Delivery Manager @ Solstice ConsultingAgile Transformation Practice LeaderCSM 4+ years, Agile practitioner 10+ yearsTreasurer, APLN ChicagoChicago Agile Methodology Meetup Group LeaderFind me:

Email: dbabicz@solstice-consulting.com

Blog: http://babiczblog.solstice-consulting.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/dbabicz

Meetup Group: http://www.meetup.com/The-Chicago-Agile-Methodology-Group

APLN Chicago: http://www.aplnchicago.org

Agenda

On Managing a Project

Genesis of Agile Management

The Servant Leader in Agile

The Wagile Manifesto

Discussion

On Managing a Project……Yesterday and Tomorrow

What Do You Do Today?

• Responsibilities– To your manager– To the project– To your team

• Deliverables• Activities

What Will Change in Agile?

• Responsibilities– To your manager– To the project– To your team

• Deliverables• Activities

DSDM Project ManagerResponsibilities

• Communicate frequently with project governance authorities• High-level project planning & scheduling• Monitor progress against project baseline• Manage risk & escalate to senior business/tech. roles• Manage overall project configuration• Motivate teams• Manage business development team interaction• Staffing specialist roles• Escalation point for development team issues• Coach/mentor development team

DSDM Team LeaderResponsibilities

• Focus the development team• Encourage full participation among the development team• Enforce iterative process framework• Ensure all testing activity occurs• Manage risks at development timebox level, escalate to Project

Manager• Monitor team progress on daily basis• Report progress to Project Manager• Run daily team meetings (maintain timebox control)

DSDM PM/Team LeaderMerged Responsibilities

• Communicate frequently with project governance authorities• High-level project planning & scheduling• Monitor progress against project baseline• Manage risks & issues from timebox to project level; escalate to

senior business/tech. roles• Manage overall project configuration, including adequate staffing• Manage business development team interaction• Coach/mentor development team, keeping them focused, involved, &

motivated• Enforce iterative process framework (including timeboxes)• Monitor team progress on daily basis, ensuring all tasks are being

addressed

The Genesis of Agile Management

Genealogy of Scientific Management

• Eli Whitney• Henry Gantt• Frederick Taylor• Henry Ford

Why the Agile Movement Got Started

• Modern Project Management Practice builds on these scientific manufacturing concepts

• Measure the steps and predict the outcome

Software Development is Creative

• Software Development is an act of creation

• More Art than Science• How do you dictate/predict creativity?

Agile is as much or more a culture and mindset change than a collection of tools and methods.

The answers are NOT in the process,they are in the people.

Agile Sea Change

Being a Servant Leaderin Agile

Servant Leadership“Defined”

• Focusing on the People• Service Above Self

“It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.”

- Robert K. Greenleaf, “The Servant as Leader”

Robert K. Greenleaf

The Managerial Grid

1

1 2

2

3 4

3

4

5

5

6

6

7

7

8

8

9

9C

once

rn fo

r P

eopl

e (S

ocio

emot

iona

l)

Concern for Production (Task)

1,9Accomodating

5,5Status Quo

1,1Indifferent

9,1Dictatorial

9,9Sound (Team)

* Blake & Mouton, 1964

Beliefs Agile Leaders Need

David Spann identified 5 underlying beliefs that a successful Agile leader should hold.

How many of these do you hold?

1. A group of well intentioned, skilled people will make a better decision through consensus then I can on my own.

2. Five or more people with a single, clear purpose can (and often do!) change the world.

3. Asking the right questions will always create better outcomesthan making a series of well-crafted statements.

4. The leadership role is about creating a great environment in which others can succeed.

5. Ultimately, Trust is the foundational component of any relationship and it must be tended to with care, integrity and humility

http://www.thehackerchickblog.com/2009/09/agile-leadership-methodology-ain-enough.html

Behaviors We Want in Agile Leaders

• Strategic• Tactical• Innovative• Enthusiastic• Transparent• Communicative• Consensual• Empowering• Empathetic

Behaviors that Hurt Teams

• Authoritarian• Structuring• Conservative• Technical• Others…?

http://www.thehackerchickblog.com/2009/09/agile-leadership-methodology-ain-enough.html

Leadership Musings

• “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.“ – Max DePree

• “You do not lead by hitting people over the head — that's assault, not leadership.”– Dwight D. Eisenhower

• “People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Promoting “Kaizen”

Graphic copyright ©2006 – Kathy Sierra, http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/

Exp

ert

Str

ug

gli

ng

First Time

Years or DecadesTime

Ab

ility

How to be an expert

“I’ll keep pushing myself.There’s always some way to do it better…”

“Now that I found a way that works, I’ll just keep doing it the same way.”

“I suck at this. I give up.”

expe

rt

amateur

drop-out

Kicking Ass Threshold

SuckThreshold

“Weakened” Agile Manifesto

Manifesto for Agile Software Development

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Working software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right,

we value the items on the left more.

Manifesto for Wagile Software Development

We have heard about new ways of developing software by focusing on things counter to what we know and do today. We now value:

and we have mandatory processes and tools to control how those individuals (we prefer the term ‘resources’) interact

as long as that software is comprehensively documented

within the boundaries of strict contracts, of course, and subject to rigorous change control

provided a detailed plan is in place to respond to the change, and it is followed precisely

That is, while the items on the left sound nice in theory, we just are who we are, and there’s no way we’re letting go of the items on the right.

Cobbled together one Saturday morning before breakfast by Kerry Buckley (@kerryb), following an article by Ron Jeffries and this suggestion from Eastmad.

Discussion…

Thank You!

Email: dbabicz@solstice-consulting.comBlog: http://babiczblog.solstice-consulting.com/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/dbabiczFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/dave.babiczSolstice Agile Transformation:

http://www.solstice-consulting.com/agile-transformation.html