Guest Blog for Icon Agility
We don’t train agile, we train people!
5 Common (and wrong) Expectations of a SAFe® Transformation
Businesses Aren’t Agile, or Innovative or…
Happy New Year’s all!
Welcome to 2019, the year our company, The ABC Company finally masters #Agile or #Innovation of any of a myriad of other #buzz words!
Anyone who has worked in the corporate world in their career has probably heard a speech like that. It is usually a ‘C’ Suite leader extolling the virtues of the latest ‘fad’ whether the benefits were real or not.
In the 90’s it was about Total Quality Management and Six Sigma (Lean) in the early 2000’s it was about ‘mobility’ and then ‘Agile’ and the latest is around Digital Transformation or User Centered Design.
Please do not misunderstand, I believe each and every one of those efforts has value. Where the value disappears is when a leaders (managers) of an organization stands in front of a group of people and says Our Business is going to become <insert the words above>. That is effectively the starting point of the failure to actually achieve that outcome.
There are a number of reasons for that, but essentially it represents a fundamental belief that 1) This is a staff problem 2) This is a training problem 3) Leadership is not integral to the change 4) Change is not something the organization can easily do or is skilled at doing.
There has long been a saying, ‘people are our greatest asset’. That saying is quickly sidelined when a buzzword is rolled out in business journals promising to solve all that ails the company, if you will only switch to/convert to/implement the New and Improved Program #FixaWhatzit!
I have been consulting and working with companies on improving their process and ability to deliver on their strategy for years. I have done all of the processes mentioned above plus many many more, the simplest advice I can give you is: “Change your buzzwords into actions your employees take, and values that guide their decisions as a result of the learning you bring to them”.
Businesses are not #Agile.
Businesses are not #lean.
Businesses are not #innovative.
Businesses are not ANY VERB.
Businesses, for better or worse are a collection of processes, tools, policies and maybe some products AND their people.
Apple was seen as very #innovative just a few years ago. This week they wiped off a ‘Facebook’ worth of value from their stock price. Was Steve Jobs the only person in the company that could innovate, and after he left, the company lost its ability to innovate’? If the company was innovative, how could that be? The company is still #Apple!
The truth is that only people can be <insert the words above>!
People are #Agile.
People are #lean.
People are #innovative.
ONLY People can do ANY VERB.
If you want your organization to be #Agile, or #Learning, or #Collaborative or #Lean or #Innovative or anything else, your people, and the values of your company must support these things inherently. The Company must not only reward these things, they must promote them, instill them, train and teach them. They must become part of the Company’s DNA. If people don’t say “That’s just the way we do things around here” then you are not that! Just as a company cannot forsake their #strategy for their #mission, nor their #mission for their #strategy they must BOTH be tended to with care and #intentionality!
Only when leadership or the vast majority of the people in the company AND the values, stated or otherwise, support these things will the company appear to mimic them.
Microsoft today is a great example of a leader recognizing the need for a shift in their culture to position themselves for the future. Their turnaround in culture over the last few years has been astonishing, and it started with Mr. Nadella making significant values changes. Compare the following:
Microsoft circa 2002:
Vision: Empowering people through great software – any time, any place and on any device
Values: Great People with Great Values
- Delivering on our mission requires great people who are bright, creative and energetic, and who share the following values:
- Integrity and honesty
- Passion for customers, partners, and technology
- Open and respectful with others and dedicated to making them better
- Willingness to take on big challenges and see them through
- Self critical, questioning and committed to personal excellence and self improvement
- Accountable for commitments, results, and quality to customers, shareholders, partners and employees
Microsoft circa 2018:
Vision: We believe in what people make possible
Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
Values: What we value
- Innovation
- Diversity and inclusion
- Corporate social responsibility
- Philanthropies
- Environment
- Trustworthy Computing
When managers were writing goals and objectives for their organization, you could almost write them from the values statements in the 2002, they were measurable, they were definitive, and they were targeted.
Today, the leaders of the organization probably talk to their people about how they will fulfill the promise of the company #values and how that achieves their mission and their strategy, not in HOW they work, but WHY they are working. The Agile words, the innovation words come from our why, not our how. Businesses, specifically their leaders, can articulate their why but only their people can deliver it!
As you enter 2019 and commit to change and bringing value to your company or clients, take some time to understand your why.
If you struggle with this, don’t get down, you have been conditioned since entering the workforce in terms of outputs, instead of outcomes. It might take some time to reprogram your mind around this. When it happens, your decisions, and more importantly your conduct will reflect these things and that is truly where your potential will be unleashed.
If you struggle with trying to do this for your company, or your clients, you can practice with your family.
I value safety for my family. (outcome)
To achieve that I will: (outputs)
- Learn CPR
- Practice fire drills
- Teach my children their home address and how to call 911
In my next post (hopefully the next one) I will discuss Objectives and Key Results. A way to ensure you are aligning your strategy and mission, to your execution. This process should help ensure that you stay focused on the outcomes, not the outputs, and if you have your values aligned toward achieving those outcomes, you are already ahead of many companies today!
Good luck to ending 2019 with all you are willing to accomplish!
Remember, you do not teach Agile, you teach people! Only through #learning, can we truly guarantee that tomorrow will be better!
What is a Hypothesis?
To understand what Hypothesis is and how we use the Hypothesis method we need some background information.
Let’s start, by learning about the Scientific Method.
The Scientific Method is a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry is commonly based on empirical or measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning.
The Oxford Dictionary Online defines the scientific method as “a method or procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses”.
A hypothesis is a potential answer to the question, one that can somehow be tested.
The hypothesis is not necessarily the right explanation or the ONLY explanation. Instead, it’s a possible explanation that we can test to see if it is likely correct or how correct, or if we need to make a new hypothesis.
Experiments are a procedure (s) designed to test a hypotheses. Experiments are an important tool of the scientific method. For a deeper understanding, you can watch a quick video here.
A box of Experiments
What I hope you see is that there is a direct connection between scientific method and the empirical processes of agile. There is no accident in the intentions of the scientific community and the agile community. We are both based in the understanding that continual learning and adaption through hypothetical research and analysis is the best way to solve problems.
You may ask; “How can hypothesis-based learning help in solution development’?
To understand more clearly, let’s define a hypothesis, or a working definition we can use.
A working hypothesis is: a hypothesis is provisionally accepted as a basis for further research in the hope that a tenable theory will be produced, even if the hypothesis ultimately fails. Like all hypotheses, a working hypothesis is constructed as a statement of expectations, which can be linked to the exploratory research purpose in empirical investigation and is often used as a conceptual framework in qualitative research.
In agile, we talk about taking risk, failing fast, and learning. These are all very consistent with the Scientific Method and the use of hypothesis.
There are also extreme cases of using this method as a form of Research & Develop in software and system solution development. There are corollary methods that further support these in large enterprises but know that the method is very popular in agile and your use of it will help your team drive innovation and new ways of solving problems. Most importantly, it forces us to stop the ‘Big Upfront Design’ that so often hinders team’s abilities to do the right thing AND the best thing for the business.
When all is said and done, the use of hypothesis based work drives the most important part of agile and other solution development methods, it creates #learnings or #knowledge and we cannot ignore how important that is to teams and those who are charged with forming and leading them, as well as measuring their performance.
What is your theory? Are you putting it to the test in your daily work?
In future posts, I will expand more on learnings from Hypothesis Driven Development, and from Hypothesis Driven Improvement.
Thanks
Batch Size
In the world of Agile & Lean, as in the world in general, the likelihood of successfully completing something is based on how you manage the work, which ultimately is about how you break it into manageable, achievable units, then go about completing it.
Batch size is nothing more than the common units of work. In Agile and Lean the most common unit size is a story or a ‘unit’ and the most common batch is 1.
It is, however, only a starting point, as the video attached to this will demonstrate, with a bit of humor!
We would rarely see a team only commit to 1 story in an iteration. Likewise would not see a plant or other system focus on delivering only one unit of something, due to the trade off of waste associated with it.
However, when we think about applying a Work in Progress Limit (WIP) and batch size together, we can easily see a more manageable way of working using a consistent unit size and a common batch approach. In Agile (or Lean Software Development generally) the unit is a Story and the batch is Capacity, where Capacity = Velocity – Adjustments.
Velocity helps us better understand our batch size, by team, while stories are normalized into workable value unit sizing. This is also scalable for multiple teams, or multiple iterations, so larger organizations, projects or programs can begin to make large efforts work within the normal constraints that we place on agile teams. This is a powerful approach to delivering large value proposition work into large or small enterprises.
The other component of batch size that is of extreme importance to Lean & Agile teams and organizations is the size of their batches will determine their ability to pivot, which ultimately means they will be more or less nimble (agile). The ability to move in a different direction, either by learning, adjusting or failing fast is what allows the perception of business agility.
The Video is here:
Agile & Lean
What is and what is not, in the simple words and thoughts of a lifelong learner, creative professional and an incorrigible ‘failer‘ (not failure!).
Agile:
1. Able to move quickly and easily. Synonyms: nimble, lithe, supple, limber, acrobatic, fleet-footed, light-footed, light on one’s feet;
2. Relating to or denoting a method of project management, used especially for software development, that is characterized by the division of tasks into short phases of work and frequent reassessment and adaptation of plans.
Lean:
verb
1. Be in or move into a sloping position. Synonyms: slant, incline, bend, tilt, be at an angle, slope, tip, list
noun
1. A deviation from the perpendicular; an inclination.
Some people believe that businesses are lean or agile, or that teams are lean or agile. The truth is that we assign these individual traits to collections. Only living, sentient beings can be agile or lean. You must be able to plan, do, check and adjust (PDCA or Demming Method) your behaviors and actions based on learnings from previous outcomes!
If a collection is described as lean or agile they must have more people in the organization that have these traits than people who do not, or the leadership(empirical) who have an overwhelming impact on the others, is strongly aligned to these traits.
Two quick examples:
Microsoft with Steve Ballmer as the leader was not considered ‘Innovative’ even though they had products that were.
Microsoft under Satya Nadella is considered innovative and they have many products and services that are innovative and agile. In fact, some tech blogs are now saying Microsoft is moving too fast with Windows 10!
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/empirical
With this established as a baseline, I now feel comfortable explaining how and why I embrace Agile and Lean, as well as how it ties into the Lego world, to me!
Lego Serious Play is about learning by doing (Kinesthetic Learning), it is by it’s very nature empirical, in other words, you move forward by learning and doing. It is experiential learning! The power of this type of learning is nothing short of incredible.
The graphic below is an excellent articulation of the nature of experiential learning and the ability to learn, grow and make better decision, more effective planning/strategy and execution. I look forward to dialogue in this group!
Kinesthetic Learning is applying knowledge, from the image above, outside of it’s boundary to try to apply it to new things. Simple examples, a ‘cordless’ phone used to mean a phone with a local receiver and base station. That boundary was moved into a new paradigm. Solving the first problem, lead to the second solution, what we call a cell phone today. You could easy apply the same model to mobile computing!
Thanks!
Work in Progress (WIP)
WIP is an important concept in Lean and Agile.
By definition, WIP is: a form of inventory, usually unfinished goods which still require further work, processing, assembly and or inspection. This type of inventory is usually found within steps or sub-processes of a production process. Only raw materials which have commenced to move through their value adding processes can be classified as WIP. Raw materials which have still not been worked with are still classified as raw materials. Work in progress is usually the major type of inventory in a one bin or two bin system.
Why #WIP is Important
Work in progress is considered a type of waste just like inventory, as it ties up cash for a certain period of time which could be generating higher returns elsewhere in the organization. In a large manufacturing facility even small amounts of #WIP can add up to a large sums of capital locked up in this type of inventory.
In the #agile world this means simply, #WIP limits delivery of Value, something critical to successful agile teams.
The presence of unnecessary work in progress can also be an indicator of an unreliable supply chain, lack of proper production planning, excessive manual labor required in the production process, production line balancing or supply chain which are causing unnecessary delays and build-up of work in progress inventory. This may warrant further analysis. An efficient productive system should only pull materials through when needed , without the need for much #WIP. This is the concept of Just in Time and is what ultimately led to the utilization of #KANBAN Systems (Kanban Boards)
In the #agile world, this is realized in a number of ways, but essentially it comes down to Spent Costs, which further dissuades teams from focusing on value and instead has them focus on non-economic drivers. This is also an inhibitor to moving quickly to MORE valuable work because people and resources are over utilized on non-value realized work.
In the agile world this is critically important to ensuring teams complete their work within a time box (Sprint, Iteration, Increment, Release). In order to ensure that the team consistently delivers value and has good Flow, the teams Focus on a few stories at a time, they limit #WIP
Work in progress also presents a business risk to the company because #WIP will usually be stored on the factory floor, close to machinery, plant and equipment and also mobile equipment traffic areas.
The video below provides a good understanding of optimizing a system for flow, rather than applying traditional management thinking since often the system has a number of sub optimal processes or work units. We want adjustments and value to be understood in terms of the entire system used to deliver the value. This type of thinking is commonly referred to as #Systems Thinking and there are a number of management models and books on the topic.
In my next post I will talk about a corollary to #WIP called #batch size.
Until then, enjoy this video!
Jacksonville, FL·Posted Oct 17, 2018
No challenge is too large for the mind or the will of men!
Every day when we come to the office we tend to get bogged down in the minutia of the day. Email, Instant Messages and Phone calls take our time in between meetings. We stay busy and work extra to keep up with the daily barrage of information.
Yesterday was June 6, and it was the D-Day anniversary, one of the greatest challenges ever faced by mankind, the liberation of Europe from a heavily fortified enemy by the Allied Forces. The History channel summarizes it this way:
During World War II (1939-1945), the Battle of Normandy, which lasted from June 1944 to August 1944, resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. Prior to D-Day, the Allies conducted a large-scale deception campaign designed to mislead the Germans about the intended invasion target. By late August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and by the following spring the Allies had defeated the Germans. The Normandy landings have been called the beginning of the end of war in Europe.
In context our daily challenges certainly seem small, but they are not inconsequential to us! They are the problems we have to deal with every day!
If you have never read the book by Stephen Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, it is certainly worth a read, even if you read the cliff notes version.
One of the key paradigms he talks about in the book is effective time management via prioritization. He uses a simple grid (shown below) to demonstrate how we can get caught up in the output but not focus on the outcome. This is a key difference in the agile mindset. Teams need to be focused on the outcome, not necessarily the output. To that end we must focus a great deal of time and energy on limiting our Work in Process and focusing on delivering the things that bring the MOST value first, and the things that bring little value may get done later. This shift in focus is very difficult to execute in the enterprise workplace because it is often hard to know what is most valuable and what is the current priority. Most of us tend to rely on our leadership to keep us focused on priorities. Sometimes that causes us to not deliver value, or to switch tasks frequently. In other words, we create outputs instead of outcomes.
Since this takes some time to master, you might try this in your personal life first to get comfortable with the thinking and effort it takes to use this approach. You might find that cleaning the garage gets put off in order to read that book that helps you manage your time better!