agile metrics: velocity is not the goal - agile 2013 version

Velocity Is NOT the Goal

Michael “Doc” Norton :: Groupon :: @DocOnDev

Agile Metrics

Velocity Is NOT the Goal

Velocity

Velocity

What’s Velocity?

Work Units / Time

Lagging Indicator

Measure of a Complex System

Lagging Indicatorfor a Complex System

A Tale of Two

Velocities

A

10, 11, 9 10

B

7, 14, 6, 10

Disclaimer

A

10, 11, 9 10Yesterday’s Weather: 10

B

7, 14, 6, 10Yesterday’s Weather: 10

A

10, 11, 9 10Yesterday’s Weather: 10Rolling Average: 10

B

7, 14, 6, 10Yesterday’s Weather: 10Rolling Average: 10

A

10, 11, 9 10Yesterday’s Weather: 10Rolling Average: 10Std. Deviation: 0.7

B

7, 14, 6, 10Yesterday’s Weather: 10Rolling Average: 10Std. Deviation: 3.1

A10, 11, 9 10Yesterday’s Weather: 10Rolling Average: 10Std. Deviation: 0.7Next: 9.3-10.7

B7, 14, 6, 10Yesterday’s Weather: 10Rolling Average: 10Std. Deviation: 3.1Next: 6.9-13.1

The Need for Speed

The Hawthorn Effect

That which is measured, will improve

That which is measured, will improve ... at a cost

Goodhart’s Law

When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a

good measure

Perverse Incentives

... an unintended result, contrary to interests of the

incentive makers

Dr. Deming

“What matters is not setting quantitative goals but fixing the method by which those goals are attained”

What causes variable Velocity?

Time Poorly Spent

Dependency on Other Teams

Poor Story Composition

Too Much Work In Progress

Scatter Diagrams

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

0 2 4 6 8

Scatter DiagramsAuto Prices by Year

0

12.5

25

37.5

50

0 25 50 75 100

Scatter DiagramsVelocity by Complexity

0

12.5

25

37.5

50

0 10000 20000 30000 40000

Scatter DiagramsVelocity by Value

0

12.5

25

37.5

50

0 22.5 45 67.5 90

Scatter DiagramsVelocity by Coverage

“Friedman’s Thermostat”

Correlation is not causation

Correlation is not causation but it sure is a hint

Cumulative Flow Diagrams

Backlog

Cumulative Flow Diagram

0

5

10

15

20

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Velocity Chart

Same Different Perspective

Team&

Data

CFD

0

25

50

75

100

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Deployed Ready for Approval In Testing In Progress Ready To Start

Measure Many Things

Measure Many Things

0

4

8

12

16

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Velocity

Measure Many Things

0

4

8

12

16

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 150

5

10

15

20

Velocity Quality

Measure Many Things

0

4

8

12

16

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 150

12.5

25

37.5

50

Velocity Quality Avg. Hours

Measure Many Things

0

4

8

12

16

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 150

12.5

25

37.5

50

Velocity Quality Avg. Hours Team Joy

Real World Examples

Velocity w/Std. Deviation

Burn w/Std. Deviation

Cumulative Flow

Team Joy

Department Joy

One Last Thing

Metricsare not for

Managers

Metricsare forTeams

Velocity Is

NOT

the GoalMichael “Doc” NortonGroupon Director of Engineeringdoc@groupon.com

@DocOnDevhttp://www.docondev.com/

Thank You!