agilelondon mind-over-mechanism-oliverbernard

Agile London – May 2014

MIND OVER MECHANISMWhy your ‘agile’ isn’t the same as my ‘agile’ and why that matters.

Agile London - May 2014

Agile London – May 2014

A PROBLEM …

Agile London – May 2014

My Agile isn’t your Agile

• Philosophy• Methodology• Mindset• Framework • It’s scrum • It’s iterative development• It’s the opposite of waterfall• It’s I don’t know what but it’s

“good”• It’s for software development• It means we don’t have to plan

• It’s lightweight• It’s a project management thing• It’s a faster way to develop• It’s a cheaper way to develop• It’s sprints• It’s standups• It’s story points• It’s writing everything on index cards• It’s touchy• It’s feely• It’s…

What is it?

Agile London – May 2014

Agile London – May 2014

My Agile isn’t your Agile

~ Martin Fowler 2006

Semantic Diffusion

“Semantic diffusion occurs when you have a word that is coined by a person or group, often with a pretty good definition, but then gets spread through the wider community in a way that weakens that definition. This weakening risks losing the definition entirely - and with it any usefulness to the term.”

http://martinfowler.com/bliki/SemanticDiffusion.html

Agile London – May 2014

My Agile isn’t your Agile

“In psychiatry, the term neologism is used to describe the use of words that have meaning only to the person who uses them, independent of their common meaning. This tendency is considered normal in children, but in adults it can be a symptom of psychopathy[9] or a thought disorder.”

Semantic Diffusion

Neologism [nee-ol-uh-jiz-uhm]

Agile London – May 2014

Agile London – May 2014

My Agile isn’t your Agile

• We all “Do” “Agile”• “Agile” has become a noun rather than an

adjective• Virtually everything is labelled “Agile”• Virtually everything doesn’t work• “Agile” gets the blame

Why is this a problem?

Agile London – May 2014

My Agile isn’t your Agile

So Why is Agile so commonly misunderstood?

Why has is come to this?

Agile London – May 2014

Mindset

Team, departmental

Agile London – May 2014

My Agile isn’t your Agile

• Scrum• Kanban• Scrum-ban• XP• Crystal• DSDM• SAFe• DAD• ……….

Mechanism over mindset?

Agile London – May 2014

My Agile isn’t your Agile

• It’s for software development

• Software development means nerds.

It’s for programmers

Agile London – May 2014

IT’S ALL IN THE MIND

Agile London – May 2014

Company Culture

Culture is the way that we think, act and interact

Agile London – May 2014

Company Culture

Collaboration Control

Cultivation Competence

The Schneider Model (William E Schneider)Reality Oriented

Possibility Oriented

Company Oriented

People Oriented

We succeed by working together

We succeed by growing people who fulfil our vision

We succeed by getting and keeping control

We succeed by being the best

Agile London – May 2014

Mindset

Ability – static, like heightGoal – look goodChallenge – avoidFailure – defines your identityEffort – for those with no talentReaction to challenge - helplessness

Fixed vs Growth

Ability – can grow, like muscleGoal – to learnChallenge – embraceFailure – provides informationEffort – path to masteryReaction to challenge - resilience

Linda Rising – The Power of an Agile Mindsethttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W47rcJowx7k

Carole Dweck

Agile London – May 2014

Mindset

Ability – static, like heightGoal – look goodChallenge – avoidFailure – defines your identityEffort – for those with no talentReaction to challenge - helplessness

Fixed vs Growth

Ability – can grow, like muscleGoal – to learnChallenge – embraceFailure – provides informationEffort – path to masteryReaction to challenge - resilience

CollaborationControl

Cultivation

Competence

Agile London – May 2014

Mindset

Plan DrivenTop down

Directing Attitude vs Enabling attitude

People orientedBottom up

Martin Fowler - 2004

Agile London – May 2014

Mindset

Plan DrivenTop down

Directing Attitude vs Enabling attitude

People orientedBottom up

Martin Fowler - 2004

CollaborationControl

Cultivation

Competence

Agile London – May 2014

Mindset

Assumes employees are inherently lazy and will avoid work if they can and that they inherently dislike work. Assumes that workers need to be closely supervised and comprehensive systems of controls developed.

A hierarchical structure is needed with narrow span of control at each and every level. According to this theory, employees will show little ambition without an enticing incentive program and will avoid responsibility whenever they can.

Theory X vs Theory Y

Assumes employees may be ambitious and self-motivated and exercise self-control. Assumes that employees enjoy their mental and physical work duties. According to them work is as natural as play. They possess the ability for creative problem solving.

Given the proper conditions, Theory Y managers believe that employees will learn to seek out and accept responsibility and to exercise self-control and self-direction in accomplishing objectives to which they are committed. 

Douglas McGregor

Agile London – May 2014

Mindset

Assumes employees are inherently lazy and will avoid work if they can and that they inherently dislike work. Assumes that workers need to be closely supervised and comprehensive systems of controls developed.

A hierarchical structure is needed with narrow span of control at each and every level. According to this theory, employees will show little ambition without an enticing incentive program and will avoid responsibility whenever they can.

Theory X vs Theory Y

Assumes employees may be ambitious and self-motivated and exercise self-control. Assumes that employees enjoy their mental and physical work duties. According to them work is as natural as play. They possess the ability for creative problem solving.

Given the proper conditions, Theory Y managers believe that employees will learn to seek out and accept responsibility and to exercise self-control and self-direction in accomplishing objectives to which they are committed. 

Douglas McGregor

CollaborationControl

Cultivation

Competence

Agile London – May 2014

Mindset

Detailed plan up frontFollow plan until completeAdjust your understanding based on what you learned

Traditional vs Agile

Find out where you areTake a small step towards your goalAdjust your understanding based on what you learnedRepeat

Traditional vs Agile

Agile London – May 2014

Mindset

Detailed plan up frontFollow plan until completeAdjust your understanding based on what you learned

Traditional vs Agile

Find out where you areTake a small step towards your goalAdjust your understanding based on what you learnedRepeat

Traditional vs Agile

CollaborationControl

Cultivation

Competence

Agile London – May 2014

Mindset

• Determines goals• Reactions to failure• Belief about effort and strategies• Attitudes towards others’ success• Determines your attitudes towards learning

Agile London – May 2014

The learning Organisation

1. Novice

• Rigid adherence to taught rules or plans – no exercise of discretionary judgement

2. Advanced beginner

• Limited “situational perception” – all aspects of work treated with equal importnace

3. Competent

• Coping with multiple activities – perception of actions in relations to goals

4. Proficient

• Holistic view of the situation – perceives deviations from the normal pattern

5. Expert

• Transcends reliance on rules based on deep tacit understanding – has vision of what is possible.

Dreyfus model of skill acquisition

Agile London – May 2014

The learning Organisation

1. Unconscious incompetence2. Conscious incompetence3. Conscious competence4. Unconcious competence

Maslow?

Agile London – May 2014

The Learning Organisation

Effectiveness = f(mindset)

Bob Marshall - Dreyfus for the organisation

1. Ad-Hoc2. Novice

Analytical3. Competent

Analytical4. Early Synergistic5. Mature

Synergistic6. Early Chaordic7. Proficient

Chaordic

http://flowchainsensei.wordpress.com/rightshifting/the-marshall-model/

Agile London – May 2014

The learning OrganisationShuhari

• Shu – Beginning stage the student follows the teachings of one master precisely. He concentrates on how to do the task, without worrying too much about the underlying theory

• Ha – At this point the student begins to branch out. With the basic practices working he now starts to learn the underlying principles and theory behind the technique. He also starts learning from other masters and integrates that learning into his practice.

• Ri – Now the student isn’t learning from other people, but from his own practice. He creates his own approaches and adapts what he’s learned to his own particular circumstances

Agile London – May 2014

WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?

Agile London – May 2014

Fixed vs Agile Mindset

• “Agile” is misunderstood• The reasons are numerous but mindset and culture are key components in its success• Collaborative and Cultivating cultures support agility• Control and to a certain extent competence cultures are less supportive• The Growth mindset is important in determining attitudes towards learning• Agile is all about learning• Learning theory emphasises the journey from rigid adherence of rules to a more

flexable understanding • Rigid adherance to process, while beneficial will limit growth• A fixed mindset can limit growth at a personal, departmental and organisational level• The prevalent mindset or culture will to a large extent dictate how effectively agile

techniques will deliver lasting value

Agile London – May 2014

References?

The Power of an Agile Mindset - Linda Risinghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W47rcJowx7k

Opening keynote - Dr. Alistair Cockburn "Why Agile Works"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdSiBlLafNY

Semantic Diffusion – Martin Fowlerhttp://martinfowler.com/bliki/SemanticDiffusion.html

Neologism – Martin Fowlerhttp://martinfowler.com/bliki/Neologism.html

David Thomas - Agile Is Dead (Long Live Agility) http://pragdave.me/blog/2014/03/04/time-to-kill-agile/

Right shifting and the Marshal Model http://flowchainsensei.wordpress.com/rightshifting/the-marshall-model

@smrimell stuart.rimell@ig.com