the fractured perspective

The Fractured PerspectiveA call to refresh our way of thinking

We naturally have difficulty relating to competencies and rolesthat is different from ours, we see them as distractions, threats and

obstacles to reaching our localised goals.

A.K.A. Silo Mentality

1. Us-and-Them mentality promotes blame culture and fear of taking ownership of tasks (Pushback)

2. Results in Localized and disconnected decision making

3. Friction in workplace result in low work morale and performance

4. Disruption of workflow between fiefdoms results in inefficient value chain regardless of their individual output.

Indicators of a Fractured Perspective• The focus of decisions are self centered not Team/Goal

oriented - To become greater than yourself you need to commit to something bigger than yourself

• Not understanding how your activities contribute into shared goals (No interest in the bigger picture)

• Not valuing contributions of a different nature (Unable to swap hats and place yourself in the other roles)

• Throw over the wall attitude• Thinking quality is the responsibility of the testers• Not considering maintenance and infrastructure when

developing non functional requirements• Using KPI’s, ambiguous role definitions as means to

sidestep work that you are the best candidate for• And much more..

How can we approach change?

Find a common starting point

“Our main objective should be to add business value by creating sustainable output that address real word business opportunities or

needs.”

• With shared values and aligned goals we are in a better place to add measurable value to the entire process

• Build a value chain that does not have to burn out individuals to maintain success or compromise on quality

• Measure output to actual not perceived benefit, use flexible methodologies to continuously align and improve to stay current and relevant

Supportive concepts..• Agile

• Manifesto (Collaboration)• Scrum (Cross functional teams and joint ceremonies)• XP (Collaboration)

• Lean Manufacturing (Entire value chain thinking)• The Theory of Constraints (Optimize on complete system – localized optimizations are illusions)

• DevOps (Breaking down silos and enhance Collaboration between DEV, QA and Operations)• Kaizen

• Continues experimentation where everyone's opinion is valued and considered• Principle of being solution focused / not blaming

• Kanban (Visibility and shared backlog ownership)• Five Dysfunctions of a Team (Lack of commitment, fear of conflict and absence of trust)

I am a Team Lead at Britehouse with international experience working predominantly on the Microsoft stack in the finance sector.

Marius Vorster

• LinkedIn - https://za.linkedin.com/in/mariusvrstr• Twitter Handle - @marius_vrstr• Emails – marius.vrstr@gmail.com /

Marius.Vorster@Britehouse.co.za• SlideShare - https://www.slideshare.net/MariusVorster

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