Future-Backwards Lessons Learned from

Scaling Agile

Mary Thorn & Laura Burke OlsonTriAgile 2018

We’ve come a long way...but where are we and why?

● widen the range of perspectives

● entrained patterns of past perception can determine its future

● give leaders an overview of the hopes and fears of their organisation

Cynefin Framework

The model

Session Overview Independently building “models” to learn

Short timeboxes

Share the models and insights with each other

Mary and Laura’s model at the end

The Current State

Current state - 2 min

Key EventsWhat was the most significant “key event” that shaped the current state?

Going backwards, identify the key events

Key events, one by one - 3 min

Impossibly Good Future State

● What would perfect look like

Impossibly good future state - 2 min

Impossibly bad future state

Impossibly bad future state - 2 min

Paths backwards from the impossibly good and bad states - 2 min each

InsightsSome ideas of things to look for:

● What key turning points do you see in your paths to the impossibly good and bad states?

● What surprises you about the model?

● What trends do you see? ● What sticks out?

Let’s hear them!

5 min

Our Story

Our Insights Would do again:

1. Distributed PI planning2. Limit Initiative WIP3. Form agile teams and programs to start

Would do differently: 1. Invest in and evaluate mid-level leadership

early2. Only move past basics when they’re done3. Work deeply with product leadership to

establish vision and roadmap4. Metrics that matter

We know now :1. Distributed teams make it harder2. Don’t assume that the training “stuck”3. Technical practices mission-critical4. Common tools improve communication,

decision-making

We want to get better at:1. Getting teams direct customer feedback2. Measuring business value

Your side, my side and getting closer to reality

Book time to create a model with your colleagues

Questions & Thoughts