the art of delivering value on time

Christophe Achouiantz (@ChrisAch)

The Art of Delivering Value

on Time

(The Art of Succeeding)

Christophe AchouiantzLean/Agile Coach


About me

Christophe Achouiantz (fr)

Lean/Agile coach– Consultant since 2007– Sogeti since 2010– Coach, Project Leader, Programmer

Twitter: @ChrisAchBlog: http://leanagileprojects.blogspot.seLinkedIn

http://leanagileprojects.blogspot.se/


The Art of Delivering Value on Time

1. A tale about a ’real’ project

2. Classical Techniques (to try and NOT to try)

3. Advanced techniques Helping a project to be more Effective and Efficient

Christophe Achouiantz @ChrisAch - Sogeti

Christophe Achouiantz (@ChrisAch) TM & © LUCASFILM LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

A Tale about a ’Real’ Project:

The Death Star 2 Project

a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away



Huge Program/Projects!• Massive Hardware• Looks Hugely Complex• Lot of Manpower• Heavy Security, Protocols, Processes• Probably nightmarish complex Software

Systems

What is all this about?



$850,000,000,000,000,000

- Estimated Cost by The White HouseChristophe Achouiantz @ChrisAch - Sogeti


$1,215,500,000,000,000,000

- Including typicall cost overrun of 43% For IT projects, an industry study by the Standish Group

found that the average cost overrun was 43 percent (Wikipedia)



Senior Executive, sent to ”fix it”

Project Manager

Team Members(Glad they are not the PM)



Seek desperate solutions, that will only make things worse this late in the project…



Management by Fear…Christophe Achouiantz @ChrisAch - Sogeti


How did the project get into this situation?



How did the project get into this situation?

• Complex!• But manage it as if it is not…• Everything is high prio OR prioritized between

epics (all of Epic1, then all of Epic2) • Dubious motivational methods (no one really

cares?)• Unplanned changes due to market conditions

(new due date + changes to design)• Lack of experience (design team ’disapeared’

with DS1)



What will happen now?

• Stress to get the job done in time! Overtime!• Multiple projects competing for the same

expert resources• Task-switching (actually gets less done)• Take short-cuts (technical debt++)• Everything becomes urgent! Hard to follow a

plan• Errors due to human factor (exhaustion, forced

to use underqualified resources, etc.)• Add people late makes the project later• Poor Quality!Christophe Achouiantz @ChrisAch - Sogeti


From a ”venting shaft” to a ”highway” to the highly explosive core!?

Result of Stress, Task Switching &Technical Debt!

Result:



”Delivered!” Success

“Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-

man starship?”- The White House



Why Do Projects Fail?

“The project focuses not primarily on creating value, profit and customer

satisfaction for the business, but to get the project completed on time

and on budget.”Christer Cragnell (Group CIO Swedbank)


http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.502892/cio-veteran--sluta-kora-it-projekt

http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.502892/cio-veteran--sluta-kora-it-projekt


Success!”Value Delivered on Time”

• To Deliver Value on Time means to deliver something of value to the customer, when it is needed…– not before, as it would be waste– not after, as it would be a cost and a missed opportunity

• …and with the necessary qualities to realize that value



Become an Artist to Deliver Value on Time

Today, despite an abundance of methods and processes,

60-80% of projects fail.

Therefore, to succeed is still an art!

If no method can fix it for us, we should all become better artists.

Let us learn some techniques!



Classical Techniques to Deliver Value on Time

• Techniques that usually do not help:– Change Control Boards– Add people late– Remove all constraints

• Techniques that usually help:– Intelligent Constraints– Know Why– Limit size of project– Reuse experience– Trim the tail



Use a CCB

”Changes are killing this project, we need a Change Control Board

(CCB)!”



Do Not Use a CCB

CCBs are only good for:– Making sure that the customer does not get

what is needed/wanted– Create conflicts– Focus attention on contract rather than

solution



Add People Late

”I need more men!”



Do Not Add People Late

Brooks’s Law: Adding manpower to a late software project

makes it later!



Remove Constraints

”Let’s take our time on this one. No time limit, no pressure, no

constraints!”



Duke Nukem


Do Not Remove Constraints

Student Syndrome: People will start to fully apply themselves to a task just at the last possible moment

before a deadline

Parkinson’s Law: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”

Murphy’s Law: With sufficient time/trials, "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong"



Set Intelligent Constraints to Drive Creativity

"Constraints shape and focus problems, and provide clear challenges to overcome as well as inspiration.

Creativity loves constraints, but they must be balanced with a healthy disregard for the impossible.“

Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer

An intelligent constraint informs creative action by outlining the "sandbox" within which people can play and guides that action not just by pointing out what to pursue but perhaps more importantly what to ignore.



Intelligent Constraints: Understand How Much Time you Have

Karl

Sco

tland


No Big Projects

Get rid of Big Projects! Only start small projects, or even better no project

at all!

Big Projects = Big Administration & Complexity



Reuse Experience

To deliver the rigth thing on time:• Only work with Teams that already have the

needed knowledge!

Did you know? The Empire State building was built, from scratch to ’done’, in 1 year. This would be impossible to do today…

Poppendieck : ”Leading Lean Software Development: Results Are not the Point”


http://www.amazon.com/Leading-Lean-Software-Development-Results/dp/0321620704/





Sofware Development is a Knowledge Creation Process

• To succeed we need premium knowledge about:– The Problem– The Solution– The Technology used– How to work together as a team– How to work with the customer– The fitness of our organization



Succeed with Experience

• So, to best succeed you should only work with:– The same type of problems– The same type of solutions– The same technology– The same team– The same customer

• If not: it is a Challenge! You are in a Complex problem (more about that in a moment).



Trim the Tail

• Get rid of the ”long tail” where there is a low value created / time spended ratio.

• This requires some planning (more on that later)



Know WHY

• Allways start with WHY! (the golden circle)– Not What, or How or Who (yet)

• Spread it to everyone, so that everyone can contribute to reaching the goal– So that everyone CARES about it!



Advanced Techniques to Deliver Value on Time

Advanced Techniques that usually help

to become more: • Effective ”Do the right thing”• Efficient ”Do the thing right”



Minimize Output, Maximize Outcome

• Effectivity Techniques– Seek Actionable Feedback– Minimize Rework– Plan to make an Impact– Flesh out details after the plan (and not the

plan efter the details)

• Efficiency Techniques– Select the Right Process– Optimize Flow



Effectivity”Do the Right Thing”



Speed Up Knowledge Creation with Actionable Feedback

• Expect & Plan for feedback!

• Feedback about:– The problem and the solution (Iterative and Incremental

Development, Paper protypes, demos, etc.)– The process (visual management)– The implementation (test in parallel)



The Financial Value of Feedback

Christophe Achouiantz – Sogeti Inspiration Day 2011


Minimize Rework

• Avoid Failure Demand

• Build quality in!– Test & Validation (validation criteria)



Make an Impact

• Identify Who (the actors) to focus on in the short term

• How to impact them (strategy)• What to do to impact them (features)

How To: Impact Mapping!



Impact Map

Gojko Adzic: ”Impact Mapping: Making a Big Impact with Software Products and Projects”


Example of Impact Map

Gojko Adzic: ”Impact Mapping: Making a Big Impact with Software Products and Projects”


Create the Right Plan

• Flesh out details after the plan (and not the plan efter the details)

• Start with an IDEA and high level requirements (a handfull). – Ex: an iPad app, with a team of 4, within one week, to help

customers choose the right sun-glasses (Norstrom inovation lab)– Intelligent Constraints!

• Specifications (the details) are unknown at the start and should be discovered with the help of feedback.

• How To: User Story Mapping!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szr0ezLyQHY


User Story Mapping

• A technique to design a solution and create a plan to deliver it into small increments.

• Combined with Impact Mapping, allows you to design and discover a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

• Resembles Toyota’s ”Success Assured” as well as Kickstarter’s target funding and strech goals.



From Idea to Plan via User Story Mapping



Building a Car using a traditional System Development method

Stop!No time/$ left!

Brakes Engine Gears Body SuspentionInterior& Seats

Wheels & Tyres


Building a Car the Right Way

Increment

IncrementIncrement

Increment

Brakes Engine Gears Body Suspention Interior& Seats

Wheels & Tyres


Exempel - 2

Beroende

Frågor

Validation /Tests

User StoriesTasks /Sub-Aktiviteter

Utv. TeametKundenAnvändaren

Aktiviteter

mindre ”optional”

Mer ”optional”



Exempel - 31: Structure

2: Control

3: Security

4: Data quality

5: Statistics (xtra)

6: Performance (xtra)

7: Interface (xtra)

Inkrement 1:”Basic”

Inkrement 2”Testa Kopplingar”

Inkrement 3”Säkerhet”

Inkrement 4”Kvalité”

Delmål / inkrement mål

Diskutera, klargöra, dela-upp, ändra, validera, bekräfta

Klar for Project ”Pete”



A model for usingUser Story Mapping

A System Design Workshop Invite key stakeholders (a handfull) Together, design the system by discovering details and discussing when/how to fit them in. ”Drill-down” sufficiently deep to discover and manage most of the problems. Create a visual map as a support for the discussions. Create an incremental development plan/roadmap from the visual map.

A recurring re-planning meeting Manage changes contiuously (e.g. weekly). Re-design the system (the map) to fit the changes Re-plan to accomodate the changes.

After the workshop, adapt the plan continuously to accomodate:

• The new understanding about the problem, solution, system.

• The impact of the stakeholders feedback after an increment.• Life!


Efficiency”Do the Thing Right”



Use the Right Processfor the Right Problem


Optimize the Workflow• See and Understand your Value Stream

• Identify bottlenecks, blocks, queues (waste)

• Create experiments to get rid of them

• Create policies from successfull experiments

• Go further with Kanban & Personal Kanban(set extra constraints/policies. E.g. limit Work In Progress)



Kanban Board Ex.


A Kanban Board


Techniques for the Art of Delivering Value on Time

• Set intelligent constraints• Work with small projects, or no project• Plan for experience and re-use it• Effectivity

– Seek feedback (prototypes, demos, visual management, test and validate parallel to development)

– Minimize Rework (Failure Demand)– Plan to make an Impact (Impact Mapping)– Flesh out details after the plan (User Story Mapping)

• Efficiency– Use the right process (complex or complicated?)– Optimize Flow (Kanban)



Thank You!

Christophe AchouiantzTwitter: @ChrisAchBlog: http://leanagileprojects.blogspot.se

http://leanagileprojects.blogspot.se/


Referenser

• Jeff PattonUser Story MappingUser Story Mapping (presentation)How you Slice it (artikel)

• Gojko Adzic• Mary & Tom Poppendieck

http://www.poppendieck.com/Bok: Leading Lean Software Development: Results Are not the Point

• Eric Ries The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses

http://www.agileproductdesign.com/presentations/user_story_mapping/

http://www.agileproductdesign.com/downloads/patton_user_story_mapping.ppt

http://agileproductdesign.com/writing/how_you_slice_it.pdf/

http://agileproductdesign.com/writing/how_you_slice_it.pdf/

http://www.poppendieck.com/




http://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898/

http://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898/