This document discusses myths, legends, and monsters that can arise when organizations attempt to scale agile practices. Myths are used to justify the status quo and usually involve superhuman roles. Legends spread through informal communication and aim to share lessons from past failures. Monsters represent resistance and require heroes to challenge traditional ways of working. Specific examples given include middle management seeking to maintain control, process offices trying to standardize practices, and "agile gurus" promoting only their version of agility. The summary advises not engaging with monsters on their own terms and finding ways to address their concerns while still progressing with agile values.

1. Myths, Legends & Monsters The Quest for the Grail of Enterprise Agility François Bachmann, SPRiNTiT

3. « The Art of the Retrospective » (Agile-Alchemist.com)

4. Organisational DevelopmentCoach since 2004

6. Your initial situation Pilot project « success » Request/need to scalethissuccess Existingcompany ]Out of Scope[ Introduction to Agile, Lean, Scrum, XP, … Growing an agile company

7. Warnings(1) Scalingisalwayscomplex

8. Warnings (2) Agile is a mindset, an attitude plan lots of time for full-fledged adoption

9. Starter: A customermyth « Normal Change » at a Swissbank Source: http://itsm.certification.info/normalchg.html

10. Myth A traditional or legendary storythatcancontain a moral lesson Built on ArchetypesGods, animals, angels, demons, otherworlds Used to justify a social institutionand itsway of viewing the world Toldatceremonies(start, transformation, end) Principal purpose: federate Source: dictionary.reference.com

11. Myths: projectchoice / dimension « Let’s do Agile within a fixed-pricecontract » « Weapply Agile but only to Development » « We do ALL ourprojectswith Agile»

12. Myths: Roles ScrumMaster: Thor / Superman / James Bond / Chuck Norris « ThreeRolesisenough for anycompany »  Scrumdamentalism (H.Kniberg) « In ourcompany, we’re all like a bigfamily»

13. Myths: transition « Just use Scrum of Scrumsand everythingwillbe fine» « Trust me, in thiscompanyweknowwhat change management is! » « To reallybecome Agile, you have to destroy & rebuild from scratch»

14. Summary: Myths Main purpose: federate Used for justification of status quo Usuallyinvolvesuperhumans Reveal values of the company

15. Legend(lat. legenda = to beread) Official shape of the rumourspreadduring coffee breaks « I know someonewho… » UrbanLegend Can end bothways Finisheswith a lesson to learn Principal purpose: education

16. Legend: Company Culture « My cousin tried to introduce Agile in hiscompany: itdidn’tworkat all! Now I agreethatthey have a veryspecialcompany culture….» « Actually, ourcompany culture has always been agile; let’sjust change the terminology and we’llbe fine»

17. Customer Legends: Company Culture Mediterranean: mix of nationalities Web company: resource allocation > flow

18. Legends: Organisation « It seemsthatthiswon’tworkin an outsourcing context… » « Another team in our division useditduringa few months, theirproductivitydropped… and theyswitched back afterwards» « What about mycareer plan? »

19. Legends: Transition « A well-planned transition is the cornerstoneof success: plan the work, work the plan» « Let’sjustestablish a matrixbetween the old and the new roles»

20. Legend: Tool « Company X boughttool Y whentheymoved to Agile and the wholeenterpriseisnowusingit. But how can I convincemy management? »

21. Summary: Legends Purpose: Institutionalized Learning « Whathasn’tworked in the past and whatwere the consequences » Advice: are a very efficient communication tool: « Worst Practices » or NotHow-Transfer©

22. Monster (lat. monstrum:wildbeast) Impersonatesresistance Gatekeeper Requires the hero to go beyond the normal plan

23. Monsters: Middle Management « I’llbe the Scrum Master for all teams » « I can replace the Product Owner, if needed » « Well, someone has to assign the developers to projects, no?! » Strengths: network, relationships Weaknesses: conflictingpriorities,overestimateshispotential influence Fights for: his position and his « power »  Approach: givehim a catalystrole,activelyinclude in information exchange

24. Monster: Project/Process Office Distinguishing marks: once theyunderstand Agile is not goingaway, theywilltry to governit and createrules Strength: power to standardize Weakness: mechanistic world view Fights for: being the process masterand force theirrules on developers  Approach: 1) producetheir artefacts and2) when the right time comes: question the value ofthese artefacts (not of the Project Office!)

25. Monster: Saboteur Definition: Person whoisinvolvedbut has a hidden agenda (subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction) Strength: internalknowledge Weakness: bottleneck Fights for: « unofficial » priorities  Approach: makeresponsibilities explicit, confront one-on-one if necessary

26. Monster: AgileGuru Pretends to sell the One And Only Agile Distinguishing marks: elitist, likes to fight(he/sheusuallywins) Strength: *very* convinced by his Agile flavor Weakness: exclusive, tends to workalone Fights for: hisTruth (destroyingothers) Approach: recall Agile values, let him show how hisflavorbringsthemforward

27. Summary: Monsters Strongholds, Gatekeepers Have power & reputation Ofteneasier to « turnaround » than to overpower Advice: don’tplay on theirterritory!

28. Summary

29. Enjoy the Quest, brave knights!

30. Thanks! © Pixar Technologies, Inc. f.bachmann@sprint-it.ch FrBachmann