Our department had been practicing Agile for three years. In the first two years, we learned how to be really good. Then we began to plateau...complacency crept in, we drifted away from the spirit of agile and began to skip the basics. In this talk we describe we overcame this. How we went from being a team on the slide to a "wow team" by seeing every problem as an opportunity, converting small thoughts into great ideas and finding innovative solutions for problems. Do you want to know the simple yet powerful basics that can make a huge impact and make your team a Wow Agile Team? Video on vimeo: http://vimeo.com/29574313

1. WORKING DRAFT
Last Modified 8/15/2011 2:17 PM Eastern Standard Time
Printed 8/15/2011 2:17 PM Eastern Standard Time
From Team to “Wow Team”:
An Agile Team’s Journey
Gourav Tiwari and Zainab Alikhan

2. Project 1: Feb-Apr 2010 Project 2: May-Jul 2010
…a few short months later
An Agile team…being mechanical Doing something new and
in following practices exciting every day
Though they got the work done… Rarely missed sprint commitments
they missed sprint commitments + “stretch” stories
often + refactoring on the side
When things went wrong they When things went wrong, their
struggled… best came out
Just “Managing” “Two steps ahead”

3. Project 1: Feb-Apr 2010 Project 2: May-Jul 2010
Velocity = 17 Velocity = 35

4. Project 1: Feb-Apr 2010 Project 2: May-Jul 2010
Project delivered Project delivered
2 weeks behind schedule 3 weeks early

5. Project 1: Feb-Apr 2010 Project 2: May-Jul 2010
Clients ≠ happy Clients = full of
praise

6. How did they get from Project 1 to Project 2?

7. Today’s agenda
1. What we think is a “wow team”
2. Our team before wow…the “agile rut”
3. Getting to wow - our Four Commandments
One: Get the basics right
Two: No idea is too silly
Three: Make everything fun!
Four: Start small

8. 1. What is a “wow” team?

9. A team that…
…ideates,
innovates,
and takes
pride in its
work
http://static.iclipart.com/thumbs/022/batch_05/adolescents_children_189021_tnb.png

10. …inspires
others
around
them
http://www.writespirit.net/inspirational_talks/political/martin_luther_king_talks/martin-luther-king2.jpg

11. …delights its clients
http://www.theultimategameoflife.com/new/wp-content/uploads/Happy_people_dancing_Back50.jpg

12. …and is driven to get from “Good to Great”

13. 2. Our “team” (before wow)

14. Who are we?
Ritcha Malhotra, Gourav Tiwari, Zainab Alikhan,
Team member Team member Product owner

15. 1. Prod deployments
every 2 to 4 weeks
2. Dept size 50%,
doing same work
3. Quality
4. Support costs
Agile …continues Becoming Complacency
adoption really good creeps in
begins
Jan 2007 Jan 2008 Jan 2009 Jan 2010
1. Taking
All projects
waterfall shortcuts
2. Becoming
mechanical
3. Little freshness

16. Project 1: Feb-Apr 2010 Project 2: May-Jul 2010
…a few short months later
Being Agile…but somewhat Doing something new and
mechanical exciting every day
Get the work done…but did Rarely miss sprint commitments
miss sprint commitments + “stretch” stories
+ refactoring on the side
When things go wrong they When things go wrong, their
struggle.. best comes out
“Managing” “Two steps ahead”

17. From “Managing” To “Two steps ahead”
How?

18. 3. Getting to “wow”

19. How did we realize our complacency?
1. Being in touch with the 2. Asking ourselves
external world: books, the right questions
blogs, talks
Bonus: Organizational culture that encouraged us to
learn, fail, push the limits

20. A “wow” team… gets its drive from within
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__laXXxBLiss/TC4Q-mBrUUI/AAAAAAAAAAY/-RvdQsPqFcI/s1600/push.gif

21. Our Four Commandments

22. Do you remember your ABCs?

23. Commandment One: GET THE BASICS RIGHT
SHU HA RI
Practitioner Journeyman Expert
When you’re losing track of the principles, go back to the practices

24. Commandment One: GET THE BASICS RIGHT
SHU HA RI
Practitioner Journeyman Expert
When you’re losing track of the principles, go back to the practices

25. Commandment One: GET THE BASICS RIGHT
Never skip retrospectives

26. Commandment One: GET THE BASICS RIGHT
Get stories to done-done

27. Do you think an idea is silly?

28. Commandment Two: NO IDEA IS TOO SILLY
http://www.weirdwarp.com/2010/05/newtons-apple-falls-upwards/
Don’t judge ideas before giving them a shot

29. Commandment Two: NO IDEA IS TOO SILLY
Thought for the week

30. Commandment Two: NO IDEA IS TOO SILLY
http://www.abriefhistoryofdisbelief.org/atheism-vs-christianity.html

31. Are you doing anything that’s boring?

32. Commandment Three: MAKE EVERYTHING FUN
If something’s not fun, you’re not going to do it well
Image source http://www.beyond-bananas.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/fun.gif?w=298

33. Commandment Three: MAKE EVERYTHING FUN
Feature Matrix
1 Footnote

34. Commandment Three: MAKE EVERYTHING FUN
Raise your hand
http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/raised%20hand.JPG

35. Do you have a big goal?

36. Commandment Four: START SMALL
SOURCE:http://deedseeds.com/
Image source http://www.beyond-bananas.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/fun.gif?w=298

37. Commandment Four: START SMALL
Most team-ish room

38. Commandment Four: START SMALL
Parking lot

39. Takeaways
Without innovation and learning even agile can get into a rut
Preventing this rut is about the people and their drive to
learn and stay fresh
Our Four Commandments will help get on the path to “wow”
One: Get the basics right
Two: No idea is too silly
Three: Make everything fun!
Four: Start small