Presentation slides from my presentation in 2013 Scrum Gathering in Las Vegas

1. © Reaktor 2013
It is all about system: How
Scrum helps in the bigger picture
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2. © Reaktor 2013
Two systems colliding
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3. © Reaktor 2013
Topics
• What is System and what are System
Conditions
• How Systems impact Scrum
• How Scrum helps in the bigger picture
• A confession to make..
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4. ”
© Reaktor 2013
A system is not the
sum of its parts but
the product of their
interactions
- Russell Ackoff
What is System
• Collection of parts that
are interdependent.
• The parts interact in a
such a way that it affects
the capabilities and
qualities of the entire
system
• System has a purpose
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5. © Reaktor 2013
System
System
Boundaries
System
System
All systems interact at some level
We can choose boundaries and decide
what system we study and improve
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6. © Reaktor 2013
Cause-effect
IssueCause Cause Impact Impact
Cause-effect relations are cyclic, not linear
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7. © Reaktor 2013
Companies and organizations are Systems
Customer)Care)
Legal)
Logis/cs)
Sales)
CTO$
Dept$1$ Dept$2$ Dept$3$
HR$
New$
Technologies$
Research$and$
Development$
Product$
management$
Department$
1$$
Sec;on$A$
Group$I$ Group$II$
Sec;on$B$
Group$III$
Embedded&SW&
Drivers& HW&adapta2on& Tes2ng&
3rd&party&SW&
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8. ”
© Reaktor 2013
W Edwards Deming
Organization as a system
A bad system beats a good person
every time
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9. © Reaktor 2013
An example of a system
Joe
Team
Product
Owner
HelpDesk
Customers
Logistics
DepartmentSuppliers
MAIN MENU
1. Catalogue
2. myInvoices
Select: ___
webshop.com
IT System
What could possibly go
wrong in Joe’s work?
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10. © Reaktor 2013
What impacts Joe’s work
• Clarity of the customer request
• Communication channels between
departments
• Quality of backlog
• Other items in the backlog
• Team’s working practices
• Tools (compilers, editors, TA, CI, ...)
• Pressure
• Dependencies with other departments
• Processes and working practices
• Interrupts
• Bonuses (Joe, team members, PO, other
people in the company)
• Responsibility sharing between the
people
• Priority of work
• Non-work-related issues (e.g. mother
hospitalized)
• Code base
• Joe’s Competency (domain knowledge,
technical skills, “interpersonal skills”)
• Product Owner’s competence (e.g. ability
to prioritize
• etc.
System
System
System
System
System
System
System
System
System
System
Joe
Joe
System
System
System
System
Another System
System
System
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11. © Reaktor 2013
System
Thinking
Performance
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12. © Reaktor 2013
London, 1854
Actions
Consequences
Assumptions about
cause-effect relationships
Change this?
Or this?
System
Thinking
Performance
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13. © Reaktor 2013
System
Thinking
Performance
How do we make resource
planning in Scrum
What are project manager
tasks in Scrum
Who assigns tasks in Scrum
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14. © Reaktor 2013
System conditions are direct of
indirect results of the design and
management of work.
System conditions
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15. © Reaktor 2013
Some system conditions
Processes Training
Existing source code
Stage gates
Tools
Organizational
structures
Policies
Governance
Bonuses
Existing source code
IT systems
Physical working
environment
Quality of
requirements
Project model
Relationship with
customers
Culture of high
utilization rate Technologies
Approval chains
Missing feedback
Metrics
Roles and
responsibilities
Meetings
Outsourcing and
off-shoring
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16. © Reaktor 2013
System conditions
System conditions drive the
performance of organization
Improving the work requires at
least some system conditions are
changed
System conditions tell us about
management thinking
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17. ”
© Reaktor 2013
John Seddon
People issues are not the point of
intervention.
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18. © Reaktor 2013
Why do harmful system conditions exist?
Because people responsible for
system conditions lack
knowledge about the nature of
work being done within a system
They do not know how the
work works
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19. © Reaktor 2013
Changing system conditions?
• When thinking does not change, the
programs of change often fail
• We need to change thinking. By what
method?
• Scrum is not a method to change thinking
• Scrum is an agile framework for completing
complex projects.
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20. © Reaktor 2013
Change strategies
• Power-Coercive
• Obliges compliance and punishes failure
• Standards, best practices, process roll-outs
• Empirical-Rational
• “I explain and you follow”
• Works if thinking has already changed
• Can lead to argument or conflict
• Normative-Reeducative
• Change thinking through action and observation
• Get knowledge before planning actions
Chin and Benne: General
strategies for affecting change in
human systems (1969)
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21. © Reaktor 2013
Systems Thinking and Scrum?
Scrum changes some
system conditions
Scrum has
mechanisms that help
to make Normative
change
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22. © Reaktor 2013
Scrum changes system conditions
Team
Product
Owner
Sprint
Planning Sprint Review
and Retro
Potentially
Shippable
Product
Increment
Product
Backlog
From
com
petingprojectsto
one
backlogofwork
From
projectm
anagem
entto
productow
nership
From
handoversto
collaborative
planning
From
functionalsilosto
cross-functionalteam
s
From
longfeedback
cyclesto
daily
and
weekly
feedback
From
problem
hidingto
culture
oflearning
From
projectm
odelto
continuousdelivery
22Monday, May 6, 13

23. © Reaktor 2013
Scrum changes system conditions
Team
Product
Owner
Sprint
Planning Sprint Review
and Retro
Potentially
Shippable
Product
Increment
Product
Backlog
C
oercive?
Rational?
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24. © Reaktor 2013
Scrum and seeing System conditions
• Understanding Purpose and Demand
• Transparency and visibility
• Experiments
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25. © Reaktor 2013
Understanding Purpose and Demand
“System has a Purpose”
Customers
Organization
Demand
New$
Technologies$
Research$and$
Development$
Product$
management$
Department$
1$$
Sec;on$A$
Group$I$ Group$II$
Sec;on$B$
Group$III$
1. Understand the Demand from customers
2. Define a purpose for organization in customer terms
3. Have freedom to organize against the demand
4. Measure how well the organization fulfills the Purpose
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26. ”
© Reaktor 2013
How do I know if I am
doing Scrum right?
At the end of each
iteration, if you know
exactly where you are;
then you are doing it
right
Transparency and Visibility
Freedom to make an
informed choice
Valid information
Constant monitoring
of actions
Purpose
- Chris Argyris
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27. © Reaktor 2013
Experiments
Team
Product
Owner
Sprint
Planning Sprint Review
and Retro
Potentially
Shippable
Product
Increment
Product
Backlog
Every Sprint is an experiment!
Learning and adapting requires moving from
fail-safe design to safe-to-fail experiments
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28. © Reaktor 2013
Summary
• Organizations are systems, created by thinking
• Thinking -> System -> Performance
• System dictates the sustainable performance of an
organization
• System conditions help to see a system
• To improve a system we must change thinking
• Change can be Coercive, Rational or Normative
• Scrum helps to see. Scrum helps with new thinking
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29. © Reaktor 2013
A confession
It is not about Scrum.
It is about the System.
Turning eyes away from Scrum and looking
at the system might help a lot.
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30. © Reaktor 2013
Thank you!
Twitter: @samililja
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