In this talk from Red Hat's 2014 Agile Conference, Cory Foy talks about the conditions necessary to bring about true organizational change towards agility. In addition, he covers patterns of adoptions and a variety of techniques used at scale

1. Scaling Agile
@cory_foy | Cory Foy | foyc@coryfoy.com
http://www.coryfoy.com

3. Scaling Agile
is Easy.
As Easy as
Scaling Cats.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mundoworldmonde/5621803163

4. Project 1
Backlog
Team A
Team A
Backlog
Team B
Backlog
Project 2
Backlog Team B
Project 3
Backlog
Team C
Team C
Backlog

5. Height of Line
Distance from Left

6. Thanks!
@cory_foy | Cory Foy | foyc@coryfoy.com
http://www.coryfoy.com

7. Scaling Agile Agility
@cory_foy | Cory Foy | foyc@coryfoy.com
http://www.coryfoy.com

8. Scaling Agility Is Hard.
Because you have to know
what you want.

9. CHECKLIST
Agility

10. Newtonian Management Methods Work:
Systems are closed
Change is slow
Interdependencies are low
Certainty is high
Variability is low
Facilitating Organizational Change: Lessons from Complexity Science

11. System
Agents
Emergent
Patterns
Complex Adaptive System
Facilitating Organizational Change: Lessons from Complexity Science

12. Culture
is defined by
Experiences

14. “C2I2 Hypothesis”
Invention
Implementation
Customer
Collaborator
Architecture and Documentation
don’t make inventions into
implementations

15. Formal Container
Informal Container
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33695724@N07/3998201723
https://www.flickr.com/photos/equinoxefr/3934157442
Large
Team
Medium
Team
http://www.flickr.com/photos/97668927@N06/14744329878
Self Contained
Small
Team

16. “Different projects have different
needs.”
-Alistair Cockburn

17. http://www.flickr.com/photos/torsten-w/6569346875

18. Copy
from
board
Science
Experiment
Telephone
Call
Standardized
Test
Cognitively Undemanding
Cognitively Demanding
Context
Embedded
Context
Reduced
BICS
CALP
(6mo-2y)
(5y-7y)

19. Agility => Change to System
Change to System => Invention
Big Goals Achieved Through Ascend/
Acclimate Cycles
Easy to make change look successful
without fundamental change happening

21. Traditional Truisms are False
in fast-changing systems:
Change Starts at the Top
Efficiency Comes from Control
Prediction is Possible
Facilitating Organizational Change: Lessons from Complexity Science

23. Copy
from
board
Science
Experiment
Telephone
Call
Standardized
Test
Cognitively Undemanding
Cognitively Demanding
Context
Embedded
Context
Reduced
BICS
CALP
Learn to operate past the line
or move the project behind it.
Docs and Architecture won’t
move you beyond the line.

24. Expect Well
Less
Well
Change
What we
wanted to
happen
What went
well
What didn’t
go so well
What we
want to
try

25. Standard
Scrum
Cognitively Undemanding
New Process
Cognitively Demanding
Context
Embedded
Context
Reduced
Inspect and Adapt

26. Toyota Production System

27. Standard
Scrum
Cognitively Undemanding
Standard Work
Standard Process
New Process
New Process
Cognitively Demanding
Context
Embedded
Context
Reduced
Inspect and Adapt
Inspect and Adapt
Teams can
pave the road and
establish base camps
(standard work)
In short, teams can go
through this, but it only
goes faster when the org
itself improves
These two I&As
look similar but
are very different

28. Agile
Experimentation
Framework

29. “The processes that companies have
optimized for execution inevitably
interfere with the search processes
needed to discover a new business
model”
–Steve Blank

30. “Giving people instructions creates
dependence.
Giving people intent creates
independence.”
-David Marquet

31. Standard
Scrum
Cognitively Undemanding
Standard Work
Standard Process
New Process
New Process
Cognitively Demanding
Context
Embedded
Context
Reduced
Inspect and Adapt
Inspect and Adapt
But you can’t have non-involved
parts of the org
creating it - it must be the
teams doing the transition
work establishing camps
It’s this transition where
organizational maturity
increases
by establishing a new
baseline as
standard work

32. App DB
More RAM
App DB
MOAR RAM!!!
App DB
Scaling
Apps

33. Team Team
More Process/Ppl
Team Team
MOAR PROCESS!!!
Team Team
Scaling
Teams

34. Project 1
Backlog
Team A
Team A
Backlog
Team B
Backlog
Project 2
Backlog Team B
Project 3
Backlog
Team C
Team C
Backlog

35. Scalability Principles
Scalability is about
concurrency
Decrease
Processing Time
Partition the Work
Look at the bigger
picture
Define your goals
Test and
Experiment
Continuously

36. Decrease Processing Time
Visual Management Board

37. Feature Teams
Decrease Processing Time
Feature
Product
Increment
Cross-Functional
Long Living

38. Work-in-Process Limits
Decrease Processing Time

39. Shorter Sprints
Decrease Processing Time

40. Use Video
Decrease Processing Time

41. User Stories
Partition the Work
Independent
Negotiable
Valuable
Estimatable
Small
Testable
As a <persona>
I need <feature>
to get <value>
Given <scenario>
When <persona> <action>
Then <value>
Epic
Feature
Task
Line of Sight

42. Expert Teams
Partition the Work
Task
Technical
Delivery
Single-Function
Long Living

43. Portfolio Management Board
Partition the Work
Capability
1
Capability
2
Capability
3
Backlog WIP Done

44. Product Vision Statement
Define Your Goals

45. Technical Vision Statement
Define Your Goals
Design
Front End
Services
DB

46. System Vision Statement
Define Your Goals
Team 1
Team 2
Team 3
Feat A
Feat B
Feat C
Technical
Vision
Business
Vision

47. Test and Experiment Continuously
Technical Product Owner
Team 1
Team 2
Team 3
Feat A
Feat B
Feat C
Technical
Vision
Business
Vision

48. Test and Experiment Continuously
Retrospectives

49. Test and Experiment Continuously
Kanban Framework

50. Is your goal
uniformity
or
agility?
Experts work off
intuition, not
documentation

51. Thanks!
@cory_foy | Cory Foy | foyc@coryfoy.com
http://www.coryfoy.com