In this talk from the 2014 TriAgile conference, Cory Foy reveals secrets of why innovative techniques to agility are so difficult in our corporations, why that's a bad thing, and what we can learn from Lean Startups and a relentless and ruthless focus on removing delays to make it better.

1. The Agile Mindset:
Agility Across the
Organization
Cory Foy | foyc@coryfoy.com | @cory_foy
http://www.coryfoy.com http://www.prettykoolapps.com
Sunday, May 4, 14

2. Act I:The Case for Agility
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3. Agile
http://www.flickr.com/photos/b1ue5ky/3621908203
/ˈajəl/
1. Doesn’t Exist
2. Describes project
management that wants to
seem “hip”
3. May refer to the Agile
Manifesto, or one of the myriad
of frameworks and
methodologies sprung from the
manifesto, or a collection of
practices and tools which
somewhat resemble one of the
myriad of frameworks and
methodologies under the agile
manifesto
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4. Agility != Agile
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5. Sunday, May 4, 14

6. “You don’t want me to tell you what’s feasible, you just
want me to tell you if we can do it at all costs”
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7. The process that companies have optimized for execution
inevitably interfere with the search processes needed to
discover a new business model
http://steveblank.com/2014/03/26/why-internal-ventures-are-different-from-external-startups/
Sunday, May 4, 14

8. “75% of those organizations using
Scrum will not succeed in getting
the benefits that they hope for
from it”
- Ken Schwaber
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9. http://www.flickr.com/photos/angeldye/9649741183
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10. [Agility] happens not by exception, but is integral to all
parts of the firm
- (apologies to) Steve Blank
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11. Corporation - Permanent
organization designed to
execute a repeatable,
scalable business model
http://steveblank.com/2014/03/04/why-companies-are-not-startups/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lewicki/7631355524 http://www.flickr.com/photos/23065375@N05/2246558373
Startup - Temporary
organization in search of a
repeatable, scalable business
model
Sunday, May 4, 14

12. Visionary Companies distinguish
their timeless core values
(which should never change)
from their operating practices
and business strategies (which
should be changing constantly in
response to a changing world)
- Jim Collins, Built to Last
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13. Sunday, May 4, 14

14. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bristolmotorspeedway/3381857259
Sunday, May 4, 14

15. http://www.flickr.com/photos/adforce1/2841772751
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16. http://www.flickr.com/photos/12495774@N02/2405297371
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17. Realize BusinessValue Faster
Stop Starting
and
Start Finishing
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18. Act II:Visualizing Agility
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19. http://www.flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/4370816189
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20. Low Context; Low
Discovery; Needs
Strict Guidelines
Individual
Team
Project
Program
Organization
Forces: Need heavy upfront analysis
and strict project management, but
don’t need context
Sunday, May 4, 14

21. Low Context; Low
Discovery; Needs
Strict Guidelines
High Context;
Discovery of
Value; Intuition w/
lightweight risk
management
Novice Individual
Forming Team
Fully Defined Project
Value Defined Program
Follow the Plan Organization
Forces: Need heavy upfront analysis
and strict project management, but
don’t need context
Forces: Need rapid analysis
and discovery with people
who understand the context
Sunday, May 4, 14

22. Low Context; Low
Discovery; Needs
Strict Guidelines
High Context;
Discovery of
Value; Intuition w/
lightweight risk
management
Novice Individual Expert
Forming Team Performing
Fully Defined Project Discovery Based
Value Defined Program Value Discovered
Follow the Plan Organization Respond to Change
Forces: Need heavy upfront analysis
and strict project management, but
don’t need context
Forces: Need rapid analysis
and discovery with people
who understand the context
Sunday, May 4, 14

23. Sunday, May 4, 14

24. Scope
Cost Schedule
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25. Scope
Cost Schedule
Level 1
Level 5
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26. Scope
Cost Schedule
Level 1
Level 5
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27. Scope
Cost Schedule
Level 1
Level 5
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28. Scope
Cost Schedule
Level 1
Level 5
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29. Act III: Moving Towards Agility
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30. 1 2 3 4 5
Practices Principles
Low Context; Low
Discovery; Needs
Strict Guidelines
High Context;
Discovery of
Value; Intuition w/
lightweight risk
management
Novice Individual Expert
Forming Team Performing
Fully Defined Project Discovery Based
Value Defined Program Value Discovered
Follow the Plan Organization Respond to Change
Sunday, May 4, 14

31. Sprint Planning
Product
Backlog
In
Sprint?
Daily Standup
Do Work
Sprint Demo
Retrospective
Done?
Ship and
Party!
Yes
No
Yes
No
Repeat
Daily
Scrum
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32. SAFe
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33. Kanban
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34. 1 2 3 4 5
Practices Principles
Scrum
SAFe
Kanban
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35. Systems Thinking
286.5 /
1592.5
7 weeks of work
40 weeks to do the 7 weeks
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36. Relentless and
Ruthless Search
for Waste and
Delays
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/146500920
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37. IT/IS
Finance
Facilities PMO
HR
Vendor
Mgmt
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38. • Deliver frequent increments (chunks) of
valuable software
•Automated Tests
• Flexible Software
• Cross-Functional Teams
Agility in Delivery
http://www.flickr.com/photos/restlessglobetrotter/128345994
Sunday, May 4, 14

39. • Optimize for Collaboration
• Open Spaces
• Conference Rooms
• Big Open Walls
Agility in Facilities
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sebastiaancollectie/13675406764
Sunday, May 4, 14

40. • Prefer candidates capable of rapid analysis of
changing situations
• Prefer team builders to individual “rock
stars”
• Integrate the team into the hiring process
•Allow for team-based metrics and
performance reviews
Agility in HR
http://www.flickr.com/photos/olathegovnews/6936452113
Sunday, May 4, 14

41. • SOWs align to features
• Small increments where possible
• Integrated with teams where possible
• If part of flow, measure up to the handoff,
and after receiving output to track internal
cycle time
Agility inVendor
Management
http://www.flickr.com/photos/commissary/5031052250
Sunday, May 4, 14

42. • Project decomposed to valuable slices
• Managed using flexible units of time
• Prioritized byValue
• Sequenced by ROI
• Just in time decomposition and planning
• Focus on “Just Enough” Governance
Agility in Project /
Product Management
http://www.flickr.com/photos/number10gov/11997928585
Sunday, May 4, 14

43. •Avoid Long-Horizon Cost Estimates
• Ignore Project Cost Planning andVariance
Analysis
• Keep Cost Options Open - Set a Project
Budget, and don’t report below that
• Enable “Unallocated” capacities - Buffers
Agility in Finance
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alancleaver/2750890246
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44. These changes enabled our finance and planning function
to become truly agile and lean...together with a flexible
organization, also enable deferred decision making when
planning the investments.
http://scaledagileframework.com/?wpdmact=process&did=NTUuaG90bGluaw==
http://scaledagileframework.com/leanagile-financial-planning-with-safe/
Sunday, May 4, 14

45. Deferred decision making or real options here means
that based on a feedback, an agile and lean organization
may balance their investment portfolio based on the field
feedback simply by reprioritizing the backlog priorities.
http://scaledagileframework.com/?wpdmact=process&did=NTUuaG90bGluaw==
http://scaledagileframework.com/leanagile-financial-planning-with-safe/
Sunday, May 4, 14

46. A company with multiple agile projects may thus flexibly
balance the resources and the investments across the
projects based on received feedback and needs, as well
as estimated payback functions.
http://scaledagileframework.com/?wpdmact=process&did=NTUuaG90bGluaw==
http://scaledagileframework.com/leanagile-financial-planning-with-safe/
Sunday, May 4, 14

47. Deliver in
Increments
Business Driven
Features
Stakeholder
Engagement
Feature
Sequencing
FeatureValue /
ROI
Team-Based
Performance Reviews
Governance
Budgeting/
Finance
Vision
Continuous
Improvement /
Kaizen
Vendor
Engagement
Facilities
Sunday, May 4, 14

48. Drive From BusinessValue
http://www.flickr.com/photos/epsos/8463683689
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49. Small Increments
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oosakinana/4744387941
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50. Make All WorkVisible
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51. Sunday, May 4, 14

52. Cory Foy
foyc@coryfoy.com
@cory_foy
blog.coryfoy.com
prettykoolapps.com
coryfoy.com
Sunday, May 4, 14