Plays Over Plans - Using Transformation Plays to Coach Enterprise Change

Copyright 2019 * Cedar Point Consulting, LLC * All Rights Reserved
Plays over Plans
Using Transformation Plays to Coach
Enterprise Change
Donald Patti
Agile Coach & Consultant
Cedar Point Consulting
donald.patti@cedarpointconsulting.com
David Bulkin
Managing Director
Grow-Lean, LLC.
David.Bulkin@grow-lean.com

Plays over Plans
What We’ll Cover
• Just change culture? Yeah, not so easy…
• So, where do we begin?
• The Transformation Playbook
• The Playbook in action: Working examples
• Coaching Practice: Call your own plays
• Takeaways
2

Just Change Culture?
Yeah, not so easy

Agile Transformation Defined
4
Agile Transformation (n) Change in a group’s
culture to embrace agility, including Agile
values, principles and practices.
Adopting Agile practices alone is NOT enough.
BEING AGILE > DOING AGILE
Agile Adoption (n) Adopting Agile practices
as daily routine.
Agile Implementation (n) Adopting
Agile practices in a methodical, step-by-
step fashion.
Embracing Agile is NOT routine. No single
implementation strategy is right for every situation.

Yeah, not so easy
5
To be agile, just change culture?
Yeah, not so easy.
Culture (n) A group’s shared values and
beliefs; cultivated by leadership; codified in
policies and rules; manifested in customs
and behaviors; and, reflected in a common
history.
behaviors
rules
policies
rules
values
beliefs
leadership
Changing culture requires changing the roots, not
just the leaves and branches.

Do Transformations End? Ask Zeno
6
Zeno’s Frog*
Every time a frog jumps, it jumps half way toward a wall.
How many jumps before it reaches the wall?
*This is a derivation of Zeno’s Paradoxes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Indefatigable_Frog
The net: Dramatic transformation may end, but opportunities for
improvement continue indefinitely. We never really stop transforming.

So, Where do we Begin?

Cross-Functional Teams
8
Agile transformations cross functional boundaries…
Bosses
Boss
Expert Boss
Lead
Staff
Staff
Staff
Lead
Boss
Lead
Staff
Staff
Boss
Staff
Staff
Staff
CoachesStakeholders
External
SMEs
Vendors
…so a successful transformation brings together
cross-functional leadership and expertise.

Copyright 2019 * Cedar Point Consulting, LLC * All Rights Reserved 9
Using an Agile approach & a playbook, we can tailor-on-they-fly,
mix-and match, and adapt as we progress…
+
Agile Approach Transformation
Playbook
Using Agile to Become Agile
>
Agile
Manifesto
Comprehensive
Plan
…which is often better than a comprehensive, long term plan.

Transformation
Playbook
Plays over Plans
Playbooks are beneficial because…
• They balance simplicity and agility.
• The team can more easily understand
them and learn them.
• They can be further adjusted to suit the
current need.
Playbook (n) A set of known team
plays that can be called based on the
current situation.

The Transformation Playbook

Coaching Agile Transformation
The Transformation Plays
12
Culture (n) A group’s shared values
and beliefs; cultivated by
leadership; codified in policies
and rules; manifested in customs
and behaviors; and, reflected in a
common history.
Graft an agile person (team) onto an
existing branch of the organization.
Person Grafting
(Team Grafting)
Sunshine
(behavior-focused)
Fuel right behaviors first; unfreeze behavior,
make change, then re-freeze (Lewin).
Individual  Team  Business Unit 
Organization
Seed-to-Oak
(Expanding Population)
Slice off a branch of people, change it & re-
plant it, building a new organization around
the team.
Cutting/Re-planting
Cross-pollination
Expose new teams to experienced teams,
allow them to learn through observation.
Quantify and measure maturity;
measure progress and adjust.
Measured Growth
(Empiricism)
behaviors
rules
policies
rules
values
beliefs
leadership
Full Transplant
Persuade executive leadership to transform.
Re-plant entire organization with agile roots.
Fertilization
Fertilize the mind through training and hands-on
workshops. Mix “being” and “doing” agile.

Sunshine
13
Description
Advantages Disadvantages
Use When…
Fuel the right behaviors first; unfreeze behavior, make
change, then re-freeze (Lewin).
• Simple and straightforward
• Don’t need expert coaching
• Low cost
• Supported by Lewin’s change model
• Requires tacit acceptance
• Over-emphasis on “doing agile” over
“being agile”
• Fails to address systemic factors
• Doesn’t scale to enterprise well
…participants favor transformation, but don’t know how.
…you have a small budget.
…you don’t have a timeline or deadline. Sunshine fuels agile behaviors

Seed to Oak
14
Description
Use When…
Starting with an agile individual, build an agile
team. Then, build multiple agile teams;
continue expanding until you have an agile
organization.
• Can be methodical
• High success rate
• Easily to build upon team frameworks
• Takes a long time
• Struggles to move beyond team
• Pockets of agility
…agile-friendlies present in sufficient numbers.
…no agile champion exists.
…No “burning house” driving change.
Individual Team OrganizationBusiness
Unit
Grow organically, from individual to enterprise

Cutting/Re-planting
15
Description
Use When…
the team.
• Limits outside influence
• Pro-agile rules and policies possible
• Rest of organization can operate as-is
• Can focus effort
• Slow transformation
• Struggles to move beyond team or
business unit
• Often results in pockets of agility
…leadership demand proof before change.
…existing leadership are openly opposed to
change. Cut a fertile branch and re-plant

Grafting
16
Description
Use When…
Graft an agile person (team) onto an existing
branch of the organization.
• Accelerates transformation
• Can use in parallel
• Peer driven
• Learn by example, imitation
• Risk of graft rejection
• “Foreigner” phenomenon
• Adverse impact on graft donor
…grafting ratio is one-to-three or better.
…donor business unit can afford to lose grafted
individuals. Graft agile person or team onto existing tree

Cross-Pollination
17
Description
Use When…
allow them to learn through observation,
asking questions.
• Low cost
• Very persuasive
• See good and the not-so-good.
• Bridges hypothetical and actual.
• May be difficult to find cross-pollinator
• Exposure often time-limited
• Rarely enough knowledge to make
significant gains without fertilization.
…skepticism threatens success.
…team or business unit stuck in a rut.
…struggling to understand practical agile.
Cross-pollination transfers knowledge by
exposing new teams to experienced teams.

Measured Growth
18
Description
Use When…
Quantify and measure agile maturity;
• Aligns with agile & Lean
• Can more easily recognize progress
• Helps justify on-going investment
• Increases objectivity(?)
• Over-emphasis on “doing agile”
• Not really objective(?)
• May be measuring the wrong thing
• System could be “gamed”
…uncertain what to do next.
…management needs to justify investment.
…the organization is unlikely to “game” or
misuse the data. Measured growth leverages empiricism and
continuous improvement to transform.

Fertilization
19
Description
Use When…
Fertilize the mind through training and hands-
on workshops.
• Impacts both “being” and “doing” agile
• Builds common knowledge base
• Creates enthusiasm
• Often achieves quick results
• Sometimes imbalanced (being vs. doing)
• Quality varies
• Often mistimed
• Potentially costly
…grafting is not possible.
…grafting ratio is too low to be successful.
…teams are about to start first Sprint / iteration.
Fertilization offers the greatest promise for rapid
change of values and beliefs.

Full Transplant
20
Description
Use When…
• Green lights to transformation leadership
• Rapid change possible
• Plenty of air cover
• Impediments more easily cleared
• Risky & complex (due to rapid change,
many moving parts)
• May disrupt current operations
• Forces out resistant-but-talented
…you have a “burning house”.
…charismatic leadership in place.
…burst of funding available.
…you have a highly educated workforce.
A full transplant is both rapid and risky

The Playbook in Action
Working Examples

The SBA Example
22
behaviors
rules
policies
rules
values
beliefs
leadership
Creation of SBA Digital Services
Mary O’Toole,
Rick Lee
Telesis
& Enquizit
USDS, SBA IT
Person Grafting
(Team Grafting)
Sunshine
(behavior-focused)
Individual  Team  Business Unit 
Organization
Seed-to-Oak
the team.
Cutting/Re-planting
Cross-pollination
Measured Growth
(Empiricism)
Full Transplant
Fertilization

Anonymous Examples
23
behaviors
rules
policies
rules
values
beliefs
leadership
Travel
Risk Management
Organization
Education-
based non-
profit
Large Fortune 100 business
Person Grafting
(Team Grafting)
Sunshine
(behavior-focused)
Individual  Team  Business
Unit  Organization
Seed-to-Oak
the team.
Cutting/Re-planting
Cross-pollination
Measured Growth
(Empiricism)
Full Transplant
Fertilization

Coaching Practice
Call your own Plays

Plays over Plans
Call your own Plays
25
You’ve been provided with one of three different
coaching scenarios to discuss.
1. With your neighbor, choose one scenario.
2. Read the scenario, then choose one or more play(s)
to call, given the situation. (10 minutes)
We’ll discuss each as a larger group afterward.
(10 minutes)

Takeaways

Plays over Plans
Takeaways
27
• Enterprise transformation requires cultural change
so it is not easy
• Plans almost never work; Plays do work
• Like a good coach, call plays based on your
situation
• Keep at it – transformations are not quick and
never truly end

Questions?
Plays over Plans
Question & Answer

Plays Over Plans - Using Transformation Plays to Coach Enterprise Change

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