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The Agile Mind Set –
The Key For Lasting
Agile Implementations
Dr. Ronen Bar-Nahor
Senior Lead Coach
AgileSparks

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Who are we?
• We help companies improve by
Adopting lean and agile principles
and practices
• We provide training and coaching to all
organizational levels, from high management to
developers
• Our team consists of Agile professionals with diverse
expertise
• Successfully completed hundreds of projects
• www.agilesparks.com

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If everybody is doing Agile,
maybe nobody is doing Agile ?

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Guiding values of Agile
Declaration of Interdependence (DOI)
• Written in 2005 as an adjunct to the Agile Manifesto
Business
DeliveryProcess
• Customer
collaboration
• Flow of value
• Context
specific
strategy
• Constant
adaption • Individuals
who make
different
• Group
accountability

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Guiding values of Agile
Declaration of Interdependence
We increase return
on investment by
making continuous
flow of value
our focus.

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Flow Of Value
Small batches/stories
Done is Done (e.g. Zero defects)
Progress based on “Done stories”
Over
Progress based on tasks,
Stabilization & packaging period

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Flow Of Value
Stop starting start finishing, Swarming
Pull mode, Just In Time (Kanban)
Over
Everything is important  we must start (push)
Context switch  Waste
Hardening
R D C T
Time
R D C T
R D C T
R D C T
R D C T
R D C T
DONE
Coding
Done
Feature
Freeze

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Flow Of Value
Optimize the whole
Focus on bottlenecks
Over
Full utilization,
Local optimization
Inspired by henrik kniberg

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Flow Of Value
Constantly working system
Stop & fix
Over
Late check-in, Pure automation, “Integration hell” 
Surprises, Late value
Inspired by henrik kniberg

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Guiding values of Agile
Declaration of Interdependence
We deliver reliable
results by engaging
customers in
frequent
interactions and
shared ownership.

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Customer Collaboration
Product Owner partnership
Early feedback,
Endorse changes
Over
“You do not meet your commitments”,
“You can’t change the requirements”,
Following the plan

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All collaborate on the “why”
Minimal Marketable Features (MMF)
1-2 sprints ahead (team sniffing)
Over
Implementation driven (focus on the “how”)
Technical stories
Team lead as a PO
Customer Collaboration

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Guiding values of Agile
Declaration of Interdependence
We expect
uncertainty
and manage for it
through
iterations,
anticipation, and
adaptation.

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Manage Uncertainty
Requirements
Postpone decisions to the last responsible moment
Risk driven – validate assumptions
Over
Comprehensive documentation
Too detailed backlog

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Manage Uncertainty
Plan
Fast estimations (relative story sizing)
Provide forecasting
Predictability based on velocity
Over
Waste time on “accurate” estimation
Focus on meeting “commitments”
Detailed execution plans
Worst
Average
10*30sp
10*40sp

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Manage Uncertainty
Technology
HL architecture
Spike
Re-factor /”clean code”
Continuous Integration
Over
No “big picture”/system view
Fear of making a code change
Late check-in (sprint, story)

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We unleash creativity
and innovation by
recognizing that
individuals are the
ultimate source of
value, and creating an
environment where
they can make a
difference.
Guiding values of Agile/Flow
Declaration of Interdependence

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Respect People
Motivate people by providing Autonomy,
Mastery and Purpose (AMP)
Sustainable pace
Over
Command & control
Scrum as a tool to increase “productivity”
Forced estimates

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Respect People
Tolerance for errors
encourage experiments
Over
“Cover your behind” culture

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Guiding values of Agile
Declaration of Interdependence
We boost
performance through
group accountability for
results and shared
responsibility for team
effectiveness.

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Agile Team
Team owns the process
Team owns the way they work (self-organized )
Over
Top-down implementation
Processes & tools over people & communication
Team Lead is the master of the solution

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Agile Team
Cross functional
Shared code ownership
Leveraging knowledge
Over
Specialization silos, Component teams
Territory defense/Job security
GUI
Client
Server
DB

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Agile Team
“QA is dead – long live the new QA”
Approve we're building the right thing,
“Whole team approach”
Executable spec., ATDD
Over
Validating that the software works as specified
Comprehensive test documentation
“Bug hunters”, last defender of quality
Defensive organizational boundaries

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We improve
effectiveness and
reliability through
situationally
specific strategies,
processes and
practices.
Guiding values of Agile
Declaration of Interdependence

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Continuous
Improvement
Managers focus on the “way we operate”
Over
Managers focus mainly on end results

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Continuous
Improvement
Retrospectives in all levels,
Managing improvement initiatives and technical debt
Over
Retrospective just at team level,
Recommendations without actions

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The Improvement
Journey
• Agile is not a silver bullet, it surfaces pains
• Agile is a mindset with a toolbox not a goal
• Agile is a continuous improvement framework –
inspect and adapt

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THANKS !