The Lesser Known
Breakfast of Champions
a.k.a.
The Role of the Manager in an Agile,
or Wannabe Agile, Org
Steven
Koes
President

Who Are You?
• First:
props
for
being
here,
you’ve
already
demonstrated
more
mo<va<on
than
80%
of
par<cipants
in
soAware
development.
Need
a
job?
J
• Developers,
star<ng
a
company
or
want
to
start
a
company?
• What
would
you
like
to
get
out
of
today’s
session?

Who is This Guy?
• 15+
Years
in
SoAware
Development:
IBM,
2
Startups,
Consul<ng,
Travel,
Educa<on
• Believes
Agile
can
create
more
of
the
right
products
and
do
so
at
a
higher
quality
in
less
<me,
regardless
of
the
industry;
has
worked
in
orgs
in
which
Agile
did
so
and
orgs
in
which
it
failed
miserably
• Computer
Science
BA
&
Masters
in
Business
&
Management
from
Wharton/Upenn
• Recently
started
An<phon,
Inc.,
to
offer
business
real-­‐<me
insight
into
the
rela<onships
between
their
online
&
mobile
marke<ng
(yes,
SEO,
too),
web
site
sta<cs,
customer
interac<ons
and,
of
course,
revenue
and
profit

Your Mental Model of
Management
Which
picture
most
closely
resembles
your
mental
picture
when
you
think
of
a
manager?

Your Mental Model
Over
the
course
of
your
career...

Your Mental Model
At
your
current
organiza<on…

Your Mental Model
In
an
Agile
Org…

Your Mental Model
In
an
Ideal
World?

Closer Look: What Our Mental Models of
Management May Mean
• Are
managers
primarily
disciplinarians
and/or
task
masters?
• Should
they
know
more
and
be
more
capable
than
you
are?
• Are
they
administrators,
<me-­‐sheet
collectors,
bean
counters,
irritants?
• Do
they,
or
should
they,
empower
and
support
you?
• Do
they
help
you
navigate
your
company’s
hierarchy
and/or
help
you
understand
your
group’s
vision
and
the
market
for
your
services
and/or
products?

From Control to Commitment
• Models
of
management
are
changing
in
many
industries,
in
most
cases
from
control/admin/
supervisor
to
glue/facilitator/enabler/nurturer/
mentor
• Why?
– Crea<ve
labor
cannot
be
“herded”
– Compe<<ve
advantage
oAen
comes
from
extrac<ng
discre<onary
value
from
employees
– Technology,
of
course
– Company<-­‐>employee
loyalty
is
all
but
dead,
both
par<es
must
constantly
“brand”
themselves
and
develop
and
maintain
a
reputa<on

Aunt Jemima: Take a Closer Look
• Nurturing
• Confident
but
approachable
• Updates
her
image
and
her
recipes
as
needed
• Authen<c:
sure,
she’s
fic<onal,
but
if
she
weren’t,
the
image
makes
it
clear
she
makes
and
eats
plenty
of
pancakes
herself!

Aunt Jemima’s School of
Management
• Walk
the
talk:
know
your
industry,
company
and
product
and
help
your
team
navigate
them
all
• Pancakes/Feed
your
teams:
share
industry
and
company
knowledge
• Roll
up
your
sleeves:
get
grunt
work
out
of
your
teams’
way
and
help
individuals
find
and
focus
on
what
they
are
good,
like
and
that
adds
value

Aunt Jemima’s School of
Management
• Smile
and
look
straight
ahead:
make
decisions
collabora<vely
and
transparently
and
invite
others
to
ques<on
them
and
make
sugges<ons
• Change
your
recipe
when
it’s
not
working:
nothing
s<fles
construc<ve
cri<cism
like
having
no
response
and/or
nothing
changing

Nurturing Agile at Your Org
How
do
your
managers
see
themselves?

Nurturing Agile at Your Org
• Assess
your
org’s
culture:
could
the
Marines
use
the
Agile
process?
Should
they?
• Know
thyself:
know
why
you
are
doing
it
and
how
it
benefits
both
you
and
the
org
• As
unappealing
as
it
may
be,
you
will
have
to
make
appeals
to
emo<on
and
personal
needs
as
well
as
logical
arguments

Basic Steps
• Create
a
sense
of
urgency
• Build
a
coali<on
that
spans
all
stakeholders
and
their
bosses
• Set
“value
added”
goals,
e.g.
greater
customer
sa<sfac<on,
more
downloads,
fewer
defects
• Define
clear,
simple
ways
to
measure
progress
toward
your
goals

Basic Steps
• Some
of
these
should
benefit
decision-­‐
makers,
likely
your
boss,
directly,
for
maximum
impact
• Demonstrate
how
Agile
helped
if
and
when
the
group
makes
progress
• Accept
it
will
likely
not
be
as
well
or
completely
Agile
as
you
would
like
and
celebrate
baby
steps

Some Things That Are Likely to
Deter Your Progress
• Going
Agile
in
an
organiza<on
that
is
too
culturally
different
from
what
Agile
requires
• Saying
“you
don’t
get
it”
to
almost
anyone;
if
you
want
to
change
things,
it
is
incumbent
upon
you
to
“get”
them
and
their
business
first
• Losing
sight
of
what
Agile
is
supposed
to
do
for
the
company,
a.k.a.
making
Agile
the
goal
rather
than
a
means

In Closing
• Agile,
and
transi<oning
to
Agile,
is
challenging,
rewarding
and
fun
• If
it
is
consistently
none
of
the
above
for
more
than
a
couple
weeks,
pause,
reflect
(retrospec<ve
J)
and
re-­‐assess
your
process
and/or
transi<on
• Your
manager
should
be
able
to
help!

Additional Materials
“How
to
Change
a
Culture,”
MIT
Sloan
Management
Review,
John
Shook
12/2010
“Corporate
Transforma<on
Without
a
Crisis,”
The
McKinsey
Quarterly,
Jonathan
Day
&
Michael
Jung
4/2004
“Why
Should
Anyone
be
Led
by
You?”
HBR,
Robert
Goffee
&
Gareth
Jones
6/2004
“David
Neeleman:
Flight
Path
of
a
Servant
Leader,”
HBR,
Bill
George
&
Marhew
Breiselder
9/2009
Organiza<on
Change,
Theory
&
Prac<ce,
W.
Warner
Burke
6/2002
Communica<ng
Change:
How
to
Win
Support
for
New
Business
Direc<ons,
TJ
and
Sandar
Larkin
1994
hrp://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-­‐success/201107/is-­‐loyalty-­‐dead