As presented at the Deutsche Scrum 2012

1. Debunking Agile Myths
Pierluigi Pugliese

2. Agile Books vs. Truth
2

3. Agile Body of Knowledge
Might be true, but...
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4. Evidence?
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5. Research
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6. W.E.I.R.D.
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Joseph Henrich, Steven J. Heine, Ara Norenzayan, The weirdest people in the world?, Behavioral and Brain Sciences - BEHAV BRAIN SCI , vol. 33, no.
2-3, pp. 61-83, 2010

7. Challenging Assumptions
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8. Self Organisation

9. Term Self-Organisation: Doubts?
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10. Self what?
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11. Groups self-organise always!
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Any text about Group Dynamics!

12. Self-Coordination: better?
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13. Is self-coordinated better?
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Brown, T. M., & Miller, C. E. (2000). Communication networks in task-performing groups: Effects of task complexity, time pressure, and
interpersonal domi- nance. Small Group Research, 31, 131–157.

14. Values

15. What are Values? Simplicity
• How do you use them?
Reliability
Communication
Quality Honesty
Courage
Feedback
Transparency
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16. Values: Nominalisations
• Example: Honesty
=> be honest
Exceptions? When?
Who? With
whom?
be honest
About
what?
How
Validity? exactly?
Context?
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Any Linguistic text

17. And what about Beliefs and Goals?
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18. So now... We value honesty! Go!
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19. Values:
Reaction to Life Conditions
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Clare Graves’ Theory

20. Solution...
• Avoid “Values”
• Boundaries, emergence
• Set Goals
• Challenge Beliefs
• Reflection processes
• Support
group dynamics
20

21. To create a great team
you must do...

22. Team building heuristics:
True or false?
In my team there is [something]...
How do I solve it?
What do I do when
a team member does [X]?
The product owner does not
listen to the team: what can I do?
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23. Team Cohesion
• Belonging and Morale
• Tendency to stick together
• Trust and teamwork
• Strong social forces to be a team
• Belonging to something larger
• Inclination to form social bonds
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Lott, A. J., & Lott, B. E. (1965). Group cohesiveness as interpersonal attraction: A review of relationships with antecedent and consequent variables.
Psychological Bulletin, 64, 259–309.
Nixon, H. L. (1979). The small group. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Thye, S. R., Yoon, J., & Lawler, E. J. (2002). The theory of relational cohesion: Review of a research pro- gram. In S. R. Thye & E. J. Lawler (Eds.),
Group cohesion, trust and solidarity (pp. 139–166). New York: Elsevier Science/JAI Press.
Festinger, L. (1950). Informal social communication. Psychological Review, 57, 271–282.
Chan, J., To, H., & Chan, E. (2006). Reconsidering social cohesion: Developing a definition and analytical framework for empirical research. Social
Indicators Research, 75, 273–302.
Casey-Campbell, M., & Martens, M. L. (2008). Sticking it all together: A critical assessment of the group cohesion-performance literature.
International Journal of Management Reviews, 10, published online, DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2370.2008.00239.x.

24. Cohesion: Multi-Component Process
• No “typical” cohesive group
• No “core components”
of cohesion
• Components:
• Social
• Task
• Emotional
• Perceived
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Dion, K. L. (2000). Group cohesion: From “field of forces” to multidimensional construct. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 4, 7–26.
Friedkin, N. E. (2004). Social cohesion. Annual Review of Sociology, 30, 409–425.

25. Some ideas...
• Smaller group
=> higher probability of cohesion
• Stable teams
=> increase cohesiveness
• Initiation to the group
=> investment in the group
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Many. For example:
Henry, K. B., Arrow, H., & Carini, B. (1999). A tripartite model of group identification: Theory and measurement. Small Group Research, 30, 558–
581.

26. No conflicts in my team!
Good or bad?
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Fisher, B. A. (1980). Small group decision making (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

27. Cohesive group...
Good or bad?
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For example:
Beal, D. J., Cohen, R. R., Burke, M. J., & McLendon, C. L. (2003). Cohesion and perfor- mance in groups: A meta-analytic clarification of construct
relations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 989–1004.
Carron, A. V., Colman, M. M., Wheeler, J., & Stevens, D. (2002). Cohesion and performance in sport: A meta analysis. Journal of Sport and Exercise
Psychology, 24, 168–188.
Gully, S. M., Devine, D. J., & Whitney, D. J. (1995). A meta-analysis of cohesion and performance: Effects of level of analysis and task
interdependence. Small Group Research, 26, 497–520.

28. Cohesive groups and performance
What is the cause and
what is the effect?
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Mullen, B., & Copper, C. (1994). The relation between group cohesiveness and performance: An integra- tion. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 210–227.

29. Solution: Informed Experiments
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30. Timeboxing

31. Is timeboxing useful?
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32. Experimental results
• Faster delivery
• Less creative solutions
• Increasing time pressure
later does not
impact creativity
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http://sgr.sagepub.com/content/24/2/179.abstract
http://sgr.sagepub.com/content/21/3/283.abstract

33. Timeboxing: Time awareness
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34. Explore and Verify!
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35. Questions?

36. Pierluigi Pugliese
http://blog.connexxo.com