(as presented at OOP 2018 in Munich) Agile ‘transitions’ keep failing. Even while delivering plenty of value for the organization. I think that is because the levels of transparency within an organisation can’t keep up with the changes the organisation is going through. Transparency is crucial for all levels of progress in agile. Once we’re proficient at a certain level, everyone in the team has access to all the information they need to make the team successful. But then the situation changes, the definition of the team changes, and the type of decisions they need to make changes. And new information needs to be available for that to be successful. In this talk I’ll show how we can use transparency at different stages of our agile journey to achieve the goals we have. And how new levels of transparency are needed to get to a next level of agility. And how not providing those new levels can trigger a slide back to where you started from, if you’re not careful. I’ll also discuss how the more advanced levels are still very hard to arrange for. It’s not coincidental that we end up with overwrought processes like SAFe for scaling, as good models and mechanisms for sharing larger businesses’ strategy are hard to find, and even harder to make accessible and measurable. We’ll discuss some alternatives that can make this work, and their limitations.

1. Transparency is a Slippery Slope
Wouter Lagerweij
wouter@lagerweij.com
@wouterla

5. Transparency

6. Autonomy
TDD
BDD
Purpose
PO
Retrospectives
Kanban board
Burn-up chart
Small stories

8. Agile Fluency™ Model
● By Diane Larsen & James Shore (2012)
● Fluency is how a team develops software
when it’s under pressure
● NOT a maturity model!
● ★★★★ not relevant for every organization

9. Start: Building Code

11. Zone 1: Focus on Value

13. Zone 2: Deliver Value

15. Zone 3: Optimize Value

17. Zone 4: Optimize for Systems

19. What happens if we stay in our ‘zone’?

20. Phase changes

21. From Focus to Delivery

22. From Focus to Delivery
● Metrics:
○ Velocity, Cycle Time
http://www.lagerweij.com/2011/07/08/5-ways-to-make-sure-velocity-is-useless/

23. From Focus to Delivery
● Interruptions
https://blog.wingman-sw.com/archives/206

24. From Focus to Delivery
● ‘Hardening’ Sprints

25. From Focus to Delivery
● The Neverending Story

26. From Focus to Delivery
● Solutions?

27. From Delivery to Outcomes

28. From Delivery to Outcomes
● Metrics:
○ Lead vs. Cycle times
Business Idea Work Started Done
Cycle Time
Lead Time

29. From Delivery to Outcomes
● Anecdotal
● Business Insight

30. From Delivery to Outcomes
● Metrics:
○ Lead vs. Cycle times

31. ● Product Teams
● Design Thinking
From Delivery to Outcomes
EngineeringUX
Business

32. From Delivery to Outcomes
April
● Feature 1
● Feature 2
● Feature 3
● Feature 4
May
● Feature 5
● Feature 6
● Feature 7
● Feature 8
June
● Feature 9
● Feature 10
● Feature 11
● Feature 12
July
● Feature 1
● Feature 2
● ...
● Outcomes not features

33. ● Common Goals
● Outcomes not features
From Delivery to Outcomes
Goal:
Improve product detail
views coming via search
Goal:
Improve retention
active users first 30d
Goal:
Improve conversion
product detail > cart

34. ● Common Goals
● Outcomes not features
○ Hypothesis Driven Development
○ GIST Planning
From Delivery to Outcomes
https://hackernoon.com/why-i-stopped-using-product-roadmaps-and-switched-to-gist-planning-3b7f54e271d1

37. From Outcomes to Strategy

38. From Outcomes to Strategy
● Metrics
○ Business Outcomes
■ Flattening Curve
■

39. From Outcomes to Strategy
● Metrics
○ Business Outcomes
■ Flattening Curve

40. From Outcomes to Strategy
● Metrics
○ Business Outcomes
■ (Outside) Disruption

41. From Outcomes to Strategy
● Strategy Models
○ Wardley Maps
○ Three Horizons
○ Incubators

42. From Outcomes to Strategy
● Strategy Models
○ Wardley Maps

43. From Outcomes to Strategy
● Strategy Models
○ Three Horizons

44. From Outcomes to Strategy
● Strategy Models
○ Incubators

45. Thanks!
Wouter Lagerweij
wouter@lagerweij.com
@wouterla