Disciplined Agile Applied

I was recently a panelist on a webinar about enterprise agility.  One of the issues that we explored was why organizations were struggling to improve, and we heard from a range of people about the problems that they faced.  Sadly, many excuses were offered up, and they basically boiled down to:

1. I'm on an agile team, we'd love to improve, but the PMO (or the governance team, or our executives, or...) will beat us up.
2. I'm in a regulated environment, we'd love to improve, but the auditors will beat us up.
3. I'm an executive, we'd love to improve, but the board of directors will beat us up.

Here are some insights that will hopefully help you to work your way past these sorts of excuses:

1. These people that will "beat you up" face similar challenges.  They may have a different point of view than you, and that point of view is valid and should be respected.  They also face a similar dilemma in that they're likely afraid that someone else will beat them up if they change their way of working (WoW). Recognizing that we have this in common can often provide a basis from which to have a more meaningful discussion.
2. Work with them.  Discover what their concerns and constraints are.  What risks are they worried about?  How can you work more effectively while still addressing those risks?  What minimum viable change (MVC) can we experiment with safely to determine whether it is possible to improve?
3. Treat them as allies, not enemies.  I've had great experiences working with PMOs to identify how my team can work better and thereby provide increased value to the organization.  I've substantially reduced risk by working with auditors early in the game to discover what they're actually concerned about, to identify how my team can address those concerns in a streamlined (and often automated) manner.  I've had great discussions with board members, particularly those who are executives at other firms, when I asked them if they're dealing with similar challenges in their organizations (and they always have similar challenges).  Bottom line is that you'll be amazed at how the people whom you thought wanted to beat you up are really there to help you to succeed.
4. Regulations are obligations, not prescriptions.  I'm working on a detailed blog about this topic right now, but too many people believe that regulations state "work this way" or "produce these artifacts."  That may be your organizational interpretation of the regulations, but if you choose to go to the source you'll often find that the regulations aren't as prescriptive as you've been led to believe.  When your bureaucrats are allowed to interpret regulations you will end up with a bureaucratic WoW, whereas if practical people interpret the regulations you'll end up with a pragmatic WoW.  And both approaches will still conformant.
5. Other organizations have chosen to overcome similar excuses.  I have to say it - while you're standing there complaining about how tough you have it, someone else is stepping up and doing what it takes to improve.  I invite you to join them.

My hope is that this blog has given you some food for thought.

Related Resources

• Disciplined Agile Scrum Master (DASM) - Learn how to improve
• Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) - Learn how to lead improvement within a team
• Disciplined Agile Coach (DAC) - Learn how to facilitate improvement across disparate teams
• Disciplined Agile Value Stream Consultant (DAVSC) - Learn how to guide improvement throughout a value stream and across an organization