Manifesting Business Agility

Many managers in charge of Agile adoptions insist that teams use a consistent approach. Yet we know that different teams in different situations need to do different things. Is the idea of consistency misplaced? No. The question is, what is it that we need to be consistent?

All methods should be attempting to increase delivery of value in a predictable, sustainable manner. Accomplishing this requires similar objectives, albeit achieve in different ways. Practices need to  provide quick feedback, eliminate the need for rework, increase collaboration, enable us to improve our methods and more. How this is accomplished is different for different parts of the organization

DA enables this by providing options for teams so they can select what works for them for each of these objectives. By using practices that are fit for purpose, teams are more likely to achieve what’s needed than by taking preset practices, some of which fit them and some of them don’t. Having teams consistently choose what works best for them is more likely to have teams consistently manifest the desired outcome of Agile than forcing teams to do what doesn’t work for them.

1. Classic Scrum starts w/ 4 values, about a dozen prescribed roles & practices. The premise is that using these will enable performing in an Agile manner. But the why of these practices (other than the generic “be Agile”) is not presented. The laws of knowledge work are not stated. These are laws include overworking people causes delays; delays cause rework, low-quality &waste; quick feedback & managing queues is essential. Scrum ignores that there are no universal practices. The culture of the organization & how to transition to Scrum other than just jumping to it are also ignored

2. Disciplined Agile Scrum. This starts with seeing what the organization is trying to accomplish & what challenges they are having in doing so. It presents a small, but sufficient amount of theory for people to understand what would work in their situation. Guided by a DA ScrumMaster, the team decides on a starting point that is fit for them. This adds some work to the DA ScrumMaster but makes life easier for the team. The likelihood of success is greater. Furthermore, this understanding enhances the ability of the to work well with other teams & any external constraints

As the primary creator of the Disciplined Agile Value Stream Consultant workshop I facilitate the Community of Practice of the graduates of the workshop where we provide deeper training and pragmatic advice. One thing I do is ask how I can help them in their work. I have been told that one of the biggest impediments they face is Agile coaches saying the line in the title in response to suggestions for creating a more fit for purse approach than Scrum. There are several unexplored assumptions in that statement:
 
1-starting with Scrum will lead to improvement. Maybe it won’t. There are no universal practices. It’s possible starting with Scrum won’t work well because it may not be fit for the team's needs & using it will create frustration, causing it to be abandoned later

2-that if you start w/Scrum you’ll learn how to improve later. But Scrum doesn’t provide any insights on how to do this. And, since Scrum is based on empiricism, you may not have the theory required to do so

3-Scrum teaches the principles of Agile. It doesn’t. It teaches a variety of Agile values &practices. It may be you'll discover these principles using Scrum, but it's more effective when they are included in your approach

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Systems thinking is a conceptual framework which takes the view that understanding how systems work requires an holistic view &a realization that systems exist within other systems. None of these systems (or system of systems) are well-defined by the components themselves but rather are driven by the relationships of the components

A systems thinking view has usually been missing in most parts of Agile, particularly those based on frameworks that have prescribed practices. Culture and attitudes of the people adopting the framework are part of the system. No framework exists on its own and therefore its practices may not be fit for purpose. Practitioners and consultants can improve their frameworks by adopting some central thoughts of systems thinking

• Changing one part of the system affects other parts of the system, often with unpredictable behavior.
• Systems manifest patterns of behavior, the understanding of which can help improve them
• Systems interact with the systems they are part of
• an holistic view must be taken when looking where to start

Wherever started, the goal should be to affect the larger system. This requires attending to how those in the starting point are affected by and affect other parts of the organization

The DA FLEX Engagement Pre-planning takes several factors into account to provide a DA Value Stream Consultant a suggested improvement backlog. The core factors used are:

1. Assessment for the three dozen potential improvement items in the full playbook which is used to identifying candidates for improvement
2. The scope of what can be worked on based on the sponsorship level
3. The order in which the improvements should be attempted based based on the theories of Flow and ToC. Identify those items which can be deferred
4. Limit the backlog to those items that the company is ready for and are unlikely to resist
5. A list of options for each of the suggested improvement actions

The DA FLEX Engagement Pre-Planning not only provides a suggested playbook, it allows for overrides to enable further customization.

While no pre-planning checklist is perfect, consider how other systems don’t even attempt this and provide little customization in objectives. Few options for each of these objectives are given.

Providing few choices does not make things simpler, it makes things not fit for purpose.