10 Years, 10 Companies, 10 Common Patters. Trace Amounts of Agility
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The document discusses common patterns observed in dysfunctional organizations and highlights the challenges of implementing agile methodologies. It emphasizes the need for genuine change initiatives, transparency, and accountability while pointing out that many companies still operate under outdated structures and practices. The author warns against complacency and advocates for continuous transformation to achieve meaningful progress.
![Bureaucratic Breakdown
[] you have this strange feeling at the end of a
busy day that nothing was really achieved.
[] you have this feeling too freaking often.
1009080706050403020100](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/10abe2018-181028090005/85/10-Years-10-Companies-10-Common-Patters-Trace-Amounts-of-Agility-3-320.jpg)
![Decoy Flares
[] you have recently changed or considered to
change your approach to agility especially towards
a trademarked or branded (proven) methodologies.
[] you have created some phony, impactless roles
and staffed them with clueless people, to feel
better.
1009080706050403020100](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/10abe2018-181028090005/85/10-Years-10-Companies-10-Common-Patters-Trace-Amounts-of-Agility-5-320.jpg)
![The Big Non-Change
[] employees are not sure whos the driving force
behind the change and what their motives are.
[] no regular and frequent access to this person.
[] no evidence or anecdotal evidence is used to
assert the change (it feels better now)
1009080706050403020100](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/10abe2018-181028090005/85/10-Years-10-Companies-10-Common-Patters-Trace-Amounts-of-Agility-7-320.jpg)
![[] there is no transparent process of removing
impediments signaled by the teams or the existing
process is irrelevant (also see Decoy Flares and
Bureaucratic Breakdown).
They Aint No M端nchhausens
1009080706050403020100](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/10abe2018-181028090005/85/10-Years-10-Companies-10-Common-Patters-Trace-Amounts-of-Agility-9-320.jpg)
![Running On Fumes
[] you have 2nd or 3rd generation of change
catalysts, yet still the same problems.
[] you have recently lost at least one of the
change catalysts due to nothing ever changes here
or I did everything I could.
1009080706050403020100](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/10abe2018-181028090005/85/10-Years-10-Companies-10-Common-Patters-Trace-Amounts-of-Agility-11-320.jpg)
![Responsibility Trap
[] managers are more engaged in managing the work
than they are in creating environment that support
the teams in getting the work done.
[] managers are forever busy managing never-ending
streams of work; virtually no time left in their
calendars to be for their employees.
1009080706050403020100](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/10abe2018-181028090005/85/10-Years-10-Companies-10-Common-Patters-Trace-Amounts-of-Agility-13-320.jpg)
![More Is Less
[] the whole is the only way to deliver value.
[] new initiatives start on top of the running
ones, all equally important.
[] teams have to asks for permission to do their
job right (refactoring, automation, testing).
1009080706050403020100](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/10abe2018-181028090005/85/10-Years-10-Companies-10-Common-Patters-Trace-Amounts-of-Agility-15-320.jpg)
![Shattered Value Streams
[] products are more aligned with system
architecture and technology components than they
are with value streams; teams structure follows.
[] no freaking chance to confirm value delivered
at the end of the Sprints.
1009080706050403020100](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/10abe2018-181028090005/85/10-Years-10-Companies-10-Common-Patters-Trace-Amounts-of-Agility-17-320.jpg)
![Iterative-Non-Incremental
[] no increments deployed or ready for deployment,
not even at the end of the Sprints.
[] waterfall within the Sprints and/or some stages
of the development cycle omitted or left for
later (UATs, bug fixing, documentation, etc.)
1009080706050403020100](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/10abe2018-181028090005/85/10-Years-10-Companies-10-Common-Patters-Trace-Amounts-of-Agility-19-320.jpg)
![Same Old, Same Old
[] no one has been fired due to their misalignment
with change in the last, say, 3 months.
1009080706050403020100](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/10abe2018-181028090005/85/10-Years-10-Companies-10-Common-Patters-Trace-Amounts-of-Agility-21-320.jpg)
![Dont Ever Stop
[] you didnt uncheck any of these checkboxes in
the last, say, 3 months
1009080706050403020100](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/10abe2018-181028090005/85/10-Years-10-Companies-10-Common-Patters-Trace-Amounts-of-Agility-23-320.jpg)
10 Years, 10 Companies, 10 Common Patters. Trace Amounts of Agility
- 1. 10 years. 10 companies. 10 common patterns. Trace amounts of agility. @poddrzewem @iterategame @productifyit
- 2. All disfunctional organizations are disfunctional in similar ways; every highly successful company is successful in its own unique way. Will Evans (@semanticwill) pattern /pat()n/ noun a regular and intelligible form or sequence discernible in the way in which something happens or is done.
- 3. Bureaucratic Breakdown [] you have this strange feeling at the end of a busy day that nothing was really achieved. [] you have this feeling too freaking often. 1009080706050403020100
- 4. Bureaucratic Breakdown Regional and local branches are usually doing better than the center. Same pattern observed for detached projects, internal tooling, etc. Less exposure to politics. Less over- and micro- managing. Less over-controlling. It matters. 1009080706050403020100
- 5. Decoy Flares [] you have recently changed or considered to change your approach to agility especially towards a trademarked or branded (proven) methodologies. [] you have created some phony, impactless roles and staffed them with clueless people, to feel better. 1009080706050403020100
- 6. Decoy Flares Implicit faith in methodologies, processes, practices and tools, certification and consulting. This is avoidance of accountability at a cosmic scale. No one will make you agile. I'm not sure how exactly a squad is supposed to be better than a Scrum team, or why devops is better than a cross- functional. Especially if a squad is exactly what the team was before and devops is a role on a team. 1009080706050403020100
- 7. The Big Non-Change [] employees are not sure whos the driving force behind the change and what their motives are. [] no regular and frequent access to this person. [] no evidence or anecdotal evidence is used to assert the change (it feels better now) 1009080706050403020100
- 8. The Big Non-Change Change has no face. Change has no legs. Change has no heartbeat and no vital signs. If there is no reason to change, why bother? There must be a vital driving force to the change. There must be a set of metrics to monitor its conditions. 1009080706050403020100
- 9. [] there is no transparent process of removing impediments signaled by the teams or the existing process is irrelevant (also see Decoy Flares and Bureaucratic Breakdown). They Aint No M端nchhausens 1009080706050403020100
- 10. No one removes impediments signaled by the teams or there is no transparency to this process. Bottom- up intelligence stays at the bottom and breeds frustration (also see Running On Fumes). Top-down mandated agility? I don't think so. They Aint No M端nchhausens 1009080706050403020100
- 11. Running On Fumes [] you have 2nd or 3rd generation of change catalysts, yet still the same problems. [] you have recently lost at least one of the change catalysts due to nothing ever changes here or I did everything I could. 1009080706050403020100
- 12. Running On Fumes Change is fuel hungry. People most keen on change burn first. In about 2 to 3 years into the transformation most of them goes, leaving the ground to less convinced, less experienced, less gifted, and generally less engaged employees (also see They Aint No M端nchhausens). 1009080706050403020100
- 13. Responsibility Trap [] managers are more engaged in managing the work than they are in creating environment that support the teams in getting the work done. [] managers are forever busy managing never-ending streams of work; virtually no time left in their calendars to be for their employees. 1009080706050403020100
- 14. Responsibility Trap We made managers responsible for the results, we shouldnt be surprised they actually do the managing thing. The illusion of command and control and micro- management are real. No time is left for building organizational culture. 1009080706050403020100
- 15. More Is Less [] the whole is the only way to deliver value. [] new initiatives start on top of the running ones, all equally important. [] teams have to asks for permission to do their job right (refactoring, automation, testing). 1009080706050403020100
- 16. More Is Less Unfinished businesses, feature-rich, over-cooked, over- invested products, multiple concurrent projects, negative deadlines, committees and coordination paralysis, over- managed pseudo-problems. There are 3 main reasons to why Scrum isn't working at your company: lack of focus, lack of transparency and lack of commitment. Coincidentally this is precisely why you don't excel as a company. Start with focus. 1009080706050403020100
- 17. Shattered Value Streams [] products are more aligned with system architecture and technology components than they are with value streams; teams structure follows. [] no freaking chance to confirm value delivered at the end of the Sprints. 1009080706050403020100
- 18. Shattered Value Streams The waterfall is living right here, in your org structure. Think of departments, teams structure and skillset, architecture components, geographical dispersion, etc. Partial accountability breeds partial commitment. Cross-functional isnt about process functions only. Devops is good for start. Business and IT are the ultimate silos. 1009080706050403020100
- 19. Iterative-Non-Incremental [] no increments deployed or ready for deployment, not even at the end of the Sprints. [] waterfall within the Sprints and/or some stages of the development cycle omitted or left for later (UATs, bug fixing, documentation, etc.) 1009080706050403020100
- 20. Iterative-Non-Incremental No releasable increments. Plenty of reasons to keep it that way (not enough time is the absolute number 1). No inspection, no feedback, no adaptation. Keep insisting on done increments and you shall see the true colors of your organization. Very little beside that really matters. 1009080706050403020100
- 21. Same Old, Same Old [] no one has been fired due to their misalignment with change in the last, say, 3 months. 1009080706050403020100
- 22. Same Old, Same Old No one loses their jobs. No one leaves (beside change catalysts see Running On Fumes pattern). No change in organizational structure. No change in positions. Agility is different. Not everyone fits. Chew on that. Don't mistake empathy and understanding for gullibility. 1009080706050403020100
- 23. Dont Ever Stop [] you didnt uncheck any of these checkboxes in the last, say, 3 months 1009080706050403020100
- 24. Dont Ever Stop There is no end to agile transformation. Complacency is the enemy of change. 1009080706050403020100
- 25. @poddrzewem @iterategame @productifyit 0FGAATMAEL00COOVMEBRO0 息 2018 Tomek Wodarek tomek@poddrzewem.pl http://www.linkedin.com/in/wlodarek http://www.poddrzewem.pl
- 26. @poddrzewem @iterategame @productifyit 息 2018 Tomek Wodarek tomek@poddrzewem.pl http://www.linkedin.com/in/wlodarek http://www.poddrzewem.pl 0FGAATMAEL00COOVMEBRO0