AGILE SUCCESS - PMI KC Mid-America Chapter - Home Pagekcpmichapter.org/downloads/PDD2014/brett_gibson.pdf · 2014-10-15 · AGILE SUCCESS Agile and the Nature of Culture Change

AGILE SUCCESSAgile and the Nature of Culture Change

© 2014 Convergent, LLC

Jared D. Lock, Ph.D.

Co-Founder, Convergent, LLC

[email protected]

918-808-5451

mailto:[email protected]

The Presenter

Jared D. Lock, Ph.D. – Co-Founder, Convergent, LLC• Licensed Industrial/Organizational psychologist

• 25 years of practical experience as a Businessman

• Owner and President of 3 different organizations with year-over-year

double digit growth and profitability

• President of International test publisher

• Both internal corporate and external consulting experience

• 5 years management consulting

• 2 years internally for Fortune 50

• 25 years of project management design and implementation

• Key research scientist in terms of organizational culture and change

• Expert on corporate values in terms of research, practice, coaching, and

selecting towards/away from tendencies

• Over 60 book chapters, papers, and presentations


Who is Convergent?

• Convergent, LLC is a partnership aiming to combine thought leaders from organizational psychology, business, and IT to help organizations with all aspects of their business processes by:

• Accurately predicting the speed, impediments, and likely success of identified strategic plans, projects, and opportunities via a proprietary process

• Creating accurate and focused strategies that drive solid plans, actions, and outcomes from a host of full consulting capabilities

• Harnessing the organization’s people power in a unified direction creating and solidifying the culture along the way

• Incisively measuring results with quick feedback loops and smart, data-driven adjustments

Convergent Backdrop

• People Are The Most Dangerous, Consequential Forces on Earth!

• The Real Issue is Group Effectiveness.

• You cannot be successful without knowing what is going on in the group

• People -- Shouldn’t We Know Something About Them?

Agenda

• Provide background concerning Agile as seen through the lens of historical PMO Models

• Identify the nature of these changes and why PM’s are being asked to move in this direction

• Provide a model of Workplace Cultural Values to describe and understand the difficulty with change

• Discuss what to do about it


Key Features of Agile

• Continuous Delivery of Value

• Dynamic and Empirical Process Control -- Plan small

amount of work, then use experience to plan future

components

• Feedback throughout for mid-course correction

• Focus on small, deliverable chunks of work

• Developers and customers work together throughout

• Open to changes at any point, as prioritized by customers


Agile Origins

• History of lightweight software development models since

1990s

• 2001: 17 developers met to discuss lightweight

development methods.

• Published the Manifesto for Agile Software Development:We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and

helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Working software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on

the left more.


Project ManagementA Paradigm Shift

Traditional Project Management

• Process

• Tools

• Procedures

• Control

• What to do and how to do it

• Planning and Organizing

• Attention to Details

• Logical/Rational/Analytical

Agile Focus

• People

• Culture

• Interactions

• Harnessing resources and

engaging people

• Interpersonal Skills

• Cultural Awareness

• Engaging and Flexible

Keys to Success with Agile

Mindset shift in

planning – dynamic

process control

Product Owner, Scrum Master, and team create a

detailed plan only for the current iteration and use

experience to plan for future iterations

Greater disciplineTo effectively deliver every two to four weeks requires

a high degree of self discipline

Continually deliver

incremental scope

• Agile success hinges on incremental completion of

scope throughout the project

• Define – exit criteria for each work unit (story) in

order to attain closure on work in progress

Heightened focus on

testing

• Testing is no longer relegated to the last third of

the project

• Testing must be automated

Testing is as important as development and takes

• as much time to get right


Keys to Success with Agile

• 6 Required Behaviors for Success

• Shift from ‘command and control’ management to servant leadership

• Commitment to heightened transparency

• Information sharing, not hoarding

• True team collaboration

• Honest and constructive debate/discussions to address

issues/behaviors head on

• Flexibility – inspect and adapt is a foundational piece of successful

agile teams


Keys to Failure with Agile

• The number one reason for Agile adoption failures is People.

• Empire building

• Lack of transparency – discomfort with people knowing everything that is going on in area and true status of each project

• Information hoarding

• Turf wars (lack of collaboration)

• Passive Aggressiveness/Conflict avoidance – inability to address issues/behaviors head on

• Lack of flexibility – inspect and adapt is a foundational piece of successful agile teams

• Bonus Behavior: Viewing quality as an add-on not something that is built into the process


As We Move Towards Agile

THE PEOPLE PROCESS


People and Processes ConvergeThe Cookie Cutter Conundrum

• Even as the industry has moved towards Agile, we have

traditionally placed an emphasis on the process being

adopted and not on the people adopting it

• This is predominantly because there is more value placed

on the work being performed over those performing it

• Unfortunately, this results in ‘standardized’ approaches to

transformation, metrics and transparency. These

approaches often don’t fit every company, situation, or

culture which results in failure

People and Processes ConvergeThe Cookie Cutter Conundrum (continued)

• Most transformations ignore culture (corporate and personal) at their own peril

• Agile has been around for more than a decade and while it is an improved methodology it follows previous methodologies in sanitizing humans from hard systems

• As far back as the early 1990’s, when Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge was published, the industry has been warned that psychology cannot be excised from the system

• Companies continue to ignore the human component and opt instead to force them into the process instead of molding a flexible process around people and cultures

People and Processes ConvergeAgile, Lean, People, and Culture

• While Agile discusses people, in practice we only debate

the items on the left, remaining stereotypically silent about

the people aspects

“Individuals and interactions over processes and tools”

• Lean Principles discuss people but in practice this is often

treated as an obligatory corporate value – an afterthought

which can be ignored while we focus attention on metrics

“Respect for people”

• The number one reason for Agile and Lean adoption

failures is People.

Agile and Value Systems

• People have values

• Our IT Philosophies also have values (e.g., Scrum, Lean)

• These values describe an Aspirational State

• Sometimes values are placed behind process

• Sometimes people do not follow the values

• Our current culture then, is made up of

• What we value, and where that aligns (and misaligns) with our

peers, managers, leadership, and customers

• What behaviors our organization tolerates

• The sum values of the collective good can be assessed,

computed, and help predict current/future state


Agile Versus Waterfall

Convergent’s Approach To Projects

• All change requires three things – People, Tools, and Process

• With every new approach, technique, tool, or process, people have to decide to do things differently • This involves their values, personal characteristics, and how they solve

problems, make decisions, and use their judgment (i.e., “Whole Person”)

• Linking “Whole Person” to specific change and performance outcomes for over 20 years • 500,000 person database

• 25,000 Director-level and above

• 25,000 in Project Management Scenarios

• 25,000 in IT Sector

• Unique and proprietary ability to predict future outcomes and impact them (a) before the project starts, (b) as the project is being rolled out, (c) when the project hits rough patches, and (d) after implementation when backsliding is likely to occur

Agile Into a PMO Culture

People Can Be Measured ScientificallyComprehensive Assessment Model

Motives and Values

Technical Skills

Degrees

Training

Job skills

Personality

Initiative

Diligence

Integrity

Mischief

Dependence

Hostility

Development

Culture Fit

Values

Motivation

Drivers

Judgment

Cognitive

Prob. Solving

Decisions

Two Groups – An Example

Traditional PMO Agile Group

Power

Commercial

Security (+)

Bold

Diligent

Ambition

Process-driven

Analytical

Affiliation

Security (-)

Altruism

Self-disciplined

Interpersonal

Strategic

Reserved

Cautious

Action

Interpersonal

Industry

Specific

Industry

Specific

Personal AlignmentAgile Example

Values

Positive

Negative

Judgment

Aligned Not Aligned

I am willing to try

something and see

I care for

others

I am outgoing

I have good IP

Skills

I am not

reserved

I drive to

common goals

I understand

politics

I focus on my goals

I dislike

change

I am driven

I have poor IP

Skills

I am very

confidentI do not move

from (my) rules

Data drive all

decisions

With Measurement Comes PredictionThe People Component – 30-30-30

• In any project/change initiative, regardless of direction, culture, CEO alignment, leader support, finances • 30% will fully embrace idea with little need for additional motivation

• 30% will somewhat embrace idea but could be made to embrace it more with a little push and motivation

• 30% will reject, ignore, limit, or work against idea regardless of effort

• Accurate prediction of likely project adoption and success leads to business discussions that impact project focus and planning

Measurement + Database = Prediction

Individuals/Interactions

Working Software

Collaboration

Process/Tools

Documentation

Negotiation

VALUES EXPLAINED


Values Interpretation• The kind of environment in which an employee wants to work

• The kind of environment an employee creates for his/her subordinates/team members

• How an organization can motivate an employee to perform more productively

• Employees prefer to work with others who share their values, dislike those who don’t

• Employees are happiest working in environments that are consistent with their values

• Values measures permit an evaluation of the fit between an individual and the organizational culture / new direction

Values Interpretation

• Provide insight regarding:

• How an employee gains satisfaction & attains

motivation

• What an employee values

• Interpretation guidelines – Three ways values impact work

• True drivers

• “Nice to haves”

• Indifference but not de-motivation

Values DefinedValue Scores suggest valuing and motivation via…

Recognition Public acknowledgement & “pats on back”

Power Being in charge & being perceived as influential

Hedonism Fun, lighthearted, & open-minded work environments

Altruistic Actively helping others & providing excellent customer service

Affiliation Networking, building relationships, & belonging to work group

Tradition Consistent org. cultures & personal-workplace values match

Security Secure, predictable, and risk-free work environments

Commerce Making and saving money; involvement in org. finances

Aesthetics Focusing on quality & product “look & feel”

Science Analytic problem solving & working with technology

Values – Performance Implications

Recognition

Power

Hedonism

Altruistic

Affiliation

Tradition

Security

Commerce

Aesthetics

Science

Achievement Motivation

Social Interests

Entrepreneurial Values

Decision Making Style

WHAT TO DO


Things to Consider

• What is the role you expect of an executive champion in your projects?

• What is the most frustrating thing about your projects that is outside your

control that others can do for you?

• When defining end state after project, how does the business culture

impact the definition and how do you make sure the business culture is

part of the equation?

• How do you recognize that the project isn't being accepted or going well

while attempting to implement?

• Data suggest that 30% of end users won't want, or will slow down your

project. What initiatives can be put in place to address that group?

• How do you engage the more reluctant line managers?

Convergent Research on PM Success

• Clarity -- Vision / Support / Communication

• Simplicity -- Business-Focused / Time appropriate / Sell appropriate

• Plan -- Plan Size / Plan Management / Plan Successes

• PM Success = Organizational x People x Plan interaction

Things to Remember

• If you lean on your credential, you will be the only person in the room that feels the need to do so

• If you must lean on the champion to get things done, benefits have not been sold to participants

• If you lean on Plans and Processes as ways to motivate people, you will miss the boat

• Expectations and service levels are two way streets

• Always measure to define your pilot

• Short and quick wins with celebration

Department Level = Pilot Participants

Team = Pilot and Training Participants

Visual Progress Assessments


Thoughts for Moving Forward• We all have values

• Awareness is key to managing projects

• Validate hunches by linking values to outcomes

• Manage low spots by recognizing triggers, structuring

work, and inviting feedback

• Use data to guide 30-30-30


QUESTIONS?


AGILE SUCCESSAgile and the Nature of Culture Change


Jared D. Lock, Ph.D.

Co-Founder, Convergent, LLC

[email protected]

918-808-5451

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

AGILE SUCCESS - PMI KC Mid-America Chapter - Home Pagekcpmichapter.org/downloads/PDD2014/brett_gibson.pdf · 2014-10-15 · AGILE SUCCESS Agile and the Nature of Culture Change