(Fr)agile: How Agile Falls Apart, and How to Put it Back Together

Software projects are like a big ship So what better metaphor than the titanic?

"With a talk like that, you'd better have a good icebreaker." - Amanda

- Tech lead = informal agile coach - I've seen some things - Normally don't get to give these talks - Excella has agile coaches; they have not signed off on this.

Transparency goes under trust; introspection goes under adaptation.

- Multiple backlogs - Multiple stakeholders to please - SMEs != POs

Testing as a phase <br/>Lack of automation <br/>Mini waterfall sprints

PO / SM as PM

Three amigos, etc.

Book: Read this before our next meeting

Believe it or not, this is actually a bad thing. <br/>Conflict spectrum <br/>Radical Candor

Wins: things that the client may not think of but that spikes helped with

Comic: Technical debt cave / water

(Fr)agile

How Agile Falls Apart(And What You Can Do to Keep it Together)

A Better Metaphor

Hi! I'm Sean

Categories

Delivery

Categories

Growth

Categories

Freedom

Categories

Trust

Categories

Vision

Treating Process as the Enemy

Commit to a process

Start where you are

Process surfaces problems

Process can be adapted

Too Rigid Process

(Oops)

Experiments

Gradual Adaptation

Reduced Pain = Buy-in

"When will we be done?"

Estimate & Track

Respect timeboxes

You will run out; value first

"Agile is Developers Being Lazy"

Work not done == Savings

Ruthless focus on value

Slow is steady, steady is fast

Play the long game

PO Fiefdoms

Find the true PO

One Backlog

Make stakeholders talk

Dev Silos

Pairing / Mobbing

Knowledge sharing

Dev Roundtable

Prefer Teachers to Experts

"Why are two devs working on this story?"

Demonstrate Cycle Time

Educate

Ask for Responsibility

Quality Not Baked In

Technical Debt

Focus on Automation

Swiss Cheese Approach

Estimate Debt Complexity

Definition of Done

Measure trends

Authority vs. Leadership

Common Goals / Charter

Promote Divergent Thinking

Lead by Example

Not Enough Collaboration

Get everyone in the same room

Enable conversations

Seek feedback

Too Many Meetings

(Oops)

Meetings with Purpose

No Mandatory Attendance

Radiate information

Demand Presence

Stakeholder Time Constraints

Definition of Ready

Multiple Avenues of Feedback

Make Sign-off Painless

Lack of Conflict

Model Receiving Feedback First

Encourage Bold Retros

Check-ins

Embrace the uncomfortable

Discouraging Slack Time

Make spikes visible

Showcase Risk Reduction

Keep a list of wins

How Agile Falls Apart
(And What You Can Do to Keep it Together)