Todd Little

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A Framework for Agile Leadership
L e a d i n g C h a n g e T h r o u g h C o l
l a b o r a t i o n
Todd Little Pollyanna Pixton
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Long Ago and Far, Far Away
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Project Statistics

Standish Group Study, reported by CEO Jim
Johnson, CIO.com, How to Spot a Failing Project
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Features and Functions

Always or Often Used 20
Always 7
Often 13
Never Used 45
Sometimes 16
Rarely Used 19
Never or Rarely Used 64
Standish Group Study, reported by CEO Jim
Johnson, XP2002
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How can we avoid this?
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Leadership Models

Strategy
Collaboration
Cultivate Innovation
EmbraceChange
Decisions
Real Options
Delivery
8
Leadership Models

Strategy
Collaboration
Cultivate Innovation
EmbraceChange
Decisions
Real Options
Delivery
9
Strategic IntentEveryone inline with company
goals

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Strategy

• Traditional strategic planning starts at the
  top and cascades down
• Can be incompletefor project teams and daily
  decisions

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Strategic Development

Mission
Vision
Values
Strategic
Strategic Intent Strategy Purpose
Long-Range Goals
SCO / 5Q
Annual Objectives
Action Plans (what, who, when)
Tactical
Individual Business Objectives
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Strategic Development

Mission
Vision
Values
Strategic Intent Strategy Purpose
Strategic
Long-Range Goals
Start Here
SCO / 5Q
Annual Objectives
Action Plans (what, who, when)
Tactical
Individual Business Objectives
13
Purpose-Based Alignment

High
Market Differentiating
Low
High
Low
Mission Critical
14
Purpose-Based Alignment

High
Differentiating Be the Best, Always
Partner Do We Take This On?
Market Differentiating
Parity Get And Stay There
Who Cares?
Low
High
Low
Mission Critical
15
Design Considerations

High
Do Something Unique Design to Excel
Design theRelationship
Market Differentiating
Mimic and Reuse Goal is Parity, Not Uniqueness
Who Cares?
Low
High
Low
Mission Critical
16
Graphically - Before

High
Project Tracking Document Mgmt Document
Edit Document Library Search EDGAR Integration
Market Differentiating
Low
High
Low
Mission Critical
17
Graphically - After

High
Document Edit
Portal
Market Differentiating
Project Tracking Document Mgmt Document Library
Search EDGAR Integration
Low
High
Low
Mission Critical
Result Better product in half the time and 60
of the original cost
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Five Questions

• Whom do we serve and what do they want and need
  most?
• What do we provide to help them?
• What is the best way to provide this?
• How do we know we are succeeding?
• How should we organize to deliver?

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Whats On Your Billboard?
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Example Split Payments

• eCommerce and catalog order management system
  supported split payments?
• Split what? Pay with a combination of credit
  cards (as many as you want).
• Required a significant customization. Are split
  payments differentiating or parity?

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Split Payments

• Differentiating includes product selection and
  customer service. Therefore differentiating.
• Not so fast, if differentiating,
• Lets advertise!
• Treat exceptions like exceptions.
• Inelegantly handled with standard functionality.

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Getting Started

Make Better Decisions!
Distill to simple questions
Define the decision criteria

• Example Questions
• Will this lower lifetime cost?
• Will this make us the low cost airline?

Present the Model
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Example (Real Life)

• Software for financial document management
• Initial project plan included development of over
  3000 function points.
• Filtering functionality through the model yielded
  about 350 Differentiating function points.
• Company revised the plan to make these 350 even
  better and simplify the rest.
• Result Better product in half the time and 60
  of the original cost.

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Leadership Models

Strategy
Collaboration
Cultivate Innovation
EmbraceChange
Decisions
Real Options
Delivery
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Problems In the Air
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Implement and Review

• Unleashing Innovation

The answers are in your organization.
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Project Management
None of us are as smart as all of us. - Japanese
Proverb

• How Do We Deliver?

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Leading Agile

• Collaboration Model
• Collaboration Process

How to Collaborate
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Project Management
Create an Open Environment

• Quality Management

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Open Environment

• What Kind of Environment Do We Need To
• Foster creativity and innovation?
• Encourage ideas?
• Create team ownership and commitment?
• Implement mission critical and differentiation
  ideas?
• What Is an Open Environment?

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Collaboration

• Convene the Right People From the Entire
  Enterprise!
• Customers
• Marketing
• Sales
• Finance
• Technology
• Manufacturing
• Stakeholders

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Collaboration

• Foster
• Creativity
• and
• Innovation
• via
• Collaboration Process

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Collaboration

• Step Aside.
• Let
• Them
• Work.

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Collaboration

• Open Environment
• Right People
• Foster Innovation Collaboration Process
• Step Aside

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Collaboration

• How Do
• You
• Step
• Back?

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Leading Collaboration

• Step Up
• Step Back?
• Test for Success
• Ask Questions

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Leading Collaboration

• When Should a
• Leader
• Step Up?

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Unleashing Innovation

• Collaboration Process

Collaboration Process
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Collaboration Process

• Agree to
• Goals
• Objectives
• Purpose

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Brainstorm
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Collaboration Process

• Group

42
Collaboration Process

• Prioritize

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Collaboration Process

• Individuals
• Volunteer
• For What
• And
• By When

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Leading Collaboration
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Leadership Model

• Now
• Embrace Change
• Foster New Ideas
• Collaborate
• Gives Ownership
• Influential

• Old School
• Responds to Change
• Knows the Answers
• Bureaucratic
• Leader Decides
• Authoritarian

46
Leadership Model

• Today
• Embrace Change
• Foster New Ideas
• Collaborate
• Gives Ownership
• Influential

47
Collaborative Leadership
The Right People
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• Hire and promote
• first on the basis of integrity
• second, motivation
• third, capacity
• fourth, understanding
• fifth, knowledge
• last and least, experience.
• - Dee Hock, CEO Emeritus VISA International

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• authenticity
• attitude
• intelligence
• talent

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Passion
Ability
Organizational Fit
values
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Get the right people on the bus in the right
seats. - Jim Collins
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Get the wrong people off the bus.
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Project Management
Trust First !

• Risk Management

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Leadership Role

• Suspicion is a permanent condition.
• - Marcus Buckingham

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Not Good Enough
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Leadership Models

Strategy
Collaboration
Cultivate Innovation
EmbraceChange
Decisions
Real Options
Delivery
57
Projects
Balancing Project Portfolios Doing Things Right

• Why Projects Are Different

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Long Ago
Excellent! Pharaoh will be quite pleased to
learn that youve completed construction under
budget and ahead of schedule.
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Managing the Coming Storm Inside the Tornado
Project Kickoff
Team Unity
60
Were not in Kansas Anymore
Developer Hero
Reorg
Testing
61
Hurricane Rita
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Uncertainty

• We expect uncertainty and manage for it through
  iterations, anticipation and adaptation.

63
Project Differences

High
Bulls
Colts
Simple, young projects.
Agility to handle uncertainty
Process definition to cope with complexity
Need agility
Tight Teams
Uncertainty
Cows
Dogs
laissez faire
Complex, mature market
Need defined interfaces
Low
Low
High
Project Complexity
64
Bull Product Release
65
Reduce Uncertainty or Complexity
Uncertainty Complexity

Opportunities to Reduce Uncertainty Use proven technologies Reduce project duration Opportunities to Reduce Complexity Collocate the team Break project into sub-projects
Attribute Score
Market
Technical
Customers
Duration
Change
Attribute Score
Team Size
Mission Critical
Team Location
Team Maturity
Domain Gaps
Dependencies
66
Partitioning

Colt Project
Bull Program
Dog Project
Cow Project
Remember Loose Coupling and Strong Cohesion
67
First Integration Release

High
Bulls
Colts
New acquisitions
The Integration Release
Uncertainty
Cows
Dogs
Existing Products
Integration data model
Low
Low
High
Project Complexity
68
Integrating Software by Integrating People
Developers Conference Yearly
Creating the Future
PMM Quarterly
Friday_at_4 Weekly
69
Y2K Release

High
Bulls
Colts
None
None
Uncertainty
Cows
Dogs
All Products
The overall Program
Low
Low
High
Project Complexity
70
Products Lifecycle Paths

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Project Leadership Guide

Create Change
Embrace Change
High
Invent
Market Differentiating
Ad Hoc
Agile
Eliminate Change
Control Change
Manage
Offload
Low
Outsource
Structured
High
Low
Mission Critical
72
Portfolio Management

73
Leadership Development
People
Business
Process
Technology
74
Leadership Development

High
Bulls
Colts
Business Technology
Uncertainty
People Process
Cows
Dogs
Low
Low
High
Project Complexity
75
Levels of Proficiency
1 2 3
Foundation Proficient Master
Shu Ha Ri
Read Write Delete
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Leadership Development
People Process Technology Business
Read Read Read Read
Read Read Write Write
Write Write Read Read
Delete Write Write Write

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Leadership Development
People Process Technology Business
Dog Read Read Read Read
Colt Read Read Write Write
Cow Write Write Read Read
Bull Delete Write Write Write
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Not all dogs are the same
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Leadership Models

Strategy
Collaboration
Cultivate Innovation
EmbraceChange
Decisions
Real Options
Delivery
80
Leadership Models

Strategy
Collaboration
Cultivate Innovation
EmbraceChange
Decisions
Real Options
Delivery
81
Definitions
Decision Tools Get More Done by Doing Less
82
Business Value Models

Purpose
Value Model
Benefits
Business Value
Considerations
- Kent McDonald
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Business Value Decision Models

Purpose

• What do we do?
• When do we do it?
• When do we decide?

Benefits
Considerations
- Kent McDonald
84
Business Value Velocity

• BV Differences (use collaboration and planning
  cards)
• Recalcualte BV at the end of every iteration
• Calcualte the BV Velocity (BV2).
• Is each iteration giving you enough BV?
• When will you have enough BV to go to market?

85
Real Options
- Chris Matts
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Business Value

• Leadership Role
• Run Business ValueModel often!
• Revisit backlog, prioritize based onBusiness
  Value

87
Project Idea Filter
Idea
Partner Invest
Who Cares Parity
Critical Items
Estimate Effort Points and Value Points
Prioritize By Value/Cost
Idea
Strategic Fit
Other Release Backlog
Idea
Non- Economic
Non- Strategic
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Cost of Delay
89
Real Options

90
Leading Agile Summary

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• Create a place where people want to be not have
  to be
• Make sure everyone has what they need to
  succeed.

Great Leadership
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Leadership Models

Strategy
Collaboration
Cultivate Innovation
EmbraceChange
Decisions
Real Options
Delivery
93
Purpose-Based Alignment

High
Innovate
Do We Take This On?
Market Differentiating
Achieve and Maintain Parity
Who Cares?
Low
High
Low
Mission Critical
94
Summary

• To Unleash
• Innovation
• And Lead Change
• Collaborate

95
Collaboration Model

• Open Environment
• Right People
• Discover Purpose
• Foster Innovation Collaboration Process
• Step Back

96
Collaboration Process

• Agree to Goal
• Brainstorm
• Group
• Prioritize
• Individuals volunteer and by when

97
Leadership Model

• The Right Talent
• Build Trust!
• Articulate Success
• Let them tell you what they need to do tobe
  successful
• Stand back!

98
Project Differences

High
Bulls
Colts
Agility to handle uncertainty
Simple, young projects.
Process definition to cope with complexity
Need agility
Tight Teams
Skunks
Uncertainty
Cows
laissez faire
Complex, mature market
Dogs
Need defined interfaces
Dogs
Low
Low
High
Project Complexity
99
Business Value Decision Models

Purpose

• What do we do?
• When do we do it?
• When do we decide?

Benefits
Considerations
- Kent McDonald
100
Real Options
- Chris Matts
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Summary

• Agile Leadership is Collaboration
• Push decisions down Inquire, not tell
• Communicate Transparency
• Remove Boulders Carry water
• Stand Back
• Listen
• Guide through questions

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Agile Leadership
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Contact

• Todd Little
• Senior Development Manager, Landmark Graphics
  Corporation, www.lgc.com
• tlittle_at_accelinnova.com
• www.toddlittleweb.com

Coming Soon from Addison-Wesley! Stand Back and
Deliver A Leaders Guide to the Agile
Enterprise The definitive book describing the
Accelinnova models for leading the agile
enterprise
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References

• Stand Back and Deliver, co-author, published by
  Addison Wesley, due out in early 2009
• The Seven-Day Weekend, Ricardo Semler
• Orbiting the Giant Hairball A Corporate Fool's
  Guide to Surviving with Grace, Gordon MacKenzie
• www.accelinnova.com/publications.html

105
References

• Wicked Problems, Naming the Pain in
  Organizations, E. Jeffrey Conklin and William
  Weil, Touchstone Tools and Resources
• How I Learned to Let My Workers Lead, Ralph
  Stayer, HBR, Nov-Dec 1990
• The 6 Myths of Creativity, Bill Breen,
  FastCompany, Dec 2004
• Now More Than Ever, Innovation Is The Answer,
  Robert D. Hof, BusinessWeek, 1 Mar 2004

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Contact

• Pollyanna Pixton
• www.accelinnova.com
• www.evolutionarysystems.net
• www.collaborativeleadership.com
• 1 . 801 . 209 . 0195
• p2_at_ppixton.com

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Long Ago and Far Away
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Long Ago and Far Away
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Long Ago and Far Away
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• Your Questions?

Agile Leadership