A lot of companies fail when it comes to turning change ideas into small and executable steps with learnings as a desired outcome. Agile day-to-day work, such as dealing with retrospective outcomes, becomes very challenging, and whole Agile transitions fail because of this inability to navigate in complex environments. Following a few simple steps to plan, execute, and learn from experiments will provide tangible outcomes, closing the gap between where you are right now and where you want to be with being Agile. If everyone followed these steps, change would be much faster and less feared. This session will not only cover the answer to why experimenting is the only way to drive successful change, but will also provide actionable insights, like the 10 necessary features of good experiments and a straightforward framework for making the most out of experiments. Further details: http://lanyrd.com/2014/auscrum/sdfkpy

1. Concrete
Experimentation in Scrum
Scrum Australia 21/10/2014 Bernd Schiffer

2. Moving to Australia

3. Move to
Australia
Is it
nice?
Yes
Get
pregnant
Our
foPrl aOnz
No Move
back

4. 20% Chance of getting pregnant
per ovulation cycle
if absolutely everything’s okay.

5. Getting pregnant is COMPLEX (not complicated)
complicated
complex

6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complexity
“Complexity is generally used to characterise something with many
parts where those parts interact with each other in multiple ways.
[…]
…even among scientists, there is no unique definition of complexity…”

7. staying aware of danger signals, and avoiding inappropriate reactions, managers can lead effectively in a variety of situations.
EXPERIMENTS
THE CONTEXT’S
RESPONSE TO
CHARACTERISTICS THE LEADER’S JOB DANGER SIGNALS
DANGER SIGNALS
A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making by David J. Snowden and Mary E. Boone in Harvard Business Review (11.2007) SIMPLE
Repeating patterns and
consistent events
Clear cause-and-effect
relationships evident to every-one;
right answer exists
Known knowns
Fact-based management
Sense, categorize, respond
Ensure that proper processes are
in place
Delegate
Use best practices
Communicate in clear, direct ways
Understand that extensive
interactive communication may
not be necessary
Complacency and comfort
Desire to make complex
problems simple
Entrained thinking
No challenge of received wisdom
Overreliance on best practice if
context shifts
Create communication
channels to challenge orthodoxy
Stay connected without
micromanaging
Don’t assume things
are simple
Recognize both the value and
the limitations of best practice
COMPLICATED
Expert diagnosis required
Cause-and-effect relationships
discoverable but not immediately
apparent to everyone; more than
one right answer possible
Known unknowns
Fact-based management
Sense, analyze, respond
Create panels of experts
Listen to conflicting advice
Experts overconfident in their
own solutions or in the efficacy of
past solutions
Analysis paralysis
Expert panels
Viewpoints of nonexperts
excluded
Encourage external and internal
stakeholders to challenge expert
opinions to combat entrained
thinking
Use experiments and games to
force people to think outside the
familiar
COMPLEX
Flux and unpredictability
No right answers; emergent
instructive patterns
Unknown unknowns
Many competing ideas
A need for creative and innova-tive
approaches
Pattern-based leadership
Probe, sense, respond
Create environments and
experiments that allow patterns
to emerge
Increase levels of interaction and
communication
Use methods that can help gener-ate
ideas: Open up discussion (as
through large group methods);
set barriers; stimulate attractors;
encourage dissent and diversity;
and manage starting conditions
and monitor for emergence
Temptation to fall back into
habitual, command-and-control
mode
Temptation to look for facts
rather than allowing patterns to
emerge
Desire for accelerated resolution
of problems or exploitation of
opportunities
Be patient and allow time for
reflection
Use approaches that
encourage interaction so
patterns can emerge
CHAOTIC
High turbulence
No clear cause-and-effect rela-tionships,
so no point in looking
for right answers
Unknowables
Many decisions to make and no
time to think
High tension
Pattern-based leadership
Act, sense, respond
Look for what works instead of
seeking right answers
Take immediate action to
reestablish order (command and
control)
Provide clear, direct
communication
Applying a command-and-control
approach longer than needed
“Cult of the leader”
Missed opportunity for innovation
Chaos unabated
Set up mechanisms (such as
parallel teams) to take advantage
of opportunities afforded by a
chaotic environment
Encourage advisers to challenge
your point of view once the crisis
has abated
Work to shift the context from
chaotic to complex
COMPLICATED
Expert diagnosis required
Cause-and-effect relationships
discoverable but not immediately
apparent to everyone; more than
one right answer possible
Known unknowns
Fact-based management
Sense, analyze, respond
Create panels of experts
Listen to conflicting advice
Experts overconfident in their
own solutions or in the efficacy past solutions
Analysis paralysis
Expert panels
Viewpoints of nonexperts
excluded
COMPLEX
Flux and unpredictability
No right answers; emergent
instructive patterns
Unknown unknowns
Many competing ideas
A need for creative and innova-tive
approaches
Pattern-based leadership
Probe, sense, respond
Create environments and
experiments that allow patterns
to emerge
Increase levels of interaction and
communication
Use methods that can help gener-ate
ideas: Open up discussion (as
through large group methods);
set barriers; stimulate attractors;
encourage dissent and diversity;
and manage starting conditions
and monitor for emergence
Temptation to fall back into
habitual, command-and-control
mode
Temptation to look for facts
rather than allowing patterns to
emerge
Desire for accelerated resolution
of problems or exploitation of
opportunities
High turbulence
No clear cause-and-effect rela-tionships,
so no point in looking
Act, sense, respond
Look for what works instead of
seeking right answers
Applying a command-and-control
approach longer than needed
“Cult of the leader”

8. So, experimenting…

9. Not our own chart!

10. Preferences over Plans

11. CAT SHOE, SIC!
clear goal
arranged
trackable through metrics
small
has due date
out in the open
evalutated through hypothesis
safe-to-fail
impelled by champions
communicated before start
Thus!

12. Another example Fix It or Trash It

13. Clear Goal
Stop piling up bugs.

14. Arranged
cf. ”How We Deal With Software Defects in Production" by Oliver Lorenz
(10.09.2013, http://www.technology-ebay.de/the-teams/mobile-de/blog/how-we-deal-with-software-defects-in-production.html )

15. Trackable Through
Metrics
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
#bugs
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
bugs raised bugs fixed and trashed
-8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5 6
week
Experiment starts here

16. Small
“Only” 6 weeks. Only one team.
small

17. Has a Due Date
After 6 weeks, incl. presentation of final results
after standup scheduled in advance.

18. Out in the
Todo Arrange
Open
Experi-menting
Ready for
Reflection
Done
3
Smaller
Teams
Hire
internal
Coach
First
Open
Space
Fix It or
Trash
It
Happi-ness
Index
cf. “7 Steps to Build a Kanban Board for a Scrum Team’s Impediments” by Bernd Schiffer
(05/09/2011, http://agiletrail.com/2011/09/05/7-steps-to-build-a-kanban-board-for-a-scrum-teams-impediments )
Yes, that’s a Kanban board.

19. Evaluated through
Hypothesis
h = We can handle more or equal amount
of bugs than currently coming in.
h0 = The amount of bugs keeps increasing.

20. Safe-to-Fail
Source:
http://thinkvitamin.com/design/backstage-star-wars-photos/

21. Impelled by Champions

22. Communicated
before Start

23. CAT SHOE, SIC!
clear goal
arranged
trackable through metrics
small
has due date
out in the open
evalutated through hypothesis
safe-to-fail
impelled by champions
communicated before start
Thus!

24. Tip 1:
Do Retrospectives
Treat every action as an
experiment.

25. Tip 2:
Uncover What’s Really
Going on

26. http://thechive.com/2014/04/23/this-will-get-your-ocd-boiling-27-photos/funny-ocd-17/ http://www.jokideo.com/ocd-overdrive/
Tip 3: Don’t Be Perfect
http://www.clickypix.com/funny-ocd-pictures-drive-crazy/funny-ocd-pictures-26/
http://www.funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/4044631/Ocd+20/

27. Our
Experi-
Omuetcnotm’s e

28. Result of
Our Experiment’s Outcome

29. Concrete
Experimen-tation
in Scrum
Scrum Australia 21/10/2014
Bernd Schiffer
‣@berndschiffer
‣@bold_mover
‣ coaching@berndschiffer.com
‣ http://slideshare.net/berndschiffer
‣ http://berndschiffer.com
‣ http://boldmover.com
‣ http://agiletrail.com
Thank
you!