As agile methodologies go mainstream, enterprises want to know how they can make agile work at scale. Unfortunately, becoming an agile organization is not as simple as following a canned methodology. Join Matthew Lawrence, Atlassian Group Product Manager for Agile at Scale Solutions, to learn how the concept of agile organizations goes back thousands of years, why agile is a cultural phenomenon and, how you can be as agile as a Mongolian horde to help drive cultural change.

1. MATTHEW LAWRENCE | GROUP PRODUCT MANAGER | ATLASSIAN
Agile at scale: lessons from the
Mongolian Horde

2. Why are you here?
INTRODUCTION

3. Agenda
Time travel Agile@Scale Tools won’t
save you
So what do
we do?

4. Agenda
Time travel Agile@Scale Tools won’t
save you
So what do
we do?

5. This is a story about a
large agile organisation
To see it, we’re going to to travel to
another continent and nearly one
thousand years back in time
https://www.merchoid.com/product/back-to-the-future-1-21-gigwatts-limited-edition-collector-s-artwork/

6. Agile Manifesto (2001)

7. Scrum (1986)

8. Kanban (late 1940s)

9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8W9tObWc3o

10. https://www.reddit.com/r/Map_Porn/comments/8uepm0/roman_empire_vs_mongol_empire_941x470/

11. https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/322077810831552947/

12. Our Empire is like the sea;
yours is but a handful of sand ...
How can we fear you?
EMPEROR XINGSHENG, JIN DYNASTY

13. http://naturtreenspicerx.pw/Light-Cavalry-Rider-Khazar-Khanate-of-Bulgaria-and-Alan-family.html

14. Arban = 10 Warriors

15. Jegun = 10 Arban

16. Mingan = 10 Jegun (1000 Warriors)
Tumen = 10 Mingan (10,000 Warriors)

17. Scrum of Scrums (2001)

18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8W9tObWc3o

19. Yeah, cool story.
But… how is this relevant
for us today?
YOU, SOME TIME IN THE LAST TEN MINUTES

20. Agenda
Time travel Agile@Scale Tools won’t
save you
So what do
we do?

21. Scaled but not agile
A (very) large organisation
(in any industry) that is
changing to become more
agile
Agile and scaling
A small (software)
organisation trying to scale
an established agile culture
GROWING TRANSFORMING

22. Agenda
Time travel Agile@Scale Tools won’t
save you
So what do
we do?

23. A fool with a tool is still a fool but
faster – and they are going to drag
you backward. This is not just about
tools – it’s about people.
DOM PRICE, HEAD OF R&D, ATLASSIAN

24. IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE TOOLS

25. Visibility
Visibility unlocks
faster time to
customer value
Evolve
Organisations must
evolve and adapt.
Decisions
Decision making is
best done by those
closest to the
problem.
Structure
While there is no one
size fits all solution,
scaling agile requires
structure.
Team of
teams
The power of a team
of teams enables
better outcomes.
Foundations for scaling agile

26. Visibility
We believe visibility unlocks faster time to customer
value, through:
• Shared understanding and alignment
• Situational awareness; that is, ensuring that every
team that has the information it needs when it
needs it
• Highlighting bottlenecks, risks and dependencies.

27. Evolve
We believe in the necessity of adapting, through:
• Everyone challenging the status quo
• Understanding current and future changes to your
environment
• Learning from making a balanced portfolio of bets
• Building a culture of experimentation.

28. Decisions
We believe decision making is best done by those
closest to the problem, through:
• The use of goals rather than instructions
• Relinquishing of control by leadership.
"Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what
to do and let them surprise you with their results.”
- George S. Patton

29. Structure
We believe that while there is no one size fits all
solution, scaling agile requires structure, including:
• Planning and reporting
• Shared ways of engaging other teams
• Shared and agreed to language
• Alignment between the behaviours, practices and
tools
• Evolving customisation of a framework.

30. Team of teams
We believe in the power of a team of teams to
enable better outcomes comes through:
• Shared purpose and goals
• Individual teams with the power to work the way
that meets their needs
• Engaged teams that believe in the impact they
have on the organisation
• Commitment to organisational outcomes over
team outcomes.

31. Agenda
Time travel Agile@Scale Tools won’t
save you
So what do
we do?

32. HOW MIGHT THIS WORK?
Practices
Behaviours
Foundations
Tools
Thecoreelementsonwhichwecanbuilda
sustainableandscalableagileorganisation.
Hundredsofdifferenthigh-levelwaysofthinkingandworking
thataredefinedbytheuniquecultureofanorganisation.
AtlassianPlaybook
Atlassiansoftware

33. MONGOLIAN CONQUERING HORDE (A.K.A. “TEAM OF TEAMS”)
Practices
Behaviours
Foundations
Tools
• “Individualteamswiththepowertoworkthewaythatmeetstheirneeds”
• “Commitmenttoorganisationaloutcomes”
• Teamstrustotherteams
• Communicateandunderstand“intent"
• Allcommunicationshouldworkasloopstocontinuallytestandverify
understanding
• “Arban”10troopunit-based“scrumofscrums”
• Electionofaleaderwhorepresentstheteamateachlevel
• None!

34. TEAM OF TEAMS
Practices
Behaviours
Foundations
Tools
• “Individualteamswiththepowertoworkthewaythatmeetstheirneeds”
• “Commitmenttoorganisationaloutcomes”
• Teamsusetoolsthewaytheyneedto
• Teamsadapttoworkingwithotherteams
• RolesandResponsibilities
• LudicrouslyComplexProjects
• Jira(andPortfolioforJira)
• JiraAlign
• Confluence

35. DECISIONS
Practices
Behaviours
Foundations
Tools
• “Decisionsmadebythoseclosesttotheproblem”
• “Relinquishingofcontrolbyleadership”
• Gettherightpeopleinvolvedindecisions
• Clearlycommunicatedecisions
• Leavedecisionsclosedunlessthereisnewinformation
• DACIDecisionMakingFramework
• InclusiveMeetings
Confluence:
• DACItemplate
• @mentions,share,watch,notifications,Popularstream

36. STRUCTURE
Practices
Behaviours
Foundations
Tools
• “Sharedwaysofengagingotherteams”
• Sharedlanguage/terminology
• Sharedinterfacesbetweenteams
• HealthMonitor
• RolesandResponsibilities
• RulesofEngagement
• Confluence
• Jira(andPortfolioforJira)
• JiraAlign

37. HOW MIGHT THIS WORK?
Practices
Behaviours
Foundations
Tools
Thecoreelementsonwhichwecanbuilda
sustainableandscalableagileorganisation.
Hundredsofdifferenthigh-levelwaysofthinkingandworking
thataredefinedbytheuniquecultureofanorganisation.
AtlassianPlaybook
Atlassiansoftware

38. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8W9tObWc3o

39. Thank you!
MATTHEW LAWRENCE | GROUP PRODUCT MANAGER | ATLASSIAN