This presentation was held at one of our previous Agile Edge Conferences. It analyses how Agile can be introduced to an organisation! Please contact info@valtech.co.uk for information on our next Agile Edge Confererence in January 2012.

1. ADAPTING AGILE TO THE ENTERPRISE
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PHASE GATES? – AGILE EDGE CONFERENCE

2. SUPERIOR
PRODUCT
AGILE-LEAN
METHODS
PEOPLE PROCESS
NOT EASY.

3. SUPERIOR
Change is Organic
PRODUCT
PRODUCTIVITY CAN BE SPENT ON
QUALITY OR DELIVERY DATE
AGILE-LEAN
METHODS
PEOPLE PROCESS
NOT EASY.

4. SUPERIOR
PRODUCT
PEOPLE AGILE-LEAN
METHODS
PROCESS
Process Overhead
Reduced to 8-15%
(From 40-60%)
NOT EASY.

5. SUPERIOR
PRODUCT
Improved Team
Morale due to Focus
AGILE-LEAN
and Rhythm
METHODS PROCESS
PEOPLE Improved Skills
due to Pairing &
Shared
Responsibilities
NOT EASY.

6. THE MATURING OF AGILE PRACTICE
AGILE-1ST GENERATION – AGILE FOR THE TEAM
– Emphasising the Human Factors in Development
BRANDED
AGILE
– Emphasising Empowerment-to-a-Goal
METHODS
– A Gaggle of Gurus
– Naïve Agile & Faux-Agile
AGILE-2ND GENERATION – AGILE FOR THE ENTERPRISE
– Emphasising Risk Management
– Emphasising Backlog Management HYBRID,
BEST-PRACTICE
– Emphasising Visibility & Accountability
AGILE
– Emphasising the Whole Solution Value Stream
METHODS

7. NOTE:
AGILITY IS A LARGE,
SOPHISTICATED, AND
SUBTLE BODY OF GOOD
PRACTICES.
THIS PRESENTATION IS
ONLY A BRIEF, PARTIAL
SKETCH.

8. THE AGILE MANIFESTO
THE ORIGINS OF 1ST-GENERATION AGILE
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
Comprehensive
Working Software Over Documentation
Customer Collaboration Over Contract Negotiation
Responding to Change Over Following a Predefined Plan
MORE VALUABLE VALUABLE
THAT IS, WHILE THERE IS VALUE IN THE ITEMS ON
THE RIGHT, WE VALUE THE ITEMS ON THE LEFT MORE.

9. THE DARK-SIDE OF THE AGILE MANIFESTO
THE ORIGINS OF FAUX-AGILE & NAÏVE-AGILE
We Do This … We Don’t Do This?
Individuals and Interactions Processes and Tools
Comprehensive
Working Software
Documentation
Customer Collaboration Contract Negotiation
Responding to Change Following a Predefined Plan
EITHER/OR THINKING AND
A FALSE DOCTRINE OF REJECTION.

10. DISCOVERING THE TAO OF AGILE-LEAN
DIMENSIONS OF ENTERPRISE AGILITY
• IT’S MORE THAN JUST BIG, DISTRIBUTED TEAMS!
INTEGRATED BACKLOG MANAGEMENT
• INDUCING A CONTINUOUS FLOW AND PLANNING RHYTHM FROM
PRODUCT/PORTFOLIO MGMT. THROUGH RELEASE & ITERATION
MGMT.
RISK PROFILING AND RISK-DRIVEN PROCESS
• IT’S ALL ABOUT RISK MANAGEMENT!
GOVERNANCE AS ACTIONABLE GLOBAL RISK MANAGEMENT
• STOP OBSTRUCTING! START INSTRUCTING!

11. “THE WISE MAN DOES LESS
AND LESS,
UNTIL HE DOES NOTHING
AT ALL,
AND YET NOTHING IS LEFT
UNDONE.” – LAO TSE

12. SCALING AGILITY TO THE ENTERPRISE
LARGER
COMPLEXITY QUICKER
Architecture RESPONSIVENESS
Configurations Scope Chg. Mgmt.
Half-Life of Reqs.
3rd-party Software
Time-to-Market
Stds Conformance PRODUCT
BROADER
MORE PRECISE
COORDINATION RISK PROFILE
Regulatory Compliance
Concurrent Devlpmt. PEOPLE PROCESS Security & Reliability
Version/Config. Mgt. Enterprise Governance
Product Integration
CLOSER
WIDER
IMPROVED ALIGNMENT
DIVERSITY To Business/Market
People & Cultures ACCOUNTABILITY To Strategic Plan
Disciplines & Skills Satisfaction-of-Need & Maturity
Timeliness & Health
Sites & Timezones
Quality & Fitness-for-Release
Efficiency & Productivity

13. AGILE DYNAMICS – FLOW & FEEDBACK
Doc
PRODUCTION
Product as needed RELEASE
Product
Backlog Release
Backlog Retrospective
Project &
Release DEMO
Planning
Scope Change
Mgmt
Release
Backlog
Progress
to Goal
Iteration
Retrospective Fitness-
Risk
Profiling Risk for-Release
Testing
s
Va
s
ne
lue
Fit
Iteration Iteration
Planning Backlog Build-Integration-Test-
Scrumboard
Acceptance Automation
Daily
Burn
Daily standup
Meeting
DAILY Pairing and Peering
(“Daily scrum”)
(NANO-LEVEL)
AGILE PLANNING
& GOVERNANCE

14. IN THE BEGINNING …
SCOPE
Requirements
THERE WAS THE STORY.
The essential unit of Agile scope.
The fundamental unit of Agile planning.
The concept around which we define actionable and done.
A bit of a mystery, in practice.
ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA
• The credit card should be rejected if it
Action Context is a type not accepted by the store.
Actor • The credit payment charged should
CREDIT CARD PAYMENTthe exact amount due.
be for
Action • Confirmation of successful or
As a Cashier, when processing a sale, Icredit clearance must be
unsuccessful
want to process a credit card payment to receipt generation.
displayed prior
Business Context in order to settle the saleIf successful, customer signature must
• transaction
such that confirmation of credit
be indicated by the cashier explicitly
Constraint transaction clearance is confirmed
before finalizing the sale.
before finalizing the sale.
Size-Effort = 5 Risk = 4.7

15. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE ACTIONABLE?
SPECIFIABLE - has been refined sufficiently to
understand how to satisfy the story.
IMPLEMENTABLE - can be elaborated to the next level so
that further SEIVing can occur.
ESTIMABLE - has reduced & bounded uncertainty
so effort can be reasonably projected.
VERIFIABLE - can specify acceptance criteria to
determine satisfaction of the story.
EACH SEPARATELY

16. WHAT IS AN EPIC?
Wrong question! “Epic” is an adjective, not a noun.
The question should be, “What makes a story epic?”
The answer: it fails on one or more of the SIEVe properties.
Specifiable AND
Epic Thing Implementable
AND
NOT 1 or more of: REFINEMENT
Estimable AND
Specifiable OR Verifiable
Implementable
OR
Estimable OR
Actionable
Verifiable Thing
There are several kinds of epic-actionable things.

17. RESOLVED: “STORY” IS A GENERIC TERM.
There are different kinds of stories, i.e. units of scope, depending on
your level of detail and focus.
• 4 KINDS OF STORIES:
Business – Goals – representing the objectives or initiatives of the business.
Goal
Epic User – Features – “If the system would only do X, then we would make progress
Story or
Use Case on the goal Y.”
User Story – Functions – “To provide the feature X, the system needs to do: A, B, C, Q,
or & W.”
Scenario
– Tasks – “To implement Q, we need to build U & V, modify the W & X
screens, update the Y schema, and write a Z audit record.”
Goal = Unit of Strategy Feature = Unit of Value
Function = Unit of Capability Task = Unit of Work

18. SIEVING EPIC STORIES
TO DERIVE ACTIONABLE STORIES
EPIC
GOAL
REFINEMENT is the decomposition
into more detailed stories of the
same kind such that the SEIVe
EPIC
ACTIONABLE properties are satisfied by those
FEATURE
GOAL stories at that level.
EPIC
FUNCTION
ELABORATION is the ACTIONABLE
identification and FEATURE
definition of stories
at the next lower level of detail.
ACTIONABLE TASK
THIS IS THE FOUNDATION FOR AGILE TRACEABILITY
FUNCTION
AND THE DEFINITION OF “DONE”.

19. MULTIDIMENSIONAL TRACEABILITY
Feature Feature Feature
“Done” with children
means done with
their parent. 
 
SOME DIMENSIONS
• Goal -> Feature (Set) for Demand Mgmt

• Feature -> Function -> Subfunction for Planning & Reporting
• Function -> Version for Complexity Mgmt
• Function -> Task for Work Allocation & Execution
THE DIFFICULTY OF DEFINING “DONE”
IS A MAJOR CATEGORY OF ANALYSIS RISK.

20. HIERARCHY OF BACKLOGS
PRODUCT
EPIC BACKLOG
GOAL
RELEASE
BACKLOG
EPIC
ACTIONABLE FEATURE
GOAL
EPIC
FUNCTION
ACTIONABLE
FEATURE
ITERATION
4 STORIES TYPES IN PAIRS BACKLOG
GENERATES 3 NATURAL ACTIONABLE
BACKLOG TYPES TASK
FUNCTION

21. DEFINITION OF “PLAN”
“PLAN” v. (a) to add (delete or modify)
stories to a backlog,
(b) to allocate stories from one backlog to another.
“ANALYZE” v. (a) to refine or elaborate a story.
“MANAGE” v. (a) to plan and to analyze the stories in a
backlog.

22. DEFINITION OF “PLAN”
PRODUCT
EPIC BACKLOG Release Planning
GOAL
RELEASE
BACKLOG
EPIC
ACTIONABLE FEATURE
GOAL
EPIC
Iteration
FUNCTION
Product Planning
Mgmt ACTIONABLE
FEATURE
ITERATION
BACKLOG
Release ACTIONABLE TASK
Mgmt FUNCTION
Iteration
Mgmt

23. BACKLOG NETWORK
CUSTOMER DIVISIONAL
Each Backlog subsumes
BACKLOG BACKLOG its own (potentially unique) Analysis &
Planning Disciplines
RELEASE
CONFIG
PRODUCT PRODUCT BACKLOG
LINE BACKLOG
BACKLOG
QUEUING NETWORK
RELEASE SUBSYSTEM
– Analyze Flow
BACKLOG BACKLOG
– Optimize by Lean Principles
COORDINATION-INTEGRATION
TASKS
– Generates a Hierarchy of Scrums
– Attach Governance to
COMPONENT ITERATION
“Natural” Gates, Flows, & Activities
BACKLOG BACKLOG

24. MATURE AGILE PROCESS
ESTABLISHING RHYTHMS FOR SUCCESS
Regular RHYTHM ensures Sustainability
Regular FEEDBACK ensures Fidelity
Multiple levels of Rhythmic Feedback
for Risk Management
& Scope Change Mgmt INCREMENTAL DEVELOPMENT
Iterative Dev
CATCH RISKS WHEN THEY ARE LITTLE,
AND THEY WON’T GROW UP TO BE BIG ISSUES.

25. MATURE AGILE PROCESS
ESTABLISHING RHYTHMS FOR SUCCESS
RELEASE
ITERATION
DAILY

26. IF YOU HAVE A RISK,
YOU HAD BETTER DO
SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
IF YOU DON’T HAVE A
RISK,
THEN DON’T DO
SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

27. THE AGILE RAZOR – IT’S ALL RISK MGMT
All PROCESS is about RISK MANAGEMENT.
If it isn’t, then it is mere formality, i.e. waste.
Every element of process must justify itself –
in the specific case of each development initiative, not just in
general.
PROCESS SHOULD ADAPT PROPORTIONALLY TO
THE RISK PROFILE OF THE INITIATIVE.

28. PROCESS IS JUSTIFIED BY RISKS-MANAGED
BUSINESS RISK ANALYSIS RISK
Roles Relationship Risk Backlogs & Scope Chg Mgmt Scoping Risk
Reviews Regulatory Risk Analysis Artifacts Requirements Risk
Business Case Profitability Risk Accept. Criteria Verification Risk
MARKET RISK TECHNICAL RISK
Vision & Business Case Demand Risk Prototyping Development Risk
Schedule Time-to-Market Risk Training/ Coaching Plan Technology Risk
Automation Environmental Risk
RESOURCE RISK Process Plan Process Risk
Test Plans Quality Risk
Staffing Plan Capability Risk
RFP, Evaluation Criteria Procurement Risk
DEPENDENCY RISK
Comm. and Integ. Plan Coordination Risk Process is even driven by Risk
Risk Management Plan Consequential Risk … and Value and Fitness.

29. AFTER STRATEGIC
PLANNING, THERE IS
ONLY ONE CONTINUOUS
ACTIVITY OF ITERATIVE
DEVELOPMENT, THE
TACTICAL EXECUTION
PHASE.
ONE ENGINE, THREE FUEL MIXES.

30. AGILE MACRO-RHYTHMS:
PLANNING & RELEASE CYCLE
Agile Release
Cycle
Project/Release Foundational Primary Finalization Deployment
Planning Iterations Iterations Iterations to Production
incl. vision, roadmap, incl. requirements & development for incl. requirements & development for incl. activities ensuring
release plan, strategic high-risk & architecturally-significant high-value, moderate- to low-risk features, fitness-for-release and
estimates, risk profile features, reforecast due date on-going level-1 & level-2 acceptance testing final acceptance
Feasibility Risk 80% – Value 80% – Fitness 80% –
Fitness 20%
Value 20% Risk 20%
Agile Development
Priorities

31. DIFFERENTIATED BACKLOG
INCLUDE IN YOUR BACKLOG ALL THE ITEMS (FUNCTIONS & TASKS)
THAT CONSUME YOUR TEAM’S TIME & ENERGY.
Business Reqs Change
IF IT IS NOT TRACKED, Story
Value Stories
IT IS NOT ACCOUNTABLE.
Quality
New Reqs Attribute
Story Story
“OH YEAH!
WE’VE BEEN Technical
WORKING Value Stories
Level-2 (NFR)
REALLY HARD … Tests
Reqs.
WE JUST CAN’T Clarification Design
SAY ON WHAT, Committed Refactoring
Defect
EXACTLY.” Repairs
Risk/Issue
Governance
Mgmt Task
Activity

32. AGILE APPROACH TO GOVERNANCE
TRADITIONAL GOVERNANCE IS OBSTRUCTIVE.
We cannot tolerant interruptions in the flow, …
But, we have to admit there is a place for governance
when we conceive it as
Enterprise Risk Management
complementing to our Project Risk Management.
BUT, AGILE GOVERNANCE IS DIFFERENT!
We embody Governance Activities as Stories!
“Don’t stop our rhythm! Just tell us what you
need to know. We will add the stories to our backlogs and
plan them into the appropriate iterations.”
NOW, WE CAN EVEN TRACK THE EFFORT
AND SCHEDULE IMPACT OF GOVERNANCE!

33. THE VARIETY OF (KINDS OF) STORIES
Fundamental Story Types
GOALS → FEATURES → FUNCTIONS → TASKS
Story “Colors”
• Value Features, Functions & Tasks:
New Requirements, Requirement Changes, Quality Attributes
• Overhead Features, Functions & Tasks:
Reqs. Clarifications, Defect Repairs, Level-2 Tests,
Design Refactoring, Risk/Issue Mgmt Task, Governance Activity
Story Templates:
• Parameterized Stories (applied to stories or arch. components)
• Periodic Stories (performed every n iterations or releases)
• Supplemental Acceptance Criteria (special ACs added to a story)

34. RHYTHM & FLOW
– THE ESSENCE OF AGILE-LEAN
Agile Non-Phases
Project/Release Foundational Primary Finalization Deployment
Planning Iterations Iterations Iterations to Production
incl. vision, roadmap, incl. requirements & development for incl. requirements & development for incl. activities ensuring
release plan, strategic high-risk & architecturally-significant high-value, moderate- to low-risk features, fitness-for-release and
estimates, risk profile features, reforecast due date on-going level-1 & level-2 acceptance testing final acceptance
Feasibility Risk 80% – Value 80% – Fitness 80% –
Fitness 20%
Value 20% Risk 20%
Agile Development
Priorities
“The Wise Man does less and less, until he does nothing at
all, and yet nothing is left undone.”

35. ?
ANY QUESTIONS …

36. info@valtech.co.uk
http://www.valtech.co.uk
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