Being agile while standing in a waterfall

Being agile while standing in a Waterfall

Mike Edwards

[email protected]: @mikeeedwards

Blog: www.mikeeedwards.caReferences: agilewaterfall.ca

Wednesday, 23 October, 13

mailto:[email protected]


http://www.mikeeedwards.cas

http://www.mikeeedwards.cas

Agile will fail at my workplace because of ...

• The concept of dedicating to one task at a time is not supported

• Because of our culture

• They won’t change

• Of me

• It’s counterintuitive and hard to practice

• Too focused on mechanics

• Ridiculous product owners

• What we do already works

• Not everyone on our team understands it

• We only fund capital projects

• My boss who manages with fear

( Taken from Agile 2013 )


Agenda

Stories

What worked for me

Views & experiences

Where to from here


Does Waterfall work?


“I believe in this concept, but the implementation described above is risky and invites failures” -- Winston Royce (August 1970)

I SYSTE M

I ANALYSIS

PROGRAM DESIGN

I c o o , . o

TESTING

I OPERATIONS

Figure 2. Implementation steps to develop a large computer program for delivery to a customer.

I believe in this concept, but the implementation described above is risky and invites failure. The problem is illustrated in Figure 4. The testing phase which occurs at the end of the development cycle is the first event for which timing, storage, input /output transfers, etc., are experienced as distinguished from analyzed. These phenomena are not precisely analyzable. They are not the solutions to the standard partial differential equations of mathematical physics for instance. Yet if these phenomena fail to satisfy the various external constraints, then invariably a major redesign is required. A simple octal patch or redo of some isolated code wil l not f ix these kinds of diff iculties. The required design changes are l ikely to be so disruptive that the software requirements upon which the design is based and which provides the rationale for everything are violated. Either the requirements must be modif ied, or a substantial change in the design is required. In effect the development process has returned to the origin and one can expect up to a lO0-percent overrun in schedule and/or costs.

One might note that there has been a skipping-over of the analysis and code phases. One cannot, of course, produce software wi thout these steps, but generally these phases are managed wi th relative ease and have l i tt le impact on requirements, design, and testing. In my experience there are whole departments consumed with the analysis of orbi t mechanics, spacecraft att i tude determination, mathematical opt imizat ion of payload activity and so forth, but when these departments have completed their di f f icul t and complex work, the resultant program steps involvea few lines of serial arithmetic code. If in the execution of their d i f f icul t and complex work the analysts have made a mistake, the correction is invariably implemented by a minor change in the code with no disruptive feedback into the other development bases.

However, I believe the illustrated approach to be fundamental ly sound. The remainder of this discussion presents five addit ional features that must be added to this basic approach to eliminate most of the development risks.

329


Computing: Then & Now

IBM System/360


What is Agile?


Saying you do one of these ...

Agile

Lean

ScrumXP

Kanban

DADRUPFDD

DSDM

Crystal

RAD

SAFe


... is like carrying one of these


Story time!


Once upon a time ...

• Final component of a larger program

• Estimated at 1200 days

• Drop dead date of 3.5 months

• Highly visible if we failed

• Core team assigned of 5 IT people

• Waterfall was all we knew


Go!

• 15 contractors in the door within 2 weeks

• Secured a team room

• Broke the work out into projects

• Developed a mantra: “Failure is not an option”

• Strong executive sponsorship


The Result!

• Delivered on the date we said we would

• Actuals came in $8000 under budget

• Delivered all key scope items

• No significant quality issues after go-live

• Happy customer!


Another story!


The situation

• Towards end of a larger troubled project (we kept dropping scope)

• Team only available for 3 more months

• Budget defined by available people and time

• Low key enhancement project

• Waterfall was best described as a religion


Go!

• Secured a war ‘area’

• Given free reign to ‘try something different’

• Simple one sentence scope statement

• No authority to NOT do something in the department’s process

• Executive sponsorship watched closely


The Result!

• Finished early

• Finished slightly under budget

• Features delivered exceeded customer expectation

• No quality issues after go-live

• Happy customer!


Ideas for being Agile?


Describe the characteristics of a successful project?


Start with theAgile Manifesto

We are uncovering better ways of developingsoftware by doing it and helping others do it.Through this work we have come to value:

Individuals and interactions over processes and toolsWorking software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiationResponding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items onthe right, we value the items on the left more.


Ideas

Make it about principles


Post-Mortem


LearningWe can learn the mechanic didn’t latch the cowling

Feel better?

What does it mean to improve?

vs. Improving


Improve how you Improve

• Conduct regular retrospectives throughout the project

• Empower teams to improve

• Make room for ongoing improvements

• Make improvement an objective for teams


Ideas


Conduct regular Retrospectives & Improve


People• Support those who deliver value

• Motivate them

• Trust them

• Create sustainable pace

• Foster responsibility

• Have fun!


OBLIGATION

RESPONSIBILITY

SHAME

The Responsibility Process™

JUSTIFYLAY BLAME

DENIAL

QUIT

ChristopherAvery.com©1991-2012. International trademarks and copyrights apply. Leadership Gift™ is a trademark of Christopher Avery. Responsibility Process™ and Keys to Responsibility™ are trademarks of Christopher Avery and Bill McCarley. Permission is hereby granted to duplicate and distribute only in its entirety without changes or deletions.

CHRISTOPHER AVERY& THE LEADERSHIP GIFT


The 5 dysfunctions of a team


Collaborate!

• Examine the value of your weekly status meetings

• Tear down the walls

• Eliminate the hierarchy

• Make information visible

• Build a cross functional team

• Build a high performing team


Ideas



Create a high performing team


Why do we schedule?


An effective schedule?An ineffective schedule


Schedule


Ideas



Create a high performing team

‘Deliver’ frequently


“The customer just asked for a couple changes”


Why do we need Change Management?

Decisions are made prematurely!

Our customers cannot possibly know what they want in detail at the start of a project


Scope

In Scope Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

Out of Scope Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

OWednesday, 23 October, 13

Scope

Scope Statement

In Scope Add a feature <to the system> and

supporting functionality

Out of Scope


Delay decisions to the last responsible moment

• User stories and user story maps

User Story format:

As a <user>, I want <some goal>, so that <some reason>Wednesday, 23 October, 13

Scope ManagementFront Burner Back Burner Fridge Freezer

User Stories

Scope


What can you do about change?

Embrace it!Welcome changing requirements, even late in

development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.

(Agile Manifesto - Principle #2)

Create an environmentallowing everyone to learn


Ideas

Make it about principles Conduct regular Retrospectives & Improve Create a high performing team‘Deliver’ frequentlyDefer decisions until the last responsible moment


How do you report status?

a.k.a.: Navigating through the rear window


Status Reporting

• Start ALL projects red

• Check the politics at the door

• Honesty & Transparency

• Put your status on the wall

• Build plans allowing for clearer reporting


Ideas

Make it about principles Conduct regular Retrospectives & Improve Create a high performing team‘Deliver’ frequentlyDefer decisions until the last responsible momentKeep status reports transparent and real


Tracking Progress

0

4

8

11

15

8-Mar 15-Mar 22-Mar 29-Mar 5-Apr 12-Apr 19-Apr

Critical Path Actual vs Target Hours

Hou

rs

0

150

300

450

600

8-Mar9-Mar10-Mar11-Mar12-Mar13-Mar14-Mar15-Mar16-Mar17-Mar18-Mar19-Mar20-Mar21-Mar22-Mar23-Mar24-Mar25-Mar26-Mar27-Mar28-Mar29-Mar30-Mar31-Mar1-Apr2-Apr3-Apr4-Apr5-Apr6-Apr7-Apr8-Apr9-Apr10-Apr11-Apr12-Apr13-Apr14-Apr15-Apr16-Apr17-Apr18-Apr19-Apr20-Apr21-Apr22-Apr23-Apr

Actual vs projected total

Daily burn

Burn up


Be careful what you measure ...

You might just get it!

MeasurementsTime sheets

OPM3

CMMI ITIL

COBIT

Schedule Accuracy


The importance of timeliness!

Hermann Ebbinghaus


Some words of wisdoma.k.a. Things I’ve learned the hard way


Things I’ve learned

• Culture cannot be changed - change how the work is done and culture will follow

• Start from where you are today and never be satisfied

• Improve the whole

• Improve one step at a time

• Iterate (Build Measure Learn)

• Have fun!


Thanks!

For more Information:http://agilewaterfall.ca

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Twitter: @mikeeedwardsBlog: www.mikeeedwards.ca

My upcoming LeanPub book:

Being agile while standing in a waterfall!


http://leanpmsolutions.ca/being-agile-while-standing-in-a-waterfall/

http://leanpmsolutions.ca/being-agile-while-standing-in-a-waterfall/





Being agile while standing in a waterfall

Technology

scope team

people waterfall

waterfall work

agile manifesto

live happy customer

team room

story time

key scope items