I gave this talk about Agile and Human Resources at a "Secret HR Society" meetup. It gives HR people a good insight into Agile mindset, values and principles.

1. HR MEETS AGILE
Chris Philipps@The Secret HR Society
June 30th 2016
cphilipps@me.com

2. Chris Philipps
Tech Advisor for Startups / VCs
Interim CTO
Agile Enthusiast
In Tech since 2000
…and still NO clue about HR :-)

3. WHY AGILE?

4. We need to find an answer to
constantly changing requirements
and big disruptions
in a fast-paced world
that gets more and more complex

5. Agile is probably not the ultimate answer
- but the best we have found so far

6. Agile provides…
- mindset (values and principles)
- best practices, tools and theories for complex
environments

7. MINDSET
Agile Values and Principles:
- Trust
- Collaboration
- Feedback
- Transparency
- Openness
- Commitment
- Respect
- Focus
- Courage

8. MINDSET
Dan Pink’s “Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose”

9. THEORY
Complexity Theory
e.g. Dave Snowden’s Cynefin Model

10. THEORY

11. TOOLS
- Retrospectives
- Stand-up meetings
- Iterative approaches (“Sprints”)
- Testing (“A/B-Testing”)
- Collaborative, interdisciplinary problem-
solving approaches (“Open Space”)

12. AGILE HR 2026
- Thesis 0: Hyperagile businesses are
standard.

13. AGILE HR 2026
- Thesis 0: Hyperagile businesses are
standard.
- Thesis 1: Agile is the new normal.
Everywhere.

14. AGILE HR 2026
- Thesis 0: Hyperagile businesses are
standard.
- Thesis 1: Agile is the new normal.
Everywhere.
- Thesis 2: Post-heroic management has
succeeded, heroic managers joined the
dinosaurs

15. AGILE HR 2026
- Thesis 0: Hyperagile businesses are
standard.
- Thesis 1: Agile is the new normal.
Everywhere.
- Thesis 2: Post-heroic management has
succeeded, heroic managers joined the
dinosaurs
- Thesis 3: There are no hierarchies
anymore

16. AGILE HR 2026
- Thesis 4: HR is
- Trust Agent
- Change Facilitator
- Sparring Partner for personal growth

17. AGILE HR 2026
- Thesis 4: HR is
- Trust Agent
- Change Facilitator
- Sparring Partner for personal growth
- Thesis 5: Recruiting still plays a role, but
HR mainly helps identifying meta-skills
rather than specific technical skills in a
fast and standardised way

18. AGILE HR 2026
- Thesis 4: HR is
- Trust Agent
- Change Facilitator
- Sparring Partner for personal growth
- Thesis 5: Recruiting still plays a role, but
HR mainly helps identifying meta-skills
rather than specific technical skills in a
fast and standardised way
- Thesis 6: Bureaucratic B.S. is dead / fully
automated

19. CHALLENGES
- No good alternatives for classical “career-
path” yet
- Contemporary HR is biased (“Those who care
are the those who kill”) => Role Conflict
- What is the value HR can add? Still needed?

20. EXAMPLES

21. ONLINE RESOURCES:
Dan Pink on Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc
Simon Sinek: On “Why”
https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action
Spotify Engineering Culture
https://vimeo.com/85490944
https://vimeo.com/94950270
Tribal Leadership
http://www.culturesync.net/tribal-leadership-book/
Radical Management
http://www.stevedenning.com/
Cynefin Model / Complexity Theory
http://andrewcerniglia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Cynefin_Framework.pdf