Agile conferences, blogs, twitter – wherever lean and agile people come together it is easy to stir up a tumult with emotions running high just by mentioning Jira. But why is there always such a strong reaction? Is it the quality of the tool? Not in my experience. The problem lies in the actual adoption in many organizations and – to be fair –similar points could be made about other tools as well. This talk will look into the systemic, sociological and organizational issues that make (some) of us wince each time we hear that our clients use Jira. And it will show how to deal with these issues! This is not meant to be a Jira bashing session, but a talk that aims to provide actual guidance for all agile initiatives challenged with centrally administered systems. After this talk participants will know (more) about - A better –and more objective– understanding on why so many people in the lean and agile communities object the usage of Jira - Some Approaches to succeeding with lean and agile initiatives despite centrally administered ticketing systems like the one mentioned in the title

1. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
The trouble with Jira
1
Michael Mahlberg – Oktober 2019

2. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 2
Source:Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trouble_with_Harry#/media/File:The_Trouble_with_Harry.jpg
JIRA

3. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 3
This talk might not agree with Jira-haters
and challenge some precious misconceptions
ADVISORY
G E N E R A L
N o J i r a B a s h i n g

4. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 4
Quelle:ThomasEpping,persönlicheKommunikation,2019
Team
Process
Company
Community

5. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
The Specialist
Specialist know-how and rights
Centralised administration
5

6. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 6
True Story…
Physical board March 2017
(5Teams ~ 40 People)
Centrally administered tool
3 Month until this version
was available electronically
Flow-Efficiency:
1,3% …

7. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 7
The means of production
belong in the hands of
the people who actually
do the work.
(paraphrased of course)

8. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 8

9. Slide #2013 Michael Mahlberg
PRINCIPLES BEHIND THE AGILE
MANIFESTO
- Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer
through early and continuous delivery
of valuable software.
- Welcome changing requirements, even late in
development.Agile processes harness change for
the customer's competitive advantage.
- Deliver working software frequently, from a
couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a
preference to the shorter timescale.
- Business people and developers must work
together daily throughout the project.
- Build projects around motivated individuals.
Give them the environment and support they need,
and trust them to get the job done.
- The most efficient and effective method of
conveying information to and within a development
team is face-to-face conversation.
- Working software is the primary measure of progress.
- Agile processes promote sustainable development.
The sponsors, developers, and users should be able
to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
- Continuous attention to technical excellence
and good design enhances agility.
- Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount
of work not done--is essential.
- The best architectures, requirements, and designs
emerge from self-organizing teams.
- At regular intervals, the team reflects on how
to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts
its behavior accordingly.
9

10. Slide #2013 Michael Mahlberg
PRINCIPLES BEHIND THE AGILE
MANIFESTO
- Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer
through early and continuous delivery
of valuable software.
- Welcome changing requirements, even late in
development.Agile processes harness change for
the customer's competitive advantage.
- Deliver working software frequently, from a
couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a
preference to the shorter timescale.
- Business people and developers must work
together daily throughout the project.
- Build projects around motivated individuals.
Give them the environment and support they need,
and trust them to get the job done.
- The most efficient and effective method of
conveying information to and within a development
team is face-to-face conversation.
- Working software is the primary measure of progress.
- Agile processes promote sustainable development.
The sponsors, developers, and users should be able
to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
- Continuous attention to technical excellence
and good design enhances agility.
- Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount
of work not done--is essential.
- The best architectures, requirements, and designs
emerge from self-organizing teams.
- At regular intervals, the team reflects on how
to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts
its behavior accordingly.
10

11. Slide #2013 Michael Mahlberg
PRINCIPLES BEHIND THE AGILE
MANIFESTO
11
-At regular intervals, the team reflects on how
to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts
its behavior accordingly.

12. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 12

13. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 13

14. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 14

15. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 15

16. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 16

17. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 17

18. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 18

19. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Two weeks later
19

20. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 20

21. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 21
True Story…
Physical board March 2017
(5Teams ~ 40 People)
Centrally administered tool
3 Month until this version
was available electronically
Flow-Efficiency:
1,3% …

22. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 22
T r o u b l e R e m e d y
Use a physical board for the details
Use a higher level of abstraction in the tool
Have an administrator on every team
Loss of adaptability

23. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 23
Quelle:ThomasEpping,persönlicheKommunikation,2019
Process
Company
Community

24. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Sharing is caring?
Processes & Work ItemTypes
24

25. Slide #2013 Michael Mahlberg
PRINCIPLES BEHIND THE AGILE
MANIFESTO
- Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer
through early and continuous delivery
of valuable software.
- Welcome changing requirements, even late in
development.Agile processes harness change for
the customer's competitive advantage.
- Deliver working software frequently, from a
couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a
preference to the shorter timescale.
- Business people and developers must work
together daily throughout the project.
- Build projects around motivated individuals.
Give them the environment and support they need,
and trust them to get the job done.
- The most efficient and effective method of
conveying information to and within a development
team is face-to-face conversation.
- Working software is the primary measure of progress.
- Agile processes promote sustainable development.
The sponsors, developers, and users should be able
to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
- Continuous attention to technical excellence
and good design enhances agility.
- Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount
of work not done--is essential.
- The best architectures, requirements, and designs
emerge from self-organizing teams.
- At regular intervals, the team reflects on how
to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts
its behavior accordingly.
25

26. Slide #2013 Michael Mahlberg
PRINCIPLES BEHIND THE AGILE
MANIFESTO
-Build projects around motivated individuals.
Give them the environment and support they need,
and trust them to get the job done.
-[…]
-The best architectures, requirements, and designs
emerge from self-organizing teams.
-
26

27. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 27
40 teams 2 week iterations
2 changes related to process or work item definition per iteration
(fostered by the process improvement meeting at the end of each iteration)
15 Minutes to describe the change
15 Minutes to understand it
15 Minutes to implement it.
40(teams) / 2(weeks) * 2 (changes)
=> 40 Changes per week
30 hours implementing changes
not feasible
3 People in admin team
Just some assumptions – real life data might be worse

28. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 28
Why is it not feasible?
- Overhead for information sharing between admins
- Overhead for “re-learning” the specifics of the model

29. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 29Source: Google Image Search 2019-10-15

30. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 30

31. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 31

32. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 32

33. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 33

34. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 34

35. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 35
Why is it not feasible?
- Overhead for information sharing between admins
- Overhead for “re-learning” the specifics of the model
- Changes would queue up and admins would become the
bottleneck for the teams
Team
1
2
3
4
(not to scale)
(retrospective)
(change)

36. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Enter: Economy of scale
36
This is an Anti-Pattern

37. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Let’s have fewer models
And specialized teams to find the best process-models
37
This is an Anti-Pattern

38. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 38
This is an Anti-Pattern
The actual team
(doing the work)
The way they work
Process-team
(observing and
optimizing)
Admin-team
(executing
what the process
team deems right)
The implemented
process
The gap produced
by “chinese whispers”
and time passing

39. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 39
T r o u b l e R e m e d y
Loss of autonomy
Loss of adaptability
Have an administrator on every team
Use only very few shared objects
In case of Jira: allow “Simplified Workflow”
Use a physical board for the details
Use a higher level of abstraction in the tool
Have an administrator on every team

40. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
In the beginning…
Once upon a time, Jira was a bug-tracker…
40

41. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
What is Jira, actually?
41

42. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 42
Bugzilla

43. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Jira was an Issue-Tracker, too
43

44. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Jey-ra vs. Jee-ra
[/ˈdʒaɪˈrə/] [/ˈdʒiːrə/]
44

45. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 45
Source:Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla#/media/File:Godzilla_1954-2014_incarnations.jpg

46. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Then came GreenHopper
About 2007
46

47. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 47
Source:
https://wiki.base22.com/btg/agile-or-no-agile-greenhopper-s-good-for-jira-34963523.html

48. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Later GreenHopper became
JiraAgile
48

49. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Workflow-Engine with
biomechanical actuators
49

50. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
This applies to almost all
electronic ticket systems
50

51. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
People are actuators?
or at least that’s how the systems treat them
as opposed to
People define their own process … constantly
51

52. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 52
Quelle:ThomasEpping,persönlicheKommunikation,2019
Company
Community

53. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Individuals & interactions
Assigning someone a JiraTicket over…
53

54. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 54

55. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 55

56. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 56

57. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 57
T r o u b l e R e m e d y
Loss of autonomy
Loss of adaptability
Have an administrator on every team
Use only very few shared objects
In case of Jira: allow “Simplified Workflow”
Use a physical board for the details
Use a higher level of abstraction in the tool
Have an administrator on every team

58. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 58
T r o u b l e R e m e d y
Loss of autonomy
Loss of adaptability
Have an administrator on every team
Use only very few shared objects
In case of Jira: allow “Simplified Workflow”
Use a physical board for the details
Use a higher level of abstraction in the tool
Have an administrator on every team
Loss of motivation Avoid using the tool a primary means of
communication. Use it to capture
agreements between people.

59. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Visual Management
Boards are used to drive self-organization
by displaying relevant information
(Layout et. al. & functionality)
59

60. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 60
Electronic boards:
- … are endless (it makes no difference whether there are two or
twohundred items below the edge of the screen)
- … usually don’t support free-hand placement of items and/or lanes
- … allow for multiple viewpoints (People see the world differently)
(Worst offender: Quickfilter “my tickets only”)
- … tend to contain too much information

61. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 61

62. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 62
T r o u b l e R e m e d y
Loss of autonomy
Loss of adaptability
Have an administrator on every team
Use only very few shared objects
In case of Jira: allow “Simplified Workflow”
Use a physical board for the details
Use a higher level of abstraction in the tool
Have an administrator on every team
Loss of motivation Avoid using the tool a primary means of
communication. Use it to capture
agreements between people.

63. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 63
T r o u b l e R e m e d y
Loss of autonomy
Loss of adaptability
Have an administrator on every team
Use only very few shared objects
In case of Jira: allow “Simplified Workflow”
Use a physical board for the details
Use a higher level of abstraction in the tool
Have an administrator on every team
Loss of motivation Avoid using the tool a primary means of
communication. Use it to capture
agreements between people.
Loss of flexibility and
visibility
Use physical boards and/or be creative
(e.g. use multiple displays for swimlanes
visualize critical data only, etc.)

64. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 64
Quelle:ThomasEpping,persönlicheKommunikation,2019
Company
Community

65. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Subverting the Community
The tool subverts the efforts of the community
=> Kanban Board
=> Epic
65

66. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Let’s look at Kanban as an Example
66

67. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Let’s look at Kanban as an Example
67

68. Slide #2018 Michael Mahlberg
Fundamental assumption about
Vizualizition
68
The intelligence
is in front of the
Board
—— Simon Kühn
Limited WIP Society Köln 2012

69. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 69
T r o u b l e R e m e d y
Loss of autonomy
Loss of adaptability
Have an administrator on every team
Use only very few shared objects
In case of Jira: allow “Simplified Workflow”
Use a physical board for the details
Use a higher level of abstraction in the tool
Have an administrator on every team
Loss of motivation Avoid using the tool a primary means of
communication. Use it to capture
agreements between people.
Loss of flexibility and
visibility
Use physical boards and/or be creative
(e.g. use multiple displays for swimlanes
visualize critical data only, etc.)
Loss of initiative Don’t follow the tool, have communities of practice
and external exchanges – a lot!

70. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
It’s all in the cards
Jira used as a requirement & documentation tool
70

71. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 71

72. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 72
As returning visitor of the site, I
want the system to recognize me
unmaskingly, so that I actually can
order the articles in my basket even
weeks after my last visit.
As returning visitor of the site, I
want the system to recognize me
unmaskingly, so that I actually can
order the articles in my basket even
weeks after my last visit.
As returning visitor of the site, I
want the system to recognize me
unmaskingly, so that I actually can
order the articles in my basket even
weeks after my last visit.
As returning visitor of the site, Iwant the system to recognize meunmaskingly, so that I actually canorder the articles in my basket evenweeks after my last visit.
As returning visitor of the site, I
want the system to recognize me
unmaskingly, so that I actually can
order the articles in my basket even
weeks after my last visit.
As returning visitor of the site, I
want the system to recognize me
unmaskingly, so that I actually can
order the articles in my basket even
weeks after my last visit.
As returning visitor of the site, I
want the system to recognize me
unmaskingly, so that I actually can
order the articles in my basket even
weeks after my last visit.
As returning visitor of the site, I
want the system to recognize me
unmaskingly, so that I actually can
order the articles in my basket even
weeks after my last visit.
As returning visitor of the site, I
want the system to recognize me
unmaskingly, so that I actually can
order the articles in my basket even
weeks after my last visit.
As returning visitor of the site, I
want the system to recognize me
unmaskingly, so that I actually can
order the articles in my basket even
weeks after my last visit.

73. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 73
T r o u b l e R e m e d y
Loss of autonomy
Loss of adaptability
Have an administrator on every team
Use only very few shared objects
In case of Jira: allow “Simplified Workflow”
Use a physical board for the details
Use a higher level of abstraction in the tool
Have an administrator on every team
Loss of motivation Avoid using the tool a primary means of
communication. Use it to capture
agreements between people.
Loss of flexibility and
visibility
Use physical boards and/or be creative
(e.g. use multiple displays for swimlanes
visualize critical data only, etc.)
Loss of initiative Don’t follow the tool, have communities of practice
and external exchanges – a lot!

74. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 74
T r o u b l e R e m e d y
Loss of autonomy
Loss of adaptability
Have an administrator on every team
Use only very few shared objects
In case of Jira: allow “Simplified Workflow”
Use a physical board for the details
Use a higher level of abstraction in the tool
Have an administrator on every team
Loss of motivation Avoid using the tool a primary means of communication.
Use it to capture agreements between people.
Loss of flexibility and
visibility
Use physical boards and/or be creative
(e.g. use multiple displays for swimlanes
visualize critical data only, etc.)
Loss of initiative Don’t follow the tool, have communities of practice
and external exchanges – a lot!
Loss of knowedge Use other tools for documentation and link to them!
includes education, training,
permissions, autonomy, etc

75. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Recap
Troubles and Remedies
75

76. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Working in a post agile world
is…
Local decisions (governed by negotiated policies)
Adaptive development processes
Teams change process all the time
76

77. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
At regular intervals, the team
reflects on how
to become more effective,
then tunes and adjusts
its behavior accordingly.
Quote from the Manifesto for Agile Software Development
77

78. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Centrally administered
workflows don’t agree with
self organized teams
78

79. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
During each Sprint Retrospective, the
[…] Team plans ways to increase product
quality by improving work processes […]
Quote from the Scrum-Guide
79

80. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Depending on external
“mechanics” subverts the idea
of local process improvements
80

81. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Agree to pursue improvement
through evolutionary change.
Quoting the second principle of change management of the
Kanban method
81

82. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Evolutionary change needs
experiments – hard to do with
centralized artifacts
82

83. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 83
The means of production
belong in the hands of
the people who actually
do the work.
(paraphrased of course)

84. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Let The Tool do what The Tool
does best
Use The Tool (e.g. Jira) to capture data, but
Use physical boards for communication
84

85. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg 85
T r o u b l e R e m e d y
Loss of autonomy
Loss of adaptability
Have an administrator on every team
Use only very few shared objects
In case of Jira: allow “Simplified Workflow”
Use a physical board for the details
Use a higher level of abstraction in the tool
Have an administrator on every team
Loss of motivation Avoid using the tool a primary means of communication.
Use it to capture agreements between people.
Loss of flexibility and
visibility
Use physical boards and/or be creative
(e.g. use multiple displays for swimlanes
visualize critical data only, etc.)
Loss of initiative Don’t follow the tool, have communities of practice
and external exchanges – a lot!
Loss of knowedge Use other tools for documentation and link to them!
includes education, training,
permissions, autonomy, etc

86. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Questions?
86

87. Slide #2019 Michael Mahlberg
Contact Information
87
If you have questions,
don’t hesitate to contact me via mail at: mm@michaelmahlberg.com
You can also find me on Twitter as MMahlberg
I blog on http://agile-aspects.michaelmahlberg.com
My homepage is http://www.michaelmahlberg.de