What are the five most common challenges with Agile transformation? Find out from AND's Head of Coaching, Anikh Subhan.

1. © AND Digital 2018© AND Digital 2018
Five Common Challenges
With Agile Transformation
Scrum Day London 2019

2. Anikh Subhan
Head of Agile Coaching AND Dessert Connoisseur
Anikh Subhan has over 10 years of Agile software delivery
experience. He’s coached, trained and mentored people
across multiple organisations, including startups and
multinationals.
Through coaching and leadership, Anikh has helped teams
and individuals deliver value in exceptionally effective
ways, whilst continuously improving their use of Agile
techniques.
Prior to AND Digital, Anikh held multiple Scrum Master roles,
Agile analysts positions, and successfully managed
multiple Agile teams at Sky.
anikhsubhan

3. 1. The state of Agile transformation
today
2. The challenges to focus on
3. The outlook
Contents

4. So, What Is An
Agile Transformation?
Let’s do Scrum!
Actually let’s go Kanban!!
No more Project Managers?
Unlimited funding for all teams!
Plans with deadlines are now forbidden.
(Especially Gantt charts!)
Stop documenting things in safe places.
Lots of chatting to people.

5. Teams Going Through Agile Transformations Today
Can do Scrum
Meet their Sprint Forecast and
Goals
Can predict their Velocity and
Sprint Forecast
Can continuously improve their
ways of working
Can break big Products down into
smaller chunks
Can collaborate and communicate
pretty well
Can’t deliver end-to-end
Can’t deploy continuously
Can’t obtain regular feedback
from users
Can’t quickly respond and adapt
to the feedback
Are not involved at the ideation
stage of a Product

6. Individual teams can create
good internal ways of delivering
software.
However, this is only a small part
of the Product Lifecycle.
Build the Product right, and build
the right Product!

7. The Agile Product Lifecycle
Ideation Discovery
DeliveryOperation

8. ● Because they focus on the less important aspects,
such as “Quick wins” or “Low hanging fruit”.
● Some people think there should be a deadline on the
changes, instead of seeing it as a long-term
evolution.
● They’re uncomfortable with change, uncertainty and
delegating responsibility.
Why Do So Many Businesses Fail
At Becoming Agile?

9. McKinsey & Company, Jan 2018
The 5 Trademarks of Agile Organisations
North Star embodied across the Organisation
Network of empowered teams
Rapid decision and learning cycles
Dynamic people model that ignites passion
Next-generation enabling Technology

10. An Agile Transformation is a shift in
mindset, behaviours and culture,
which enables a business to deliver
value to customers, faster, whilst
being able to quickly validate and
adapt to changing circumstances.

11. 1. Not defining why they want to become Agile.
2. Lack of understanding of what Agile really means.
3. Either Top-Down or Bottom-Up driven
transformation, rather than both.
4. Ignoring the required culture shift.
5. Continuing to work on projects rather than products.
Five Challenges To Focus On

12. 1. People may not find their purpose on this journey.
2. What does success mean for this transformation?
3. A vision will help to motivate and empower people.
The ownership of the goals and the work to get
there, become shared across everyone involved.
4. Goal-setting unlocks innovation and creativity.
Not Defining Why They Want To
Become Agile
“Start with Why”
Simon Sinek

13. Lack of Understanding Of What Agile,
The Manifesto And The Principles Really Mean.
Individuals and
interactions
over Process and tools
Working software
Comprehensive
documentation
Customer
collaboration
Contract
negotiation
over
over
over
Responding to
change Following a plan
Too much focus on the practices instead of the principles.

14. ● Directive from above
● Occasionally seen as Management telling others
to change
● Does not win the hearts and minds of people
Top-Down Directed
Transformation

15. ● Buy-in at team level
Delivery processes working well - within team
bubbles
● Rest of organisation may be left behind, or even
worse, alienated
● There’s a limit as to how Agile the business can be
● Potential for conflicting behaviours across the
business
● Resulting in inefficient and ineffective delivery
methods.
Bottom-Up Driven
Transformation

16. ● A change in behaviours, assumptions, shared values
and styles of leadership is required
● Role modelling and leading by example is key
● Learning, feedback, decision-making, measurement
and communication
● Regular check-ins
● People’s motivation or de-motivation is the make or
break of a transformation.
Ignoring The Required
Culture Shift

17. Continuing To Work On Projects,
Rather Than Products
sometimes
decades!
Think about modern
operating systems!
Products
Whereas products
evolve over time...
Customer problems
are persistent and can
change in nature
Projects
Projects have fixed
scope...
Could be an increment
of a product or set of
features
Businessvalue
Time
and fixed deadlines
They need to be
delivered by certain
times
Creation
Growth
Maturity
Decline
Investment
Projects launch…
then what?
Businessvalue
Time
Creation
Growth
Maturity
Decline
Investment

18. To unlock full-scale agility, Products need to
be owned, built and evolved by a single (or
a small, collaborative group of) team(s).
This allows for fast feedback loops,
changes and pivots to be made efficiently.

19. Incremental delivery makes it more adaptable to change or new learnings.
Speed To Market
Project
approach
Set
goals
Approve
work
Delivery
Assess
value
Product
approach
Set
goals
Approve
work
Discovery
Deliver &
assess value
Deliver &
assess value
Deliver &
assess value
Deliver &
assess value
Traditional approach relies on up-front estimates of time, cost and effort - often wrong
Agile approach sets goals and evolves toward goal in increments over time

20. We need:
● Cross-functional, end-to-end teams.
● A team owning the Product through the lifecycle.
● Ideas and requirements to be validated, prioritised and kept in a Backlog.
● Changes to be measured and evaluated.
This will give us:
● The ability to move from an idea to a released feature in the minimum time possible.
● Reduced cycle time through reducing dependencies.
● Technical health and excellence.
● Team motivation, accountability and pride!
● Better chance of investing in changes likely to succeed.
● Knowledge retention.
● The opportunity to evolve products using real feedback and metrics.

21. Organisations with a clear
direction and goal to aim for,
which provides a sense of
purpose and motivation.
The Outlook

22. The opportunity for people’s
creativity to evolve new, more
successful ways of working for
your Organisation.
The Outlook

23. Aligned and complementary
leadership styles at all levels of
the Business, enabling
company-wide collaboration.
The Outlook

24. The most valuable products and
features being continuously
delivered to your customers!
The Outlook

25. 1. Have a shared, coherent purpose and vision for both
the Product(s) and for the transformation.
2. Focus on and prioritise the Agile principles more
than the practices.
3. Build trust and buy-in at both leadership level and at
team level. Help them to drive from their
perspectives.
4. Keep people at the centre of everything.
5. Constantly evolve your products and propositions
through feedback loops.
My Top Five Tips For Agile Transformation
Summary

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