A case study of the agile transformation at Ericsson Mobile Core from 2009-2012 and using John Kotter's 8-step change model for leading the change. Presented at the Scrum Gathering Las Vegas 2013

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From Doing Scrum to Being Agile:
Lessons Learned Transforming a Culture
Before we start:
Introduce yourself to
your neighbor.
Share one reason why it’s
difficult to change an
organization’s culture.

2. agile42 | The Agile Coaching Company www.agile42.com | All rights reserved. Copyright © 2007 - 2013
• FEEDBACK:
• overall was VERY positive. Average 4.5 out of 5
• different title? Didn’t match some people’s expectations. thought it would be
about team transformation rather than enterprise
• 1 person said “not a real world example” ?
• Dave Sharrock’s feedback:
• kick off was awesome. You had the crowd in the palm of your hand
- talking through Ericsson transition was informative and kept attention. You might try : keywords for each stage to make context clear and following
easier ; print outs on wall with key words would help finding where I am easier
- get up and walk to wall was good - until you didn't ask them to do anything. A kinda pair-share with people next to then on what they are going to
learn from one another
- listing 8 steps is redundant. They have the handout. Start presenting step 1 instead
- slides have lots of text/bullets...
- balance between starting by talking over crowd vs getting crowd attention first
- engagement very high - 70ish people watching, listening, staying involved
- it's not clear to me how valuable it is to tell people you are injecting interactivity ?
- folding arms exercise needs a little more instruction/debrief
- table debriefs of examples of good/bad communication went well
- allow groups (at 8 steps on wall) to discuss first before asking for input/ideas
- often can't hear what people are saying. Repeat before answering?

3. agile42 | The Agile Coaching Company www.agile42.com | All rights reserved. Copyright © 2007 - 2012.
About Brad Swanson
The Agile
Coaching
Company
Senior Agile Coach at agile42
brad.swanson@agile42.com
@bradswanson

4. http://www.flickr.com/photos/tza/3214197147
Agilitrix

5. Dissatisfaction about performance (2008/Q4)
’08/Q4
Dissatisfaction

6. ’09/Q1
Dissatisfaction
’08/Q4
First ideas
First ideas of how to improve... (2009/Q1)

7. ‘09/Q1
Dissatisfaction
’08/Q4
First ideas
Focus on simplifying process... (2009/Q2)
First ideas
‘09/Q2

8. ’09/Q2‘09/Q1
Dissatisfaction
’08/Q4
First ideas
First ideas
Start Transition
Decision to start a Transition... (2009/Q3)
’09/Q3

9. ’09/Q3’09/Q2’09/Q1
Dissatisfaction
’09/Q4
First ideas
First ideas
Start Transition
Changes to organization, the dawn of Agile... (2009/Q4)
Dawn of Agile
’09/Q4

10. ’09/Q3’09/Q2’09/Q1
Dissatisfaction
’08/Q4
First ideas
First ideas
Start Transition
Dawn of Agile
’09/Q4
Leadership Team
’10/Q1
New Leadership Team... (2010/Q1)

11. ’09/Q3’09/Q2’09/Q1
Dissatisfaction
’08/Q4
First ideas
First ideas
Dawn of Agile
’09/Q4
Leadership Team
’10/Q1
Start Transition
Coach the Coach
’10/Q2
Coach the coach/Train the Trainer... (2010/Q2)

12. ’09/Q3’09/Q2’09/Q1
Dissatisfaction
’08/Q4
First ideas
First ideas
Dawn of Agile
’09/Q4
Leadership Team
’10/Q1
Start Transition
Coach the Coach
’10/Q2
Internal Training
Internal training started... (2010/Q3)
’10/Q3

13. ’09/Q3’09/Q2’09/Q1
Dissatisfaction
’08/Q4
First ideas
First ideas
Dawn of Agile
’09/Q4
Leadership Team
’10/Q1
Start Transition
Coach the Coach
’10/Q2
Internal Training
’10/Q3
Teams transformed
’10/Q3
Total focus on Agile, 80% of teams transformed (2010/Q4)

14. ’09/Q3’09/Q2’09/Q1
Dissatisfaction
’08/Q4
First ideas
First ideas
Dawn of Agile
’09/Q4
Leadership Team
’10/Q1
Start Transition
Coach the Coach
’10/Q2
Internal Training
’10/Q3
Teams transformed
’10/Q3
Release trouble
’11/Q1
Challenges with first agile release... (2011/Q1)

15. ’09/Q3’09/Q2’09/Q1
Dissatisfaction
’08/Q4
First ideas
First ideas
Dawn of Agile
’09/Q4
Leadership Team
’10/Q1
Start Transition
Coach the Coach
’10/Q2
Internal Training
’10/Q3
Teams transformed
’10/Q3
Release trouble
’11/Q1
First Agile Release
’11/Q2
First Agile Release: on time, on scope... (2011/Q2)

16. ’09/Q3’09/Q2’09/Q1
Dissatisfaction
’08/Q4
First ideas
First ideas
Dawn of Agile
’09/Q4
Leadership Team
’10/Q1
Start Transition
Coach the Coach
’10/Q2
Internal Training
’10/Q3
Teams transformed
’10/Q3
Release trouble
’11/Q1
First Agile Release
’11/Q2
Sorting Issues
’11/Q3
Sorting out issues... a lot of them... (2011/Q3)

17. ’09/Q3’09/Q2’09/Q1
Dissatisfaction
’08/Q4
First ideas
First ideas
Dawn of Agile
’09/Q4
Leadership Team
’10/Q1
Start Transition
Coach the Coach
’10/Q2
Internal Training
’10/Q3
Teams transformed
’10/Q3
Release trouble
’11/Q1
First Agile Release
’11/Q2
Sorting Issues
’11/Q3
Second Agile Release
Second Agile Release: larger, on time, on scope (2011/Q4)

18. 15
’09/Q3’09/Q2’09/Q1
Dissatisfaction
’08/Q4
First ideas
First ideas
Dawn of Agile
’09/Q4
Leadership Team
’10/Q1
Start Transition
Coach the Coach
’10/Q2
Internal Training
’10/Q3
Teams transformed
’10/Q3
Release trouble
’11/Q1
First Agile Release
’11/Q2
Sorting Issues
’11/Q3
Second Agile Release
More improvements: from Scope to Value... (2012/Q1)
Improvement

19. 1615
’09/Q3’09/Q2’09/Q1
Dissatisfaction
’08/Q4
First ideas
First ideas
Dawn of Agile
’09/Q4
Leadership Team
’10/Q1
Start Transition
Coach the Coach
’10/Q2
Internal Training
’10/Q3
Teams transformed
’10/Q3
Release trouble
’11/Q1
First Agile Release
’11/Q2
Sorting Issues
’11/Q3
Second Agile Release
Improvement
Third Agile Release, large & on time and value (Q2 2012)

20. 1615
’09/Q3’09/Q2’09/Q1
Dissatisfaction
’08/Q4
First ideas
First ideas
Dawn of Agile
’09/Q4
Leadership Team
’10/Q1
Start Transition
Coach the Coach
’10/Q2
Internal Training
’10/Q3
Teams transformed
’10/Q3
Release trouble
’11/Q1
First Agile Release
’11/Q2
Sorting Issues
’11/Q3
Second Agile Release
Improvement
The journey continues...
Production deployments each
sprint (3 weeks); down from 12
month cycle time
Multiple teams swarm on a feature
New business model: “Network as a
Service”

21. ’09/Q3’09/Q2’09/Q1
Dissatisfaction
’08/Q4
First ideas
First ideas
Dawn of Agile
’09/Q4
Leadership Team
’10/Q1
Start Transition
Coach the Coach
’10/Q2
Internal Training
’10/Q3
Teams transformed
’10/Q3
Release trouble
’11/Q1
First Agile Release
’11/Q2
Sorting Issues
’11/Q3
Second Agile Release
Improvement
The whole journey...
’11/Q4
’12/Q1
’12/Q2

22. agile42 | The Agile Coaching Company www.agile42.com | All rights reserved. Copyright © 2007 - 2013
1. Establish a sense of urgency
2. Create the guiding coalition
3. Develop a vision and strategy
4. Communicate the change vision
5. Empower employees for broad-based action
6. Generate short-term wins
7. Consolidate gains and produce more change
8. Anchor new approaches in the culture
John Kotter’s 8 Steps for Leading Change
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevensnodgrass/

23. agile42 | The Agile Coaching Company www.agile42.com | All rights reserved. Copyright © 2007 - 2013
#1. Establish a Sense of Urgency
• Crisis or game-changing opportunity
• Slash executive perks
• Set high targets
• Accountability for business results
• Make problems visible
• No more happy talk
• Continual reminders
• Buy-in from all execs, 75% of managers,
most of troops
John Kotter: Leading Change

24. agile42 | The Agile Coaching Company www.agile42.com | All rights reserved. Copyright © 2007 - 2013
What would
you observe
and and hear
that would
indicate a
sense of
urgency?
What would
you observe
and and hearthat would
indicate a
LACK of
urgency?
1.
3.
2. 1. 2. 3.

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26. agile42 | The Agile Coaching Company www.agile42.com | All rights reserved. Copyright © 2007 - 2013

27. agile42 | The Agile Coaching Company www.agile42.com | All rights reserved. Copyright © 2007 - 2013
2. Create the guiding coalition at Ericsson
•Committed executive team
•Transition “Tiger” Team
•Team of external coaches
for 5 months
•Co-located for 2 months of
team building and launching
2 pilot teams
•Train the trainer, coach the
coach
http://www.flickr.com/photos/clam113/2666711074/

28. agile42 | The Agile Coaching Company www.agile42.com | All rights reserved. Copyright © 2007 - 2013
1 Increase urgency
2 Guiding coalition
3 Vision & Strategy
4 Communicate the vision
5 Empower action
6 Create short-term success
7 Consolidate gains
8 Anchor changes in the culture
28
Organization
impediments
removed
Authoritative
portfolio
management
Training &
coaching
GOAL: delight the
customer, now and in
the future
Consistently
communicate
vision & strategy
Committed
transformation
team
Top Mgmt
Support &
Action
Internal coaches
Ongoing shared
learning
Pilot project
Lean & systems
thinking
Empowered teams;
delegate authority
Short-term
successes
Sustainable
culture changes
Clear & visible
portfolio priorities
Alignment &
support across
org
Communities of
Practice
Agile development
practices (XP)
Short dev cycle/
faster time to market
Strong Product
Owner role
Fixed date, variable
scope
Strategic cross-
functional teams
1 4 5
2
2 3 4 6 7
5 7
1 4 7
1 3 4 5 7
5 6 7
7 8
4 7 8
7 8
7 8
7 8
6
1 2 5 6
4 5 6
7
2 5 6 7
1 3 6
5 6 7
Sample Agile
Strategy Map©
6
6 7
google: agile strategy map
http://www.agile42.com/en/blog/2011/10/14/agile-strategy-mapping-accus/
3. Develop a vision
and strategy

29. agile42 | The Agile Coaching Company www.agile42.com | All rights reserved. Copyright © 2007 - 2013
4.Communicate the
change vision
National
Archives
08/28/1963 ARC
Identifier 542014
• Global + local transition
teams
• Repeated presentations from
leadership
• Local leaders participate in
building the local transition
strategy
• Agile Strategy Map© visible
at each office
• Gemba walk: managers
frequently visit teams to
observe, answer, reinforce
• Goal: Buy-in to the vision

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Kotter on communicating the vision
•Keep it simple
•Metaphor, analogy, example
•Many forums
•Repeat, repeat, repeat
•Lead by example
•Give and take

31. 5. Empower employees for
broad-based action
http://www.flickr.com/photos/soundlessfall/5267640669/

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Empowerment at Ericsson
• Information radiators
• Visible management effort to
remove obstacles
• Training and coaching for all
teams
• Weekly “Hot Topics”
sessions
• Managers role-model new
behaviors
• Communities of Practice
(Guilds)

33. agile42 | The Agile Coaching Company www.agile42.com | All rights reserved. Copyright © 2007 - 2013
6. Generate short-term wins
• Intensive training & coaching
for pilot teams over 5 months
• Cut 12 months effort from one
feature thru team
empowerment to challenge a
top-down design
• Smaller scope for first full agile
release
• Visibly recognize success &
reward contributors

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7. Consolidate gains and produce more change
• 80% agile teams after 9 months
• External to internal coaches
• Clear metrics showing gains in
quality, cycle time, morale
• Managers removing more
roadblocks, maintaining urgency
• Communities of Practice (Guilds)
• Continuous Integration
• Release #2: bigger scope (4G
LTE)

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8. Anchor new approaches in the culture
• Hiring, promotions & career
paths to sustain changes
• Change PM role to Coach
• Less “Control” culture
• Agile portfolio planning
• Measure value, not scope
• “Network as a Service”
business model

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Take a stand
Which of the 8
steps needs more
attention and
focus in your
experience?

37. agile42 | The Agile Coaching Company www.agile42.com | All rights reserved. Copyright © 2007 - 2013
Table Talk
Share a story of success or
failure in any of the 8
steps.
Each table choose 1 idea to
strengthen an agile
transformation. Share it
with the room.

38. Many thanks @nusco for the graphics!
brad.swanson@agile42.com
@bradswanson
http://www.agile42.com/en/blog/2012/08/16/ericsson-agile-transformation/