This presentation was delivered by Robert Annis to 700+ people at the AgileIndy conference in Indianapolis on May 12th 2017. It covers the issue of investment in projects, and critically, organizations to ensure success. It also covers Batman's nipples. #AgileIndy2017

1. Agile : Process and Culture
You know, the vague, big stuff…

2. Welcome
Robert Annis
 Director of Agile Training at Eliassen Group
 LinkedIn : www.linkedin.com/in/robannis
 Twitter : @TheAgileShark

3. So, from
our process
and culture
we want
this…
Right?

4. So, we pick our Agile method to support change of
process and culture

5. Now we focus on
creating successful
teams
 If it’s Scrum;
 Support from Scrum Masters
 Focus from Product Owners / RTE’s
 Division from our distractive managers
 Hire Agile Coaches to ensure good practices
 Meeting structures to support change
(Retrospectives) and commitment (Sprint
Planning / PI Planning)

6. Now, we sit
back and enjoy
our sure
success
 Thanks – Scrooge Business School 

7. So successful

8. Why aren’t we successful 90+% of
the time?
Let’s talk about projects that are definitely successful

9. What does success look like?
Success Not quite there

10. Preparation
 During an international match, elite soccer players
will run anywhere from 6-10 miles
 A great deal of this running is done in rapid bursts
of explosive speed
 Fast changes in direction, tackling and heading are
the name of the game

11. More
preparation.
 Their journey started years
ago.

12. HMS Illustrious
 Commissioned: 20 June 1982
 Her class served, successfully, in the Falklands War
Light Aircraft Carrier carrying Harrier’s and Helicopters
 Decommissioned: 28 August 2014

13. Replacement
required huge
investment
 Time
 Money
 Loss of sea power and ability

14. The Royal Navy had to leave
their own market in order to
survive.
Not only to survive, but to prosper

15. New, unknown
business model
 The sales model involved way more than
cars, it involved superchargers stretched
across the United States.
 In 2015, 88 percent of the global lithium ion
cell manufacturing took place in China,
Japan, and South Korea, according to a
report by the Clean Energy Manufacturing
Analysis Center.

16. Unparalleled
growth plans…in
an brand new
business

17. So, what do they have in
common?
 Very difficult large programs
of works
 Multi-year efforts
 International
 So far…very successful.

18. Success takes
time and
effort.

19. Investment
 The Women’s US Soccer team
 Practiced and trained together for months
 Each individual had trained their entire careers for that moment
 Royal Navy – HMS Queen Elizabeth
 Recognized they would have to give up sea-based airpower for several years – against much advice
 Built entirely new dock facilities for building the ship
 Learnt new ways of ship-building
 Tesla
 Created an entire new business – mocked by existing industry – and a new business model
 Decided to build the world’s biggest factory just as a beginning
 There aren’t enough lithium-ion batteries being made anywhere for Tesla to achieve its goal of 500,000 Model 3 sales
by 2018

20. But these investments are the extreme
examples, right?
 Obvious Examples
 Nokia
 Circuit City
 Blockbuster Video
 Less Obvious Examples
 High street stores e.g. Woolworth’s & Sharper Image; replaced by Amazon and other internet options
 City and Regional Banks e.g. WaMu and IndyMac; swallowed up by International Banks
 Local Gas stations; bought out by multi-nationals
 Mom & Pop sandwich stores; out-competed by larger companies
 Large industrial firms that can’t adapt to the new service-focus industry or international competition e.g.
Bethlehem Steel, Blackberry, Motorola and PanAm
 The ‘too big to fail’ firms e.g. General Motors, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup

21. So this could
happen to
anyone, even
us?

22. What if this … is the new reality?

23. Who is this guy?
I hate him!

24. Ok, so what now?

25. This happened before, we have survived
change before

26. Change is normal…
It’s our reaction of
surprise to change
that isn’t normal
…why be surprised
about what is
normal?

27. Try new things…allow failure

28. But most of all; we must
be agents of change

29. Remember that
without
risk/investment,
there can be no
success

30. An organization needs a investment
strategy overall as well for each given
project

31. Recognize…success in Agile will not
be because of a process such as
SAFe or Scrum it will be from
adequate investment
Conversely, a lack of investment will result in failure, irrelevant of process used

32. Culture of Investment eats Process for Breakfast

33. Benefits of
Investment
Increase appetite for risk and innovationIncrease
Reduce focus on Business As UsualReduce
Increase individual empowermentIncrease
Increase problem solvingIncrease
Increase competitivenessIncrease

34. Just an idea…The Investment Manifesto
 As an organization, we believe in the survival of the fittest and that
success is not guaranteed just by being in the race. As such we value;
 Innovation over Business As Usual practices
 Employee security over liability
 Being open to new ideas over being risk adverse
 Investment over immediate profit
 We believe these values will guide us and our processes to greater
enablement and success

35. Process and culture
 So, we have processes…probably too many
of them
 We need a culture of transformation
through investment
 Our current processes don’t focus on this
 We need to focus on this otherwise…

36. Thank you very
much
Robert Annis
 Director of Agile Training at Eliassen Group
 LinkedIn : www.linkedin.com/in/robannis
 Twitter : @TheAgileShark