A discussion of how Agile software development techniques can be used outside of the software arena.

1. allan kelly
Twitter: @allankellynet
http://www.allankelly.net
BCS Bristol
November 2014
Does Agile work
outside of software?
#AOSW

2. Allan Kelly…
 Provide advice on software
development & business strategy
 Training in Agile, Coaching,
Consulting
Author
– Xanpan: Team Centric Agile Software
Development, 2014
https://leanpub.com/xanpan
– Business Patterns for Software Developers
(2012, Wiley - ISBN: 978-1119999249)
– Changing Software Development: Learning
to be Agile (2008, Wiley)

3. Is Agile only for
Software
Development?
Lets see if I can answer this question…

4. Coming full circle
Agile Manufacturing
~1994 Lightweight software
development
1996->2000
Agile Software Development
2000-2001
Agile
business?
Can we have….
Looks good…
Agile Competitors and Virtual
Organizations - Strategies for
Enriching the Customer
Goldman, Nagel & Preiss, 1995

5. What do we expect from the Agile
company?

8. I can’t think of anything more important than building
an agile company, because the world changes so
quickly and unpredictably
[Agility] comes in different forms, but
basically it’s the ability to quickly adapt to
or even anticipate and lead change.
Agility in the broadest form affects strategic
thinking, operations, technology innovation
and the ability to innovate in products,
processes and business models.
Michael A Cusumano
Distinguished Professor of Management at
the MIT Sloan School of Management

9. Agile: What do we want?
Agile Strategy
Agile Tactical
Agile Operations
Adaptability
Listen to customer
Lead the market
Use change competitively
Experiment
“Expeditionary Marketing”
Live in the now
Prepare for the future
Deliver fast
Deliver quality
Deliver value

10. Is Agile only for Software
Development?
• Answer in 3 parts
– Practices
– The Roots
– Case studies

11. Practices

12. Agile Umbrella
Scrum
Kanban ASD XP
DSDM
Lean SD
Xanpan
Stand up
meetings
TDD BDD
Boards ATDD
WIP limits
Iterations
Retrospectives
Planning poker
CI

13. Practices from outside of software
Stand up meetings NATO, Japanese local government, bar
staff, oil-platforms
Retrospectives Lessons learned, Post mortem
US Marines “After Action Review”
WIP Limits Toyota Production System “Lean”
Pair programming Surgeons, Aircrew

14. Some Agile practices have been taken
back-ported to business
Test Driven Development
– Write the test before you write the code
– Don’t do more than you need
Is
– Lean Startup
– What do you want to learn?
– What is the minimum?

15. And some Agile tools may never be
used outside software
e.g. JUnit

16. Ask Not
“Will Agile work outside
software development?”
“Which Agile software
development practices can be
helpful in MY field?”
But Ask
Look inside the Agile Box…
… choose what’s right for
you

17. Roots

18. Agile
Lean
More
prescriptive
Organizational Learning
More philosophical:
value, idea based
XP
Scrum
…
Applicability
Manufacturing (Toyota),
Supply Chain(Amazon)
Healthcare, Construction
(Heathrow)
3M, US Marine Corp.
Royal Dutch/Shell,
HP (old), KAO Corp.
Toyota

19. Agile Software Development
Is
An application of Lean Thinking in the software
development arena

20. Agile Software Development
Is
An application of Lean Thinking in the
software development arena

21. Lean Thinking
is
An application of Learning Organizations
in action

22. Lean
Organizational Learning

23. Lean
Organizational Learning

24. XP Scrum
…
Lean
TQM
System Thinking
…
Organizational Learning

25. Is Agile Are Learning
Organizations only for
Software Development?
No!
Amazon

26. But
‘‘In the accumulation of over 20 years
of studies, [organizational learning
writers] have not developed a
comprehensive view on what
constitutes ‘organisational learning’.’’
Nonaka & Takeuchi 1995
“Learning organization” literature says little
about what to do
Agile is very specific

27. Case Studies
Bad news
• Case studies of Agile Software
Development are much easier to come by
than case studies of Agile outside of
software.
• You are unlikely to find one that matches
your environment.

28. Case Studies
Good news
– There are some!

29. Lonely Planet – legal team!
Kate Sullivan
Agile on the Beach 2012
New Frontiers for In-
House Practice
Innovating Legal Affairs from a
Partner Model to being an Agile
service provider at Lonely Planet.
Kate Sullivan

30. Agile at Lonely Planet
• Whiteboards & cards
• Morning stand-up meeting
• Estimate size & cost
• Prioritization – highest first
• Weekly iterations
• Regular retrospectives
• Measure flow
New Frontiers for In-
House Practice
Innovating Legal Affairs from a
Partner Model to being an Agile
service provider at Lonely Planet.
Kate Sullivan
Taken from Kate Sullivan’s
Agile on the Beach 2012
presentation

31. Petroc College
FdSc Computing
Martin Rowe, Agile on the Beach 2013
“Even badly implemented Scrum worked”
• Boards - Information Radiator – Visualize!
• Deadlines & time boxes (marking students!)
• Work “Product” Backlog + work breakdown
• Stand-ups (weekly)
Agile bound team together

32. Agile at a PR agency
“The agile manifesto is an idiot proof
way of approaching work”
• Work collaborate with customers
• Cut down waiting time
• Streamlines paperwork
• Make work streams visible
“I love my Kanban board”
Rachel Picken, Mpad - Agile on the Beach 2014

33. Sullivan Cuff, Redruth (Sep 2014)

34. Customer Service

35. Scrum Marketing
James S. Wright, 2014

36. Shamrock Foods, Arizona
“Should you build
strategy like you build
software?”
Keith R. McFarland
MIT Sloan Management Review,
Spring 2008

37. Shamrock Foods
“Since adopting the new approach to
strategy, Shamrock has flourished.”
• Quarterly Strategy Scrum offsite
• Evaluate progress on previous actions
• Discuss learning & strategy modifications
• Create prioritized action list
Taken from
Keith R. McFarland,
MIT Sloan Management Review,
Spring 2008

38. GSMA
• Couponing & Loyalty project
– Weekly meetings (face-to-face)
– Visual board (electronic)
– Work stories
– Strict prioritization
– Deferred work
– Walking skeleton
– Retrospective

39. Agile Innovation
• Examples from Oxford Innovation in Cornwall
– http://youtu.be/eoxxsfXsulQ
• Talk by Belinda Waldock
– Agile on the Beach 2014
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNVO6a_2E4
8
– http://belindaw.wordpress.com/2014/09/04/agile
-innovation-embedding-agile-in-cornwall/

40. Try this at home…
1. Use a board & cards
2. Create a work backlog
3. Prioritize the backlog
4. Hold morning stand-up meeting
5. Do iterations: weekly plan & review meetings

41. Try this at home…
Advice
• Cards: -> Stories -> Vertical slices worth £££
• Don’t bother with estimates (#NoEstimates)
• Get a Coach

42. Conclusion:
YES!
• Agile will work outside software development
But
• Not all practices are applicable
– And you may need to find some new ones
• Not many case studies at the moment
(And … it becomes increasingly difficult to
differentiate Agile from Lean)

43. Your choice
For many companies Agile working is an
innovation therefore Agile working is a risk
Remember: Profit is the return for risk

44. Your choice, either…
Adopt Agile today
• Take a risk
• Act with incomplete
knowledge
• Gain an advantage on
competitors
Wait
• Play it safe
• Wait for more case studies
• Let others take the risk (and
get the advantage)
• Take the risk of playing
catch up with competitors

45. Agile Outside
Software
We have the technology
(But we need some more
guinea pigs case studies)
allan kelly - Software Strategy Ltd.
www.allankelly.net -
allan@allankelly.net -@allankellynet
Discount link….
https://leanpub.com/
xanpan/c/BCSBristol
#AOSW