Agile changes how we develop products. We no longer have the big design up front, or even know enough about what the product might do at the beginning. How can you continue to create great products that people will want, and that will be coherent? You can change your perspective from serving the product to serving the people. When you include servant leadership for the people on the teams, you continue your work as a traditional architect: shepherd the business value of the architecture, explore possibilities so the teams can implement, and create new ideas for how the product(s) will fit together. In addition, you coach and serve the people on the teams. You no longer have to be the only one with the vision. You can share the vision. This challenges everyone: you and your sense of worth; the teams and how they work with you; and the organization for who does what, how, and how to compensate everyone. In this talk, Johanna Rothman will discuss how agile creates opportunities for architects, and what servant leadership can look like for architects.

1. Agile Architect as Servant
Leader
Johanna Rothman
Agile and Lean Program Management: Scaling Collaboration Across the Organization
@johannarothman
www.jrothman.com
jr@jrothman.com
781-641-4046

2. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
Poll for Context
• How many of you feel as if you are the “one and only”
architect for your organization?
• How many of you feel as if you are the lead architect for
several projects/products in the organization?
• How many of you work on programs (collections of
projects with one business objective)?
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3. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
Problems with Agile
Architecture
• We don’t want BDUF
• We don’t want a central
“authority”
• Destroys autonomy
• Teams will do what they
want anyway
• We do want to have an idea of
where we’re headed
• Wo do want to know the
architecture will have integrity
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4. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
Architecture Helps Products
• We have a coherent
vision
• We might have a clearer
idea about when to make
decisions
• We have a way to discuss
the whole and the parts
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5. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
Architecture Helps Us See
and Solve Problems
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6. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
The bigger the product, the
bigger the problems.
The more we need architecture.
How do architects fit?
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7. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
Agile Invites Collaboration
and Change
• The bigger the product, the
more people work on
architecture
• Unless you are doing
advanced development with
one or two people, more
teams will address
architecture
• Architect-as-Lone-Wizard
doesn’t fit with agile culture
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8. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
Architects as Servant Leaders
They are self-aware.
They listen.
They share the power.
They help other people grow.
They coach people, not control them.
They unleash the energy and intelligence of
others.
They work to develop their foresight, so they
can act, not react.
— From Keith: The Case for Servant Leadership
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9. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
Self Aware
• Reflection to understand
own strengths and
weaknesses
• Build on strengths
• Manage weaknesses
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10. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
Listen
• Gather feedback and data
• Exploring
• Wayfinding
• Balancing the different
needs
• Align to business needs
• Optimize for the product
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11. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
Share the Power
• Collaborate, rather than
dictate
• Tempting to tell people what
the answer is, rather than
explore possibilities with
them
• What do you do if you can’t
get other people to
collaborate with you or
someone thinks there is no
time to collaborate?
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12. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
Help Other People Grow
• Who has the capabilities
to be a great architect?
• How can you help that
person grow?
• How are you working
yourself out of your
current job to a better
one?
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13. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
Coach, Not Control
• We don’t control other
people’s actions.We offer
them possibilities.
• Coaching is offering
options with support
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14. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
Unleash Others’ Potential
• When you help other
people succeed, you look
like a star
• Consider
• Autonomy
• Mastery
• Purpose
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15. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
Develop Foresight
• With significant experience
you can predict (some of)
the future
• Potential risks for the
product
• Potential performance/
reliability concerns
• Potential technical debt
concerns
• …
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16. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
Satir Change Model
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17. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
Many Changes
• For you:
• Your sense of worth
• What you do
• How you work
• For the organization
• Compensation
• How people work
together
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18. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
Experiment
• Agile changes everything (by
inviting change)
• Your organization might not
consider servant leadership
• With experiments, you:
• Measure
• Try something for a short
timebox
• Measure again and see what
happens
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19. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
Possibilities for Experiments
• Architectural kanban
• Architectural spikes with a
feature team
• Architecture CoP
• Direct coaching
• Work with people across the
organization
• What else can you imagine
experimenting with?
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20. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
How can you, as an agile
architect, shepherd the business
value of the architecture?
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21. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
We Need Great Architects &
Architecture
• How will you make it
happen?
• How can you serve the
product and the people
on the project so you
increase the organization’s
capability?
• What’s your superpower?
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22. © 2015 Johanna Rothman@johannarothman
Let’s Stay in Touch
• Please link with me on LinkedIn:
• www.linkedin.com/in/johannarothman
• Subscribe to the Pragmatic Manager newsletter:
• http://www.jrothman.com/pragmaticmanager/
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