4. @selleithy @TheHappyGuy10 #AgileDC #AgileIndicators
Managers who don’t know
how to measure what they
want settle for wanting to
measure what they can
measure.
-Russell Ackoff
5. @selleithy @TheHappyGuy10 #AgileDC #AgileIndicators
Discussion
Measure what they want! Measure what they can!
What do managers (or
leaders) want to measure?
What can managers (or
leaders) actually measure?
Time: 5 minutes
6. @selleithy @TheHappyGuy10 #AgileDC #AgileIndicators
Agenda
● The problem with metrics
○ Why do some love metrics and others hate them?
● Why do we need metrics?
● A different perspective
● What are Agile indicators?
○ Are we going in the right direction?
○ How fast are we going?
■ (Underlying question: When are going to get there?)
● Start with Questions!
● Staying Curious!
7. @selleithy @TheHappyGuy10 #AgileDC #AgileIndicators
I love metrics because...
I hate metrics because...
Love / Hate relationship with metrics...
I constantly feel evaluated or judged
they convey that we are not good enough
(managers usually look for the negative!)
they can help us learn and improve...
they could highlight bottlenecks
they offer some level of confidence
they don’t tell the whole story
they almost always miss the context!
managers use them to measure productivity
I can use them to forecast what might happen
I can use them to tell whether our project will
be on budget, time, scope, etc.
they usually confirm our biases!
they can easily be gamed!
8. @selleithy @TheHappyGuy10 #AgileDC #AgileIndicators
Metrics translator...
When managers or leaders ask... Team hears...
Why are you not going faster? What have you been busy doing?
Can you get this issue resolved? Can you give me an answer now?
What is your velocity? (story points delivered per sprint) How busy are you?
When are you going to deliver this feature? (Date) Are you sure you are going to be on time?
What is your estimate? Can you deliver by this date?
But some questions are more equal than others…!!!
9. @selleithy @TheHappyGuy10 #AgileDC #AgileIndicators
What we usually do?
Data
What data do we currently
have or can we get from
our Agile tools? (ex: Jira,
Version One, etc.)
Metrics / Reports
What metrics or reports can
we give management or
leadership to keep them
happy?
10. @selleithy @TheHappyGuy10 #AgileDC #AgileIndicators
Start with Questions!
Question
What questions do we
want to answer?
Indicator
What indicators help us
answer these questions?
Structure
What structure support
these indicators?
Data
What data do we
currently have? What
data do we need to
have?
Indicator
What indicators help us
answer these questions?
11. @selleithy @TheHappyGuy10 #AgileDC #AgileIndicators
In reality, it looks like this...
Structure / Data
What structure support these
indicators?
What data do we currently have?
What data do we need to have?
Question (Start here!)
What questions do we need
to answer?
Indicator
What indicators help us answer
these questions?
Agile Indicators
Start with Questions!
12. @selleithy @TheHappyGuy10 #AgileDC #AgileIndicators
What are Agile Indicators?
Based on our observation and experience, Agile
indicators boil down to 3 main questions:
● Are we going in the right direction?
(Compass)
● How sooner are we going will we get there?
(Speed)
● How fast can we adjust? (Response)
13. @selleithy @TheHappyGuy10 #AgileDC #AgileIndicators
Shifting from judger to learner mindset
Source: https://inquiryinstitute.com/CM.pdf
Used with permission
14. @selleithy @TheHappyGuy10 #AgileDC #AgileIndicators
Imagine if...
We aligned on the questions and the indicators with the teams from the get go!
“For instance, at Amazon, metrics are established in advance of
every activity and specify what actions are expected to happen in
ways that can be measured in real-time. If the metrics show that
activity is not having the impact that was expected, action is
required.”
-Stephen Denning. Forbes: Why Agile
Often Fails: No Agreed Metrics
16. @selleithy @TheHappyGuy10 #AgileDC #AgileIndicators
Start with Questions!
● What do we want?
● How will we know when we get it?
● How will we know that we build it right?
Agile Indicators preferably measure
outcomes and impact over output
17. @selleithy @TheHappyGuy10 #AgileDC #AgileIndicators
What questions come to your mind?
Team A
Team B
How is team A getting
more work done than
team B?What’s the team
velocity?
How many stories are
we completing every
sprint?
Where are we seeing
bottlenecks?
What can team A learn from
team B and vice versa?
Where do we see opportunities
for improvement?
18. @selleithy @TheHappyGuy10 #AgileDC #AgileIndicators
What questions come to your mind?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
When can we deliver all
stories?
When can we deliver all
stories?
What is our “release” goal?
How likely are we going to
meet our goal (based on this
chart/trend)?
What can we deliver by
Sprint 11?
What cause the scope
change?
What are we noticing? What
insights can we take from
this?
Can we deliver all stories by
Sprint 12?
19. @selleithy @TheHappyGuy10 #AgileDC #AgileIndicators
What questions come to your mind?
Why are we not
meeting our
commitment?
What obstacles are
we running into?
What are the common
obstacles we run into?
How long does it
usually take to resolve
these obstacles?
20. @selleithy @TheHappyGuy10 #AgileDC #AgileIndicators
Tweetable Take-aways
● Start with Questions!
● When looking at indicators, ask, am I asking a judger
question or a learner question?
● Be Curious and Stay curious
Most teams hate the idea of tracking or sharing metrics with managers or leaders. When the teams are asked to share metrics like velocity, burn down and other output driven metrics, teams hear what are you "busy" doing? So, the team starts to focus on showing how busy they are which drives the wrong behavior and stifles their opportunity for learning and growing and using metrics for good.
Since, the essence of agility is continuous improvement via inspect and adapt. We want to reframe the conversation around Agile indicators that start with questions! What questions are you asking your team? How are you helping them to learn and grow? What indicators are you looking at?
In this session, we will be providing insights around using Agile indications with questions in order to embrace a different mindset. A mindset that encourages more learning, growing and less judgment. A curiosity mindset that encourages organizations to move from “busy work” or output focused metrics to outcomes focused using questions.
Use a piece of paper and split into half (write down measure what they want in one half of the paper and write down measure what they can in the other half of the paper (What do managers (or leaders) want to measure? Vs. what can managers (or leaders) actually measure?
Turn to the person next to you
The problem with metrics
Why do some love metrics and others hate them?
Why do we need metrics?
A different perspective
A different perspective
A different perspective...
A different perspective...
A different perspective...
What are Agile indicators?
Are we going in the right direction?
How fast are we going?
(Underlying question: When are going to get there?)
Staying Curious!
Understand the difference between the learner mindset vs. the judger mindset
Adopt a curious/learners mindset using choice maps
Possibly introduce Q-storming / Q-prep
Understand the difference between the learner mindset vs. the judger mindset
Adopt a curious/learners mindset using choice maps
Opinion: Use the questions from earlier slide
Possibly introduce Intent-based leadership by David Marquet
Judger Questions
Why is team A getting more work done than team B?
What’s the team velocity?
How many stories are we completing every sprint?
Learner Questions
What can team A learn from team B and vice versa?
Where are we seeing bottlenecks?
Where do we see opportunities for improvement?
These stories are for a specific feature and these teams are working on more than 1 feature any given sprint.
When can we deliver all stories? (Fixed scope)
What can we deliver by Sprint 12? (Fixed Date)
Can we deliver all stories by Sprint 12? (Fixed Scope and Date)
Learner Questions
What is our “release” goal?
How likely are we going to meet our goal (based on this chart/trend)?
What are we noticing? What insights can we take from this?
What is our biggest takeaway here?
What cause the scope change?
If we think of our stories as experiments (because we don’t know what we don’t know yet).
Story about a lead saying that the team is horrible and failed our sprint (basing it on one data point)
Judger questions:
Why are we not meeting our commitment? (most teams will commit to less work so they can meet their commitment so that they can look good.)
Learner questions
What obstacles are we running into?
How long does it usually take to resolve these obstacles?
What are the common obstacles we run into?