All delivery systems create value for customers. In a Predictable & Agile Delivery system, 'value' flows:
Managers who know how to achieve this optimise delivery systems continually. Improvement is done efficiently, by collaborating with delivery teams and removing obstacles to performance.
The crucial challenge for knowledge work is quality. A new software feature may pass QA and HR may hire the best candidate for a role, but these are subjective. In reality, these processes are rarely documented and often badly flawed. Of course, people do their best under these conditions. Yet the result is inconsistent outputs and problems that have to be corrected later. The costs saved today are wiped out in re-work and apologising to customers, later.
Lean techniques are particularly good for increasing efficiency and Agile for improving adaptability. They need to balance though, because one is good for production at scale, the other for exploring new designs and solutions.
Both are tried and tested approaches that maximise operational effectiveness.
The journey to achieving predictable and agile delivery is shorter and faster than you think.
Prioritisation resolves tensions and diverse demands by clarifying what matters most, right now:
Prioritisation helps people make decisions, at all levels.
Managers were written-out of the Agile movement yet they are crucial for improving Business Agility, by:
Technology managers support developers, who are "uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it."
Improving organisation-wide agility depends on managers at every level. Their curiosity and willingness to explore is crucial. Improvement emerges in its way, not from projects or plans.
The guiding principle is 'inspect and adapt'. Change the smallest thing you do now that could be done better. I guarantee you will look back and notice the transformation.
In the standup, we had a (brief) team discussion about tracking progress. I reacted against Jira because a) I dislike the user interface as it's a collaboration killer, and b) we aren't a software development or IT support team. Standup game visualises progress Three weeks later, team members Sam Thomas and @HughHadfield demonstrated this way […]
Malcolm Gladwell tells the story of David and Goliath as an unfair contest with odds stacked against the giant. Shepherd David with his simple but precise sling shot isn’t the bravest of King Saul’s men but the one who recognises the deadly disadvantage of an unwieldy, heavily armour-clad, sword-bearing infantryman in one-on-one combat. Gladwell is […]
The HOW of Transformation recorded at the Global Digital Transformation Summit in Berlin 2023 Summary Managers who manage tensions enjoy greater performance, especially in complex and dynamic environments. In this 36-minute talk: I tell the story of Transport for London's transformation from a one-sided fares Operator to an integrated Developer-Operator. And show how technologists using […]
