About Me learn Professor 3 startups

Simplifying Agile – Delivering Value Quickly

Agile is… 14 th Century French agile Latin agilis – quick, nimble agere – move, drive

A Journey Portland - On the Cusp of Agile DevOps

Business Problem Rapid change to production web-based software in the medical bill review industry

How we started Dev Deploy Problems: -Work all weekend. -System not stable on Monday. -Lots of rework. -Lots of stress.

The problem solved by Agile DevOps Model Agile Dev Results: data center changes with no outages TestDeploy 1.Automate testing scripts. 2.Move acceptance dates up for deployment decisions. 3.Go-no-go authority with deployment leadership. 4.Script deployment.

A Journey Grand Rapids Lean Agile Experience

Business Problem Design and Document and Design Business Solution Concept & Specs Design Estimate Effort Validate Product Process Key Roles Product Management Development Design V e r y L e a n

Business Problem Design and Document and Design Business Solution Concept & Specs Design Estimate Effort Validate Product Process Deep understanding of the business objectives and the problem. -Read patent. -Reviewed raw business thoughts. -Interviewed business leaders and customers. -Iterated with the business on ideas they had. Product Manager

Business Problem Design and Document and Design Business Solution Concept & Specs Design Estimate Effort Validate Product Process Concept at the business level -High-level works best. -Avoided technology discussions. Product Manager

Business Problem Design and Document and Design Business Solution Concept & Specs Design Estimate Effort Validate Product Process Initial presentation of technology concept(s) -Discussion of technology alternatives and recommendations. -Very high-level wireframe concepts. -Continual validation of the solution against the problem. Product Manager + Dev Team Leader

Business Problem Design and Document and Design Business Solution Concept & Specs Design Estimate Effort Validate Product Process Working closely as a team -MVP is critical. -Design for speed (small & fast) -Persona workflow. -Wireframe drafts. 10-minute exercises. Product Manager + Dev Team + Designer

Business Problem Design and Document and Design Business Solution Concept & Specs Design Estimate Effort Validate Product Process Estimating effort -Stories -2, 4, 8, 16, 32 points. -Epics. -Conferring with Product Management frequently. Dev Team Story language: “As a __________, I need __________, so that ________ is the outcome.”

Business Problem Design and Document and Design Business Solution Concept & Specs Design Estimate Effort Validate Product Process Validate -Business leader. -Client (where appropriate). Product Manager + Dev Team Leader

Business Problem Design and Document and Design Business Solution Concept & Specs Design Estimate Effort Validate Product Process Dev Team + Product Manager Continued Design & DevOps Integration Prioritize Stories Spikes & Epics Basecamp Velocity Grows StageProduction Engage Business Leaders & Customers Pair Programming 2, 4, 6 Iteration Meetings: Secret Sauce A: Review Stage B: Agree on Iteration Priorities Constant Backlog Grooming Constant Market Feedback

Results… days to first delivery Iterations pushed to prod quickly Market reaction integration Increased velocity with experience $500k, $1m, & $2m projects delivered

The Power of Agile is… Speed Nimble Movement Response from Market Adjustment in Product

Work methods based on scientific study of tasks. Scientifically select, train, and develop each employee. Provide instruction and supervision. Divide work between management and labor. Use scientific principles to plan and manage. Who is? Frederick Taylor Father of Scientific Management

How to NOT be Agile Design & Documentation Leadership Backlog Grooming Test-driven Development Throughput Focus People Basics forget about these concepts

Design & Documentation Who is Dr. Winston Royce? Important for Agile 1

Design & Documentation $5m 1,000 pgs Important for Agile 1

Backlog Grooming and Iteration Discipline Important for Agile 2

Integrate testing as close to the coding as possible. Building test cases into the development process helps. Building tests as part of the coding process helps. Test-driven Development Important for Agile 3

What is the goal? Throughput Focus Important for Agile System of Systems What is a constraint? Should you ever use your constrained resource in a different function? 4

Forgetting basic people skills causes big problems. Important for Agile Decisions aren’t made quickly. Meetings called to clarify content of other meetings. Meetings used to make decisions because no clear owner exists. Processes keep real work from getting done. Pre-work does not get adequate investment (people are too busy). Team members say they are committed but their work does not support that. Projects take too long to get approved or cancelled. Tasks are under-resourced. Committees or meetings produce inventory (to-do’s) that have to be managed. Backlog of work “to-do’s” never get worked. Pre-released software inventory Design inventory Process inventory Queued up for decisions, but if delayed too long produce rework. 5

Simplifying Agile: Delivering Value Quickly requires Excellent product leadership Crisp management processes

Questions? For a copy of the working paper behind this presentation me at:

Can I Implement Agile in a Mixed Environment? I would like to clarify my response to this question. I’ve thought a lot about this over the last few days. I may have left the impression that it is an “all or nothing” type of experience. While I love agile organizations, I also recognize that not every organization can be agile all the way all the time. In my view the answer to this question should be to implement agile principles where you can. Even if you have only a few pockets of agile operating in an organization, the principles will spill over as success comes. Again, my view of agile is not that software or product is delivered ad-hoc without a plan. Rather, high quality iterative planning is integrated into the delivery process, which improves our ability to understand the market’s reaction to our MVP. This is a principle that works for internal as well as external market targets. I’m very open to additional conversations on this topic. Sincerely, Gordon