Business Agility - Understanding it in Seven Questions

Quick POLL

How strong is your business' agility?  Elaborate in comments.

1. No idea what it is 
2. Once heard of it
3. We are considering a transformation
4. We started our business agility transformation
5. We are going through a transformation
6. Most of our business is using lean-agile methods
7. We have fully embraced business agility in all its forms

This blog is based on the seven reporter questions: what, why, who, when, where, how, and which.  You can read more about this question strategy in other posts on my blog: Simpler Agile. 

If you are interested in Business Agility please contact me directly on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulpazderski/  

What is Business Agility?

Business Agility is the organizational capability to sense upcoming changes externally or internally and respond accordingly in order to deliver value to our customers and business interests.

Business agility is a comprehensive capability that encompass everything and everyone in the business system, including the organization, its vendors, suppliers,  partners, and even customers.  It is founded on a growth mindset (see Mindset by Carol S. Dweck), four agile values, and twelve agile principles (see https://agilemanifesto.org/).  It is instantiated in an innumerable, ever growing set of varied practices organized into frameworks.

Why is Business Agility important?

Since we work in a VUCA world: (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) we need the capability to respond to whatever changes are thrown at us.  Business Agility enables us to more quickly and easily innovate and quickly deliver iterative, incremental value to our customers.  Also, Business Agility provides better alignment within your business both vertically and horizontally. Lastly, when done correctly it improves work/life balance for all involved.

Who needs Business Agility?

Business Agility is a survival capability.  It is critical to all current and future business endeavors in our VUCA world.  Therefore, anyone desiring a successful business must understand and incorporate Business Agility into their business ventures.   Also, all people working in a modern business venture must get involved and support in Business Agility.

How does Business Agility work?

Business Agility requires a comprehensive all-encompassing transformation of the company.  Every person, every team, every group, every department, and every business unit must go through this transformation.  This Business Agility Transformation starts with all individuals cultivating a growth mindset.  Than understanding, accepting, and living by the four agile values, and twelve agile principles.   Such a foundation then enables to selection and enactment of the appropriate modern lean-agile practices and frameworks.  Yet, to select the appropriate practices and frameworks you need an expert guide.  In the lean-agile community such expert guides are usually called Coaches.  We inherently accept that all athletes and sports teams have coaches, sometimes more than one.  The same is true for Business Agility Transformation.  You must have expert Coaches guiding you.

When is Business Agility engaged?

The movement toward agile methods started over 20 years ago.  Many organizations across the globe are using them.  Therefore, if you and your business are not onboard yet, you are behind the curve.  The unfortunate circumstances are that many first time attempts at transformations fail for numerous reasons - lack of commitment, weak support/leadership, and/or poor coaching for example.

Where is Business Agility visible?

First and foremost, Business Agility shows through customer loyalty and promotion; i.e. the customers are so happy with the business, its products and services that they tell everyone how great those are.  Second, the business tends to outperform their competition.  Third, products and services tend to lead the market in innovation and disruption. Fourth, the employees, vendors and suppliers are very happy and promote the business.  Finally, the community are just as happy and supportive.

Which elements are critical to Business Agility?

Find and engage a well-rounded, experienced Business Agility Coach.  Cultivate that growth mindset.  Follow with the four agile values, and twelve agile principles.   Start learning modern lean and agile practices and frameworks.  Yet, avoid trying to become the agile coach yourself.  Get a professional.

References 

For further insights on Business Agility please follow these links.

• Agile Manifesto - https://agilemanifesto.org/ 
• Simpler Agile blog - https://simpleragile.blogspot.com/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulpazderski/  

If you are interested in Business Agility please contact me directly on LinkedIn.

(3/9) Implementing Lean Portfolio Management Nine Principles - Third Principle

Quick POLL

Reply in Comments - How aligned is your work to goals common to your group or enterprise?

1. No idea of common goals 
2. Some alignment
3. Mostly aligned
4. Completely aligned 

     This is my third post in the series on the Nine Principles of Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) from ICAgile.  Here I delve into nuances behind these principles.  Please join us at the Kintsugi Training Institute (KTI) in our LPM course, where we use these principles in training on the whole Lean Portfolio Management system.

     This blog is based on the seven reporter questions: what, why, who, when, where, how, and which.  You can read more about this question strategy on my blog: Simpler Agile. 

What is the topic? 

#3 - Align around common goals, and how they might change

The ICAgile article defines the third principle as follows.  Typically, the “true north” guiding organizational strategy is conveyed as a set of desired business outcomes across multiple time horizons. These outcomes, should be expressed and communicated as clear, measurable "goals", which would make the strategy implementable. Every area of the organization should understand where and how to contribute to the overall mosaic that delivers on these outcomes. Feedback loops need to be established to ensure these goals and outcomes can adapt to meet the evolving needs of the organization and these changes also should be communicated to the entire organization transparently and clearly.

Why is this important?

Alignment!  This is the driving force in this principle.  When people are aligned with their work towards a common goal both the progress on the work is smoother and the achievement of the goal is easier.  For a blatant example compare a group of people sitting in a raft randomly paddling, versus the same group synchronously paddling towards the shore.  No contest.  All it really takes is for someone to say: "Let's paddle to the shore!"  People will automatically take a spot on the raft and start paddling in the same direction.  Yes, it make take a few stroke to get into synchronization and smooth out the movements, yet with little coaching quick progress can be achieved.  If however some people are paddling towards one shore while others towards the other, little if any progress will be made.  Plus everyone will get frustrated.

     The second part is confirming everyone understands and buys-in to how these common goals may change.  This is critical to be arranged before the first change occurs, so that when it does everyone is already familiar with the change approach and can easily realign to the change goal.  Using our raft example, if we get everybody to agree how we turn, then when the need for a turn comes we can enact it smoothly.

Who is involved?

Setting goals and aligning to them could be performed at multiple levels in the organization.  For example, at the top enterprise level, along with the overall business, needs a set of goals which are derived from the overall strategy and lead to its fulfilment; each organization segment, such as business units or departments, should define their strategy and goals;  each product should have its strategy and goals;  and organization-wide strategic initiatives may have their strategies and goals.  All these strategies and goals must be aligned to each other to foster synergy and cohesion and to avoid friction among people and work.

     At each goal setting event, there are two main groups involved with the setting goals.  The people who define and maintain the goals, and the people who work to achieve the goals.  Ideally, these should be the same people.  The people working to achieve a goal, should also be the people defining and maintaining that goal.   That personal connection strengthens the alignment, because the workers feel more connected to those goals.  If having all involved people attend a goal setting session, at least representatives should be present from each involved area; e.g. sales, marketing, devops, etc.

How is this to be performed?

In enacting this principle, there are at least 5 elements to expand with some common guidelines.  

• The goals need to be defined
• How the goals might change (flexibility) needs to be outlined
• The goals need to be maintained, i.e. changed when the need arises
• The people working towards those goals need to be aligned to them
• Progress to those goals needs to be tracked 

     Here are some typical suggestions for well-defined goals.  First, desired business outcomes need to be the precursors to the goals.  The resulting goals need to be stepwise approximations to the outcomes.  Second, make the goals S.M.A.R.T.  That means: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timeboxed; although some use other expansions for this acronym.   SMART, is just one of those rules-of-thumb that helps us remember the elements of good goals.  You can also use the OKR system - Objectives and Key Results; or any other structure that leads to well-defined goals.  Third, it is highly valuable to involve the workers (people who will work on the goals) in their definition so that they feel a sense of ownership and accountability for them.  

     Build in flexibility into the goals.  This may seem counterintuitive to the SMART criteria.  However, in this context all we need is an outline of the approach for how we will change the goals and under what circumstances.  For a short example: we set a goal to increase mobile app customer base by 5% in next quarter.  We agree to track that at weekly checkpoints with the Sales & Marketing team who collaborated with us on defining this goal.  We also agree on only changing the goal if a drastic change in the market or in the company takes place; e.g. drastic meaning: destroying our goal's SMART-ness. We will change the goal with all the original participants involved.

     The goal needs to be recorded in a commonly accessible location, e.g. internal Mobile Products Page.  It needs to be tracked, e.g. in the Kanban system we all use for work.  The goal needs to be reviewed; e.g. at weekly checkpoint, or at least at sprint reviews.  Progress to goal needs to be visible; e.g. our Product Dashboard will include delivered BVP (Business Value Points) and actual current to baseline mobile app customer growth.

     The people working to achieve a goal from all departments (sales, marketing, devops, etc.) need to be involved in the definition, maintenance, and revision when needed.  To avoid unneeded overhead, goal setting and maintenance should be part of normal business flow, e.g. part of PI Planning.  This direct involvement will lead to work alignment and accountability.

     At the end of a cycle, e.g. PI, the goals need to be reconciled and considered done, changed, or terminated, depending on progress and criteria.  They also need to be included in the retrospective.

When is it best to do?

The timing for goalsetting is dependent at which level of the organization it is performed, and for what purpose.  If the goals are associated with a specific event or deliverable, then goalsetting should be started during the earliest conceptualizations for that event/deliverable and evolved as the other elements evolve, e.g. vision, strategy, etc.  If the goalsetting is for a group (team, department, etc.) the goalsetting should fallow the pre-establish cadence for that group, e.g. maybe monthly or quarterly for the team, and quarterly or yearly for the department.  The most important factor is to fit the goalsetting and maintenance into normal business activities.

Where do we track progress?

As mentioned previously, there should be a single common repository (single source of truth) for maintaining and tracking the goals, so that only the latest version and progress are viewable, not a copy or derivative.  Also, as with any important document, proper configuration and change management needs to be established and maintained for the goals and progress information.  That includes: change tracking, versioning, editor access controls, etc.  Along with theses, it is critical that these practices be fully automated and easy to use.  For example, for change control use continuous integration.  

Which items are critical?

The key reminders are: set the goals with the workers; outline the goal parameters at the outset (how they can change, what the triggers are, etc.); update goal progress frequently, and review with all stakeholders; confirm everyone's alignment to the goals at every opportunity; celebrate goal achievements!

     And remember … you processes will vary.

References 

For further learning and training on the intricacies of LPM please follow these links.

• Kintsugi Training Institute - LPM Classes 
• ICAgile - LPM Principles 
• Simpler Agile blog 

(2/9) Implementing Lean Portfolio Management Nine Principles - Second Principle

This is the second post in the series on the Nine Principles of Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) from the ICAgile article.  Now I delve into nuances behind the second principle.  At Kintsugi Training Institute (KTI) in our LPM course we use these principles in training on the whole Lean Portfolio Management system.

      This blog is based on the seven basic questions for good reporting: what, why, who, when, where, how, and which.  You can read more about this question strategy at my blog: Simpler Agile. 

What is the topic? 

#2 - Communicate an adaptive strategy with transparency

This second LPM Principle is presented in the ICAgile article as follows.  Organizations need a flexible strategy that supports a guiding vision so that they can effectively respond to changing environments while keeping on-track towards that vision.  The specific track forward is fundamentally unforeseeable—making feedback, learning, and adaptation core organizational competencies for successful progress.  An adaptive strategy embodies this flexible approach and enables rapid response to changing environments. Furthermore, for such an adoptive strategy to be effective, it needs to be articulated and communicated across the whole organization to enable local decision-making that aligns with and is constrained by the organization’s vision and goals. 

Why is this important?

Communication, adaptation, and transparency trace back well to the agile manifesto values and principles.

      Having strong traceable principles lays a strong foundation for enabling the construction of further elements like building a house.  There too a strong foundation enables the construction of a strong, resilient building.  Therefore, strong well-defined principles become the guiding light not only for the construction of LPM, they also guide the behavior of people in LPM roles.

Who is involved?

This principle has at least two potential contexts relating to 'strategy'.  First, there is the organization-wide strategy, aka. enterprise strategy.  Second, there is the specific portfolio strategy.  At the organization-level, the organization leaders, aka. executives, are responsible for initiating the definition, and later updates, of the strategy.  At the portfolio level, the Lean Portfolio Management Office (LPMO) has that responsibility.  However, in an agile culture these leaders should be involving other participants.  For a portfolio strategy, these would be all the people working within the portfolio.  That is difficult.  For the enterprise strategy, that is almost impossible.  See the 'how' section below for ideas.

      The second level of involvement is from all the group members.  As stated, they need to participate in it's creation and all revisions.  Some novel approaches may need to be attempted.  For example, survey about content and revision mechanics; online canvas for all to visit and share their inputs;  online wiki pages, etc.  

      Secondly, all need to embrace the strategy, align their work with it, and in essence, live it.  This is true for both the portfolio and the enterprise.

How is this to be performed?

In enacting this principle, there are at least 5 steps to expand.  

• The strategy has to be created

• It must be made adaptable 

• It must be updated when necessitated by situational changes

• It must be communicated when created and changed

• And all the steps need to be transparent

Creating the strategy should be facilitated by the appropriate leaders and all effected people should be involved.  Any Strategy Canvas can be used as a good visual facilitation vehicle.  The Seven Question Canvas is a simple example of this.  [Please leave a comment or chat if you are interested.]

      The defined strategy must be made adoptable.  Therefore, as part of strategy implementation, it must be clear how often it will be reviewed, and that it can be easily changed.  The review and updating should be both on a periodic cadence (e.g. quarterly) and on-demand given some threshold criteria (e.g. major event, request by someone, etc.)

      Communication needs to be periodic and ongoing.  The periodic form us used when the strategy initially is announced and when it changes.  The ongoing is enacted by making is transparent.  Transparency necessitates a central and generally viewable location (e.g. lunchroom/s) and online (e.g. intranet wiki, newsletter, etc.)  It is critical that there is a single central repository for the strategy so that the whole latest version is the one viewed, not a copy or derivative.

When is it best to do?

An adoptive strategy needs to be prepared before some significant event.  A good example would be for the kickoff of an agile journey.  For example, the adoptive strategy could encapsulate the approach to the agile journey.  The least impressive time would be to unveil the adoptive strategy at a new year boundary, because it would propagate the notion of 'business as usual', since new year is the traditional time for new strategies.

Where do we track progress?

As mentioned above,  it is critical that there is a single central repository for the strategy so that the whole latest version is the one viewed, not a copy or derivative.  Also, as with any important document, proper configuration and change management needs to be established and maintained for the strategy.  That includes: change tracking, versioning, editor access controls, etc.  Along with theses, it is critical that these practices be fully automated and easy to use.  For example, for change control use continuous integration.  

Which items are critical?

An enterprise level strategy should consider such components as: customer-centricity, marketing approach, financial flow, employee-centricity, and operational flow.  For each component a sub-strategy may be appropriate.  Each such sub-strategy should be adaptive just like the whole.  

      Above the strategy, there should be an enterprise mission or purpose statement, answering the question: why do we exists as an organization?

      Below the strategy, there should be subordinate outcomes targeted by the organization.  If a desired outcome is identified that does not fit anywhere under the strategy, then alignment need to be sought, either by modifying the desired outcome or modifying the strategy. 

References 

Kintsugi Training Institute - LPM Classes - https://kintsugitraininginstitute.com/icp-lpm

ICAgile - LPM Principles - https://www.icagile.com/resources/the-principles-of-lean-portfolio-management-for-business-agility

Simpler Agile blog - https://simpleragile.blogspot.com/

(1/9) Implementing Lean Portfolio Management Nine Principles - First Principle

Starting a new blog series on the nine Principles of Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) for Business Agility, which are well defined in the ICAgile article.  We will cover all nine principles one per post, starting with the first principle and ending with the nineth.  Please review the ICAgile article for basics.  I will delve into some nuances behind these principles.  At Kintsugi Training Institute (KTI) in our LPM course we use these principles in training on the whole Lean Portfolio Management system.

      Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) is the highest, or at least the second highest level in the agile scaling hierarchy, depending on which model you use.  It builds well on top of solution trains, release trains, and other flow networks. The 9 LPM Principles provide the solid foundation for constricting a strong LPM system.

      This blog is loosely based on the seven basic questions for good reporting: what, why, who, when, where, how, and which. With these questions a comprehensive perspective of the topic can be compiled.  You can read more about this question strategy at my blog: Simpler Agile. 

What is the topic? 

#1 - Shift to customer-centricity within a larger context

This is the first LPM Principle.  Per the ICAgile article, 'customer centricity' is a basic tenant of agility.  The 'larger context' should include social and environmental concerns, ensuring everyone aligns directly with customer needs and organizational vision.

Why is this important?

LPM principles trace back well to the agile manifesto and its principles.

      Having strong traceable principles creates a strong foundation for enabling the construction of further elements.  The obvious analogy is building a house.  There too a strong foundation enables the construction of a strong, resilient building.

      Strong well-defined principles become the guiding light not only for the construction of LPM, they also guide the behavior of people in LPM roles.

Who is involved?

Because this LPM Principle calls for the 'larger context' the expectation is everyone in the organization will be involved.  Nevertheless, the Roles directly involved with LPM will be more engaged with this principle.  The unstated expectation is that they will lead the 'shift'.  Also, indirect involvement will come from the 'customers'.

How is this to be performed?

The 'shift' is the key to living this principle.  First is the mindset shift.  This is raising the awareness throughout the organization to the need of understanding the notion that everyone needs to be aware and focused on the customers.  Furthermore, everyone needs to align their work to the identified customer needs.  Finally, we will need to close the loops on feedback coming from the customers and the market, so that we can assess our progress on customer need fulfillment.

      Next, we must broaden our awareness of who our customers are, both externally and internally.  Externally, we need to include indirect customers, such as the greater community we serve.  Internally, we need to include people we routinely engage with, such as people on our team, release train, and portfolio.

When is it best to do?

The shift to customer-centricity within a larger context is most effective when integrated into broader initiatives, such as LPM or business agility implementation, Because these can leverage synergies and drive more impactful organizational change. This integration can also address potential challenges, such as resistance to change or misalignment of goals, by providing a clear, unified direction for the entire organization. Once you 'unfreeze' the status-quo it is best to continue the movement, not letting it 'refreeze' thereby wasting the initial momentum.

Where do we track progress?

Maintaining a well-configured relational database for business analytics is essential for tracking progress in implementing these principles.  It will enable quick access and abilities to analyze and clearly present the metrics.  Without such a tool, closing the feedback loop will be difficult and may discourage the Lean Portfolio Management Office, the people primarily responsible for governing the portfolio(s).

      Alternatively or in addition, a strong modern LPM tool may be used for both LPM governance and measurement.

Which items are critical?

It is important to understand that within this principle there are three dimensions to the concept of 'larger context'.  First, the 'larger context' should expand beyond direct clients to include the larger community, the market, and their social and environmental concerns, Thereby linking customer-centricity to broader business objectives such as corporate social responsibility and sustainable growth. Second, the context needs to expand to everyone within the organization so they have a direct line of sight (aka. alignment) to the customers and the organization's vision.  Third, the definition of customer needs to expand into the internal customer in the supply and delivery chains.

      It is also important to always close the loop on all feedback systems.  This may involve three types of feedback loops: quantitative, qualitative, and hybrid.  Quantitative feedback loops use data-driven metrics, such as: number of active accounts on the system, percent of active users, etc.  Qualitative feedback loops opinion-driven feedback loops, such as: user surveys, focus groups, and interviews.  Hybrid feedback loops involve a mix of data and opinion-driven feedback loops, such as: Likert scale survey, i.e. the qualitative feedback has been turned into quantitative feedback by 'bucketizing' the scaling the responses. 

      If any such data is collected, that is feedback from the environment.  Therefore, the loopback has to be closed on such data.  The most appropriate closure is to review the data and make decisions based on what we learn in the review.  Otherwise, there is no reason to collect it in the first place.

References 

Kintsugi Training Institute - LPM Classes - https://kintsugitraininginstitute.com/icp-lpm

ICAgile - LPM Principles - https://www.icagile.com/resources/the-principles-of-lean-portfolio-management-for-business-agility

Simpler Agile blog - https://simpleragile.blogspot.com/

NLP - What is NLP - Neuro Linguistic Programing 

Defining NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programing) should be easy, yet it defies definition because NLP means different things to different people.  Let me present some common definitions first, then I will attempt a reconciliations these.

NLP Definition - Dictionary Denotation 

Here we run into our first roadblock - no two dictionaries have the same definition of NLP, nor can other sources agree.

Nevertheless, let's try Dictionary.com: NLP = Neurolinguistic Programming = 

a method of modifying cognitive patterns, emotions, and behaviors, typically, self-improvement through learned imitation of the thoughts, feelings, and actions of high achievers or other successful models of a specific desired behavior.

(https://www.dictionary.com/browse/neurolinguistic-programming)

Some interesting points to notice.

1. Neurolinguistic is presented as one word instead of two.
2. Programming has the British (2 m) spelling, instead of 'programing'.
3. It is presented as a 'method', singular, instead of plural or something bigger.
4. Other parts of the definition also are very limiting and boundary forming.

NLP Definition - Historical Connotations 

Here is what some NLP gurus have said about it.

The ability to master your own states by running your own brain – Richard Bandler

The study of excellence and how to reproduce it – John Grinder

An attitude (wanton curiosity) and methodology (modelling) that leaves behind a trail of techniques – Richard Bandler

How to use the language of the mind to consistently achieve our specific and desired outcomes – Tad James

While these are not well-formed definitions, they do bring in some depth and color to our understanding.

Maybe a good holistic approach would be to define NLP by defining the three parts N, L, and P.

Neuro – nervous system – so using the mind and sensory organs 

Linguistic - communication system - so using sounds (language), pictures, feelings (sensory), tastes (gustatory), smells (olfactory), thoughts (self-talk)

Programming – pattern coding system - sequences of instructions in our minds

As before, not a well-formed definition, but insightful and informative.

NLP Definition - Summary 

Personally, I have found there is not a single definition which will satisfy all NLP practitioners, and provide a single well-formed succinct statement answering the question "what is NLP".

How do you Kick Start a New Idea? - The Inception Journey

New ideas abound.  We all have them and play the 'What-if' game.  Yet, we wonder: is that really viable?  So we hesitate, second guess, procrastinate, and eventually move on.  Wouldn't it be easier if could test our ideas to check viability.  One day, a good friend, Jon, and I were discussing some new ideas.  Our main concern was: how do we check these?  So we tried some things and arrived at a pattern. We called it the Inception Journey.

  

Our Inception Journey pattern is not really new.  We have seen elements of this pattern in other inception  patterns.  But we have not seen it presented as a simple step by step series of questions.  Here it is.

Inception Journey

Clarify Idea - … Elevator Pitch or Pirate Metrics Canvas or something similar

MVPOC (Minimum Viable Proof Of Concept) - Tipping points to proceed

• Outcomes:

• O1: Viable idea to clients

• O2: ~ 10x clients to creators

• O3: Clients' validated potential engagement 

• Q: What is the minimum we can do to convince ourselves there is any clientele for our idea?

• Q1: What is the problem we are trying to solve?

• Q2: What is the 'new' idea we want to try?

• Q3: Who is the targeted clientele?

• Q4: How are we going to validate their potential engagement?

• Q5: How are we going to validate our new idea?

• Q6: What is that minimum experiment/activity to try?

Decide Next Steps - Proceed / Pivot / Punt 

• Retro - Collect feedback and learnings from MVPOC 

• Proceed - MVPOC was successful enough to go forward

• Pivot - MVPOC indicated need for major changes to 

• Rerun MVPOC with changes

•      Punt - Go back to the start, find new idea and new MVPOC

Define Vision to Proceed - Vision Statement 

• From Vision start building Backlog in 'Tool'

• Recruit & Charter an Agile Team to do the work

Inception Journey by Jon Jorgensen and Paul Pazderski is licensed under CC BY-SA 4

Fractals in Agility - repeatable patterns leading to more agile behavior

What is the topic? ==> Fractals in Agility - repeatable patterns leading to more agile behavior.

Why is this significant? ==> By understanding the meta-pattern the subordinate fractal patterns are easier to understand, explain, and adjust.

Who is involved? ==> Coaches and trainers can explain complex/complicated ideas more easily.

When is this useful? ==> In presentations, classes, workshops, clinics, training, coaching, etc.

Where is this applicable? ==> Potentially any agile method, practice, pattern, can be viewed as a fractal of a meta-pattern.

How does this work? ==> 4 simple steps:

1. Uncover the meta-pattern
2. Map subordinate patterns to meta-pattern
   
3. Explain meta-pattern, explain subordinate patterns in light of meta-pattern
   
4. Adjust subordinate pattern to the need at hand

Which is an example? ==> Here is one example within agile scaling:       

    0. Meta-pattern:

1. Look back
   
2. Look at present
   
3. Look forward
   
   
1. Standup fractal pattern
1. Look back : What have you done since last standup?
   
2. Look at present : What impediments are in the way of your Tasks?
3. Look forward : What do you plan to do until next standup?
   
   
2. Sprint fractal pattern
1. Look back : Sprint Review & Sprint Retrospective
2. Look at present : Daily Scrum & User Stories
3. Look forward : Sprint Planning & Backlog Refinement
   
   
3. ART or SRT (Release Train) fractal pattern
1. Look back : System Review & ART/SRT Retrospective
2. Look at present : Scrum of Scrums & Features/Epics
3. Look forward : PI/SI Planning & PI/SI Prep
   
   
4. 3-box Portfolio Planning fractal
                            (SEE: https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/a-three-box-solution-to-managing-innovation)
1. Look back : Box 2 = sunset past money sinks
2. Look at present : Box 1 = cultivate present funding sources
3. Look forward : Box 3 = invest in future innovations

Shifting Culture to Enable Business Agility

With the desire to better understand Agile Culture, my friend Dave and I started researching the details of what characterizes culture (Hofstede: Culture & Organizations), which are the typical organizational culture models (Laloux: Reinventing Organizations), and how to orchestrate a step by step culture shift within an organization (Our own: Culture Shift ABC Model.  We started sharing initial findings at Meetups in short Webinars.  

Our first one "Culture Shift 101: Enabling a Culture of Business Agility" can be viewed online at: https://youtu.be/hT2oKfmvHnI)0 

The second is comin up on 4/13 and you can join.

RSVP: https://www.meetup.com/AgileAustin/events/276968323/

ABSTRACT: Culture Shift 102: Shifting Culture to Enable Business Agility

Culture always wins.  We all understand the impact culture can have on an Agile transformation and the ability to achieve the desired outcomes from moving towards Agile ways of working.  The challenge is how to shift your organization’s culture to better align with Agile values and principles and enable business agility.  In this interactive session, we’ll explore the Culture Shift ABC Model, an approach to help you discover the path for your organization to shift their culture to one that better supports agility.  We’ll discuss the steps needed to intentionally shape your organization’s culture and review some useful tools to help you on your journey.

By attending this session, you will be able to:

1. Understand the overall culture shift paradigm

2. Describe the major steps to shift your culture toward enabling agility

3. Recognize some of the tools and techniques you can use to shift your culture

Please join us on the continuing journey of Agile Culture Shift!

Example group event within Pandemic guardrails

While the Pandemic is in force, we still may enjoy safe group fun by following simple rules.   This is only one example of how to proceed.   Please share your approach and comments.

Couples' Yard Party within Pandemic Guardrails 

1. Maximum of only 10 people.
2. Masks always on faces, except for eating and drinking

3. Always sit and stand with 2+ meter distance

4. Only use own designated utensils, which you have cleaned with a septic wipe.

5. Only drink from single use cans and bottles, which you have cleaned with a septic wipe.
6. Only eat food from the grill, which you get with your utensils yourself.
7. Only use your designated washroom, one per couple.

Couples are not obligated to follow rules among themselves.