August 15, 2019 by Drew Kincius Leave a Comment

What is the Difference Between Scrum and Kanban?

In the Agile world, the words “Scrum” and “Kanban” are as common as zone and man-to-man defense are in basketball. Both the Scrum framework and Kanban processes apply the Agile methodology to managing and implementing workflow in a way that promotes both quality and efficiency. But what’s the difference between the two, and how do you decide if one or both are best for your business? Let’s break down the biggest differences between Scrum and Kanban, no sports knowledge required.

What is Scrum?

Scrum is an application of the Agile methodology that hones in on carrying out complex processes by simplifying them into shorter, speedier projects. This project management style emphasizes communication strategies and the production of high-value deliveries and rapidly, repeatable iterations.

What is Kanban?

The Kanban method is centered on being able to visualize workflow and processes with the objective of identifying and correcting bottlenecks and roadblocks that could slow down or disrupt progress. In Kanban, deliverables are broken down into smaller tasks that are represented as touchpoints on the Kanban Board.

The Team Perspective

Scrum

Groups utilizing Scrum are given one of three defined roles: Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Team. Each of these roles commits to specific work responsibilities and executes those tasks repeatedly until the project is complete. The Team itself in Scrum is cross-functional, meaning each member has a particular expertise that equips them for a unique contribution and prevents team members from being siloed in a particular skill set or task.

Kanban

On the other hand, Kanban has no set roles. Flexibility is the name of the game with Kanban, so responsibilities can shift depending on who is facing an obstacle or delay. Every member on the Kanban team is a leader collaborating on the most creative solutions to reach the end goal. The Kanban team is specialized so that any individual can tackle any task within the backlog.

Obstacles and Obligations

Scrum

Scrum processes revolve around the planning and preparation of a repeatable schedule referred to as “ceremonies”, one type of which is the sprint. These sprints rely on regular and punctual output that is reviewed and revised on a loop. The Team focuses on task completion while other roles, such as the Scrum Master, are responsible for removing any obstacles that arise so the Team members can execute.

Kanban

With an emphasis on adaptability and flow, Kanban consistently re-evaluates processes and obstacles in order to constantly improve the process and maximize efficiency. Kanban tasks are based less on specific deadlines, timeframes, and deliverables and more broadly on a continuous flow of productivity.

In typical Agile fashion, we have further broken down the differences between Scrum and Kanban in an easy-to-read visual for you to reference.

Still have questions about Scrum and Kanban, or need help deciding what’s right for your team? Contact an Agile expert at beLithe today.

March 15, 2019 by Drew Kincius Leave a Comment

Seeking Unicorns: The Pitfalls of Requirements-Based Hiring

03.15.19 | Chris Daily |

It’s time to come clean.

In spite of being a part of a startup, over the last year, I have applied for a couple of jobs. They have typically been at a moment of insecurity when my neurotic self kicks in, and I convince myself that the future looks bleak.

If I actually had to schedule time for an interview and go talk to someone first, I would probably chicken out. Since I can apply while cowering in my home office and no one knows but me, I will occasionally do it.

I got a rejection email two days after applying for a VP of Engineering job at a relatively small company a few weeks ago without talking to anyone.

I didn’t write this post as a confession or to trash anyone. But I’d like to throw something out there to the C-Suite folks who make these decisions:

How many development/engineering directors/VPs do you have to go through before you stop and look in the mirror?

Maybe the problem you have is not that you haven’t found a unicorn, but that you are looking for one at all. In other words, you are the problem.

If you are still reading this and you have CXO in your title, there is still hope for you.

So, let’s carry on.

What is it you are really looking for? An example set of requirements:

A leader who can still code, has been through an exit, and has experience leading a product development team of 20.

Let’s break this down a bit.

“Requirement” #1 – Can Still Code

Let’s take the “can still code” first. Why is this a requirement? Are you trying to avoid the tired executive from a Fortune 500 company who still loves COBOL who wants a big salary?

If you are managing a 20 person product delivery team, do you really want your VP to be able to dig in and solve a technology problem?

Is that the way you want to spend your money?

Does that build teamwork and trust when the so-called “VP Superhero” saves the day?

How do your developers react when the VP thinks they know more than the folks who actually work for a living? Probably not in a positive way.

“Requirement” #2: Has Been Through An Exit

Next up is “has been through an exit.”

Why is this relevant?

What are you trying to say?

Don’t you have advisors to assist with this?

How many positive exits are there?

Is there some other trait, like knowing when to speak and how to speak with others, that you are looking for?

Not sure if this literal “exit strategy” is a reasonable requirement.

“Requirement” #3: Led a 20 Person Team

Finally, let’s tackle “has led a 20 person product team”. \I can happily admit that this IS a quality requirement. This is the one thing you need to figure out how to genuinely identify.

Leadership comes from a combination of experience, skills, attitude, and emotional intelligence. Are you looking for the intangible skills that your organization so desperately needs? These skills are the primary enabler to the future success of leaders, and yet they are very often ignored or neglected.

Most organizations have tunnel vision and are only focused on the next few months.

What’s next?

So, if folks who can still code, have been through an exit, and led a 20 person product team are few and far between, why are these attributes the essential criteria for making the hiring decision?

I am all most done with my rant, so hang with me.

Instead of looking for a unicorn, I’d like to propose a different approach.

Place a priority on the cultural fit of the candidate.

Here are a few questions that can provide cultural insight:

Describe the work environment or culture in which you are most productive and happy.
What are some of the characteristics that were demonstrated by the best boss you’ve ever had?
What kind of management style brings out your best efforts and makes work enjoyable?
Describe what you believe are the most effective roles that a good manager plays in his or her relationship with reporting staff members.
What do you like about your current job and work environment?
What do you not like about your current situation and work environment?
What work style do you prefer? Do you like working alone or as part of a team? What percentage of your day would you allot to each if it’s left to you?

Successful employees know how to work effectively within the context of the company that they work in. Prospective employees are more likely to be a good match for both your position and your organization if they fit the job and the workplace culture.

Be careful to not fall into the trap of hiring people who are just like you. New employees are your opportunity to add new ideas, viewpoints, and direction to your organization. Picking employees purely on whether they could become your new best friend rarely works out.

Thanks for coming in today.

Chris

Let’s connect.
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VAULT: empowering individuals and organizations through Agile methodologies, SAFe frameworks, soft skills development, modern leadership and more.

March 8, 2019 by Drew Kincius Leave a Comment

Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe): Adopting a Multi-Team Agile Solution

03.08.19 | Chris Daily |

Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) training is coming to beLithe.

As many of you know, the focus of Scrum is creating an environment for a group of people (a team) to get work done.

One of the significant challenges and debates in the Agile community revolves around trying to figure out how to have multiple teams working on the same product.

SAFe: empowering multiple Agile teams.

One popular solution that has emerged: Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe).

I have to admit: in my earlier dogmatic Agile days, I was not a fan of SAFe.

It seemed to be overly prescriptive, in that teams were asked to essentially plan their work for the next two to three months, and then synchronize their deliveries on the same schedule.

It seemed very much like traditional project management and not very Agile.

A gradual appreciation.

Over the years, I’ve thawed out a bit. I have become less dogmatic and more focused on understanding customer wants and outcomes.

Recently I’ve had multiple opportunities to teach and coach Scrum in organizations that have adopted SAFe. While the purist in me was not a fan, I started to understand that for some organizations, adopting SAFe might be their best and only chance at starting down their Agile journey. For other organizations, SAFe doesn’t seem to be necessarily a good fit for many reasons.

In early December of last year, I put my biases on a shelf and attended an SPC class in San Jose.

What was surprising to me was that I started to gain an appreciation for some of the aspects of SAFe. While SAFe focuses on scaling Agile across organizations, I’m a fan of the fact that it’s built on the foundation of Scrum and Kanban teams.

What’s next?

I’m excited to announce that beLithe is now offering four unique certifications within SAFe:

Leading SAFe (MARCH 21-22)
SAFe Scrum Master (APRIL 4-5)
SAFe Product Owner*
SAFe for Teams*

Our hope is that by offering these workshops, that we can help Agilists in the local community prepare themselves to be a part of any SAFe journey.

*We haven’t locked in a date yet for these courses, but if you’re interested in attending, let’s chat.

Thanks for coming in today.

Chris

Let’s connect.
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VAULT: empowering individuals through Agile methodologies, SAFe frameworks, soft skills development, modern leadership and more.

March 5, 2019 by Drew Kincius Leave a Comment

Management 3.0: Empowering Better HR Through Agile

03.04.19 | Drew Kincius|

A typical business structure involves a manager in charge of another manager in charge of another manager in charge of a bunch of people, and so on and so forth. This approach is called “waterfall,” and one of its biggest downfalls (pun intended) is that typically, authority stems from titles and assigned roles, not from gaining trust and respect through work.

Management 3.0 is an incredible program created to address the issues that come with traditional “trickle-down” work environments. It unpacks and discards the classic excuse that holds back so many work environments:

“But we’ve always done it this way!”

I’d like to introduce Kari Kelly. She attended our latest session Management 3.0, and instantly upon shaking her hand, I could immediately tell that she shared the same fiery passion that we do for disrupting organizations that are continuing to assign leadership instead of letting it grow organically.

She’s now a licensed facilitator for the program. I’m happy to announce that beLithe and Kari’s company, Atypical Workplace, are co-hosting a two-day immersive Management 3.0 workshop in Cincinnati in mid-April.

In anticipation of our collaboration, I was able to chat with her more in-depth about what makes her so passionate about MGMT 3.0’s model of putting teams first.

What got you into Management 3.0?

I got into Management 3.0 because I wanted to get into Agile HR, and I noticed that many of my Agile HR connections on LinkedIn were Management 3.0 facilitators. Agile HR is very popular in Europe so all my Agile HR connections at the time were European. Upon performing a Google search for course options, I was excited to see that Management 3.0 had already made its way to the USA.

After a decade in the HR industry, I recognized a massive gap between the needs of today’s knowledge workers and HR’s ability to serve them. The gap I experienced was enough to compel me to leave my job in corporate America and look for answers. As a result, I started writing a book called Agile Tribes, which combines cutting edge behavior science, Agile frameworks and practices, and findings from research that studies human’s natural tendency to self-organize into tribes.

My ultimate goal is to create an introductory 2-day training based on the tools and methods I’m uncovering through research and interviews for my book. When I took Management 3.0, however, I realized that the course I’m creating already exists! Becoming a Management 3.0 facilitator was a natural next step to start bridging the gap between where HR “is” and where HR “needs to be”. The course I’m creating is now more focused on creating high performing, self-organized teams and Management 3.0 will serve as a great primer.

What aspect of the program do you feel to be particularly impactful?

What was particularly impactful for me was seeing how all the topics so naturally come together through a collection of games and other team structures. Many of the topics were already familiar to me through my research, so I enjoyed experiencing how someone from a technical background (Jurgen) wove these topics together in an enjoyable, Experiential way.

As leaders, we can send our people to training programs meant to increase emotional intelligence in a classroom setting, or we can provide our teams with engaging games that naturally provoke behaviors critical for healthy teaming, and have them learn on-the-job. I choose the former!

What are MOST impactful for the HR industry are the implications of the course content, starting with the move towards seeing people and organizations are co-evolving Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS). Management 3.0 does a great job taking learners through industrial era assumptions and revealing how they don’t work in today’s complex, non-linear world. Everything builds off of the notion of updating our set of assumptions.

As an HR professional, I recognized the primary implication of these new assumptions is that Agile transformation has to start with HR. Shifting from the assumptions that “work is linear and predictable” to “work is nonlinear and emergent” is massive because functioning within a nonlinear and emergent system requires an entirely new set of behaviors, skills, and rewards.

An organization’s practices, skills, and prizes are all determined by HR. HR’s systems and processes ultimately drive the culture because they shape behavior through their compensation and incentive structures, recruitment processes, performance management systems, leadership and career development programs, leadership pipeline, and overall organizational structure. Optimizing only one part of the business through an Agile transformation without transforming HR is not sustainable, and research shows this. HR has to lead the way.

How are you using these concepts on a daily basis?

Every day I recognize how my thinking has been shaped by the industrial era assumptions that are still being made in education and most workplaces. And because I now understand the impact, I’m able to take steps to transform my thinking and therefore my life and work.

For example, consider the concept of SMART goals, which presuppose that we can merely identify a specific result, and under the right conditions, we can achieve it. This tends to work for results that can be obtained by solving simple or straightforward problems (like losing weight by eating healthy and going to the gym).

However, organizations like Google are recognizing that SMART goals don’t work for knowledge workers who solve complex problems in today’s complex world. They’ve moved to what is called OKRs, which stands for “Outcomes” and “Key Results”. In this new goal setting model, “Outcomes” are aspirational statements regarding a desired future state, along with a well-defined purpose.

The “key results” are measurable ways an individual, team, or organization can take towards that desired outcomes. These OKRs are regularly revisited, renegotiated, and revised based on ongoing feedback from internal and external customers, as well as the market. There is an inherent experimental mindset required for OKRs which is wonderfully consistent with Agile.

For someone who says waterfall is “working wonders”, what would you say?

I would invite them to map out their current process and then explore what could happen to net profit if we reduced the batch sizes and the number of steps in the process (through creating cross-functional teams).

Waterfall has institutionalized large batch sizes. In fact, waterfall encourages us to use the largest possible batch size. It says, “take all the work you’re going to do on a project, put it in a big box, and do ALL of the requirements for ALL of the work before you move that ENTIRE batch to the next station.” So we’re moving the MAXIMUM batch size through the system… and guess what? The theory of constraints tells us that we’re only going to move as fast as the slowest parts of my system. We know that batch size is directly proportional to cycle time. The maximum batch size, therefore, corresponds to the maximum cycle time, so what waterfall does is create the LARGEST POSSIBLE COST OF DELAY for the work that we are doing.

This is the difference between waterfall and agile. Agile works with smaller batch size so that we can actually move the work through the system faster. Smaller batch sizes lead to shorter cycle times. Waterfall does not do well at solving for cycle time. Cut the batch size in half, and cut the cycle time in half, which ultimately leads towards a higher net profit.

What are your greatest ambitions for implementing Management 3.0?

I launched a consultancy, Atypical Workplace, that specializes in Business Agility and the Future of Work. The greatest goals I have for my firm is to travel the world helping leaders cultivate adaptable, bold, and courageous teams that are inclusive and fun.

Humans are hardwired to self-organize into Complex Adaptable Systems that can evolve according to shifting needs and conditions. Creating bureaucratic structures stifle this self-organization and leads to antifragile organizations. I believe that organizations need to become a network of teams where the organizational culture is shaped by the unique subcultures of each team and aligned through shared vision, principles and values.

If someone has no idea about what Agile is, where do they start?

I love what Pia Maria, an HR Agilist out of Sweden, recommends to people who want a roadmap: (NOTE: These can happen in any order! )

Start with PRACTICES… so something little, like a retrospective or a daily planning meeting
Introduce new PRACTICES bit-by-bit… then EVALUATE and TWEAK
Find a common project or task to run in an agile manner
Do some training around Agile Principles… EXPERIMENT and LEARN
Gradually REMOVE old ways of working that probably have become
superstitions with time and a DEEPEN Agile awareness
FOCUS on value creation for the business
Involve the business in VALUE CREATION

Inspired? Catch us at our next Management 3.0 session, just one of our numerous offerings within our Agile training programming series VAULT, covering Agile methodologies, SAFe frameworks, soft skills, modern leadership, remote teams, and more.

Drew

Let’s connect.
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VAULT: dynamic, interactive workshops covering Agile methodologies, SAFe frameworks, soft skills, modern leadership and more.

February 28, 2019 by Drew Kincius Leave a Comment

Your New Boss: The Team

02.28.19 | Chris Daily |

What’s one common experience that every individual has had at one point in their career or another? I’ll give you one guess. You nailed it:

A bad boss.

A common workplace nuisance.

Over the years, the term “boss” has really taken on a negative connotation. In my mind, the term was so bad, that I would tell my teammates that the term meant the same as jerk or idiot.

My opinions about the term were a result of observations of my environment. Most of the managers and leaders that I knew were given the opportunity to be a manager or a leader based on one criterion:

“Being the best developer, tester, product manager, etc.”

What often followed was an announcement and a congratulatory email. The requirements and the associated knowledge that was required to be a manager was typically covered On the Job (OJT).

We all know how well that works, right?

The team as the boss.

So how did we get to Management 3.0? Good question.

A brief history of how we’ve gotten things done:

Management 1.0 is doing the wrong thing by viewing people as cogs in a machine.

Management 2.0 is doing the right thing, with the best intentions, in the wrong way with old-fashioned top-down hierarchical initiatives.

Management 3.0, developed by Jurgen Appelo, is doing the right thing for your team, involving everyone in improving the system and fostering employee engagement.

What’s more, I’ve noticed a lack of concerted effort to train managers. OJT isn’t working. A different approach is needed.

I first heard Jurgen speak about Management 3.0 in London in 2011 at a Scrum gathering. I have been a believer ever since. Consistent with Agile values, Management 3.0 has foundations built on the need for more collaboration across our organizations.

Comprised of a variety of topics and tools, Management 3.0 can become the go-to toolbox of great managers and leaders.

What’s next?

Check out the Management 3.0 website. There is a ton of stuff on there that can help. Via beLithe, I am offering one day and a two-day Management 3.0 classes.

Whether you’re a leader, or you work for a boss, take a look at Management 3.0. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Thanks for coming in today.

Chris

Let’s connect.
Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | www.beLithe.com

VAULT: dynamic, interactive workshops covering Agile methodologies, SAFe frameworks, soft skills, modern leadership and more.

What is the Difference Between Scrum and Kanban?

What is Scrum?

What is Kanban?

The Team Perspective

Scrum

Kanban

Obstacles and Obligations

Scrum

Kanban