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October 1, 2018 by Chris Daily Leave a Comment

Spotify, Agile, and Scrum: Demystifying the “Spotify” Model

A Sound Decision

You know, sometimes I think sharing anything about the Spotify model with someone new to Agile or Scrum can cause more harm than good.

A friend of mine forwarded an article to me last week and asked my opinion about what was being shared. The article was written by a Spotify product manager who experimented with taking an Agile team and removing the agile practices that they had been utilizing to see what would happen. That’s right, they quit facilitating all of the events that are outlined in the Scrum framework.

Those results validate something that I have felt should occur with a Scrum team. Over time, by following the framework, the members of a Scrum team will become better at collaboration, planning, and delivery of value.  My theory is that, as they become better communicators and collaborators, the team’s reliance on the Scrum framework will change as long as they continue to live by the values of Scrum.

Dealing With A Lack of Context

This result might sound appealing to many.  Some of the statements I have heard include:

  • “Trust the team and they will figure it out.”
  • “We don’t know stinking Scrum.”
  • “We should just move to the Spotify model of software development.”

My concern is one of Context.  Maybe it is better stated as Lack of Context.  What’s missing is the context of where the team was at the time the changes were introduced.

Spotify was founded in April 2006 and had adopted Scrum early in their journey.  Yet, they had encountered some scaling problems as the number of teams grew. They brought in Henrik Kniberg, who helped Spotify embrace the Agile mindset by taking their experiences with Scrum and adding in practices from other Agile practices and frameworks to develop what has become known as the Spotify model. Essentially, Spotify moved past Scrum to achieve a higher level of Agile. Even today, the Spotify model is not even fully used within Spotify.

I like the Spotify model. Many concepts (tribes, guilds, squads, etc.) are appealing.  What get’s lost in translation, though, is that Agile is a mindset. Not just a practice or a tool, but a different way of thinking and working.  Without embracing the Agile mindset, the Spotify model and its associated practices will do no better than any other practice including Waterfall or Scrum. The Spotify model is one of several ways to scale agility across an organization.

Agile + Scrum in Action

Here are links to Spotify’s Agile Engineering and Product Management YouTube videos:

  • Spotify Engineering Culture part 1 Agile Enterprise Transition with Scrum and Kanban
  • Spotify Engineering Culture Part 2
  • Agile Product Ownership in a Nutshell

Let me know what you think.  Want to talk about it?

Thanks for coming in today.

Chris

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

Filed Under: Agile, self-oganization

January 4, 2018 by Chris Daily Leave a Comment

Exciting News for 2018!

Dear All,

I want to share some exciting new!  At least it’s exciting for me.  For those of you who don’t know, Home Adviser acquired Angie’s list on October 1st.  Since October 1, I have been participating in the transition working with Angie’s list Product group.  My last day at ANGI Homeservices Inc. (fka Angie’s list) was on 12/29/2017.

To some that doesn’t sound too exciting.  To me, it is a blessing.  I have decided to follow my heart. Today (January 2, 2018) and going forward, I  am going to devote all my efforts to furthering beLithe LLC as the premier Agile and Software Development company in Indiana.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with beLithe LLC, I’d like to tell you more.  Over the last few years, Tana Linback and I have been teaching and evangelizing Culture, Scrum and Agile in our full time jobs to anybody who would listen.  We created beLithe  LLC as a vehicle to teach, and have trained over 300 students including TechPoint xTerns, TechPoint Bootcampers, Eleven Fifty students, college students at IU, IUPUI, and Purdue.  I believe the time has come for me to take a swing and see if I can actually take this side gig and turn it into a startup company.

Being an Agile company, beLithe  LLC offerings will initially be the following services:

  • Training
    • Scrum Master Certification training
    • Scrum Product Owner Certification training
    • Advanced Scrum Master Training
    • Agile Management Training
    • Software Development Management Training
  • Professional Services
    • Individual, Team, and Corporate Coaching
    • Corporate Culture Transformation
    • Corporate Agile Transformation

I am anticipating that some of our offering will change over time as we iterate as a company.

Thank you for playing a part in my journey so far. I want to share the experiences I have gained along the way to benefit those who want to grow in their professional development in the business and delivering software.

I’ll admit it, I am excited and scared, but that is part of what makes this fun.   I hope you will continue to participate in my journey.

Thanks for coming in today.

Chris

 

Filed Under: agile, Agile, Leadership, Scrum, Software Development Tagged With: agile, Leadership, Scrum Training, software business, software development

May 9, 2017 by Chris Daily Leave a Comment

5 Qualities Leaders Need to Create an Agile Environment

You want your business to always be one step ahead of your competitors, adapting to changes in the market quickly and easily. You need to be flexible to take advantage of whatever comes your way, and the best way to do that is to build an agile environment for your business.

It is your responsibility to act as a leader, creating the agile environment your business needs to thrive. So how can you do this?

This article will tell you the five most important qualities a leader needs to create an agile, adaptable business.

1. Strong Communication Skills

Communication skills are absolutely essential to be an agile leader. You need to be able to get your ideas across clearly the first time.

Any miscommunications can lead to mistakes that will slow your business down.

With good communication skills, you will be able to make sure everyone in your organization knows the company’s current goals and strategies. You will be able to persuade team members to work together and inspire them to give it their all.

From being able to understand body language, careful listening skills, strong written communication and more, strong communication skills are essential to be a good leader. You are taking the first steps to building a company culture that inspires your employees.

Just make sure that you are being genuine, not cheesy!

2. A Talent for Innovation

Strong innovation skills allow you to create unique solutions to challenges. With innovation skills, you can turn a potential problem into a new opportunity.

This can mean listening to customer concerns and finding a way to solve their complaints that improves your business overall. Or, using new technologies in useful ways.

It means that you are not afraid to take calculated risks. You are always working to improve your business, evaluating what works and finding ways to make it better.

3. Enthusiasm

If you aren’t enthusiastic about your company mission, why would your team be?

You need to bring the energy to every meeting, and every day in the office.

When you’re enthusiastic, your employees will be more motivated to perform and motivated employees have higher productivity.

4. Delegate, and Trust Your Team

Have you ever heard the saying, “If you want something done right, do it yourself?”

This is the worst motto you could have when you’re trying to build an agile environment.

To be an effective agile leader, you need to know how to delegate tasks to your team.

It is important to know your team and everyone’s skills. This will let you know when you can hand over a task, and when someone might need a bit of extra guidance and training.

But you need to trust that your team has the talent and skill to get the job done without your constant supervision.

This will make them feel valued, and free up your time to focus on your own work.

5. A Cool Head

Even with the best team and a great strategy, things will not always go as planned.

The way you respond to problems will define you as a leader.

A true agile leader doesn’t panic when things aren’t going as planned. The worst things you can do are to lash out at your team or make reactive business decisions.

Instead, you need to be able to stay calm under pressure, thinking through how you will solve it.

Start Building Your Agile Environment

With these tips, you can make sure you are acting like an agile leader. This is the first step towards creating an agile environment for your business.

Do you want more help making your business agile and adaptable?

Contact us today to set your business on the right path.

Filed Under: Agile, agile, Leadership, Scrum Tagged With: agile, agile environment, Leadership

April 28, 2016 by Chris Daily Leave a Comment

Scrum Assessment: Find out where you are.

Check out our beLithe Scrum Assessment.

Whether you are just starting out, or are trying to figure where you can help your Scrum team, The beLithe Scrum Assessment is a great tool for a coach to establish a baseline of how a team is using Scrum, and then track the progress of a team as it matures.  I built this using my own experiences of working with Scrum teams over the last 6 years.  Our assessment is built on a couple of key points:

  • The Scrum Assessment is used to evaluate the maturity level of a Scrum team.
  • Assessment points are categorized into one of four groups:  Artifacts, Ceremonies, Roles, and Rules.
  • For each Assessment Point, five levels are available to be selected to describe the frequency of that the assessment point is achieved.
  • One hundred point system is used to assign the Scrum maturity level.
  • The Scrum Maturity Level is unique for each team.

When I start with a team, I have the team take the assessment to  establish a baseline.   By addressing each area of the survey, each teammate considers the actions and interactions of the team as they relate to Scrum.  Considering the response to each question positively reinforces the basics of Scrum with each teammate.

I follow that up with every three to four months to see what progress has been made.  While the results of the beLithe Scrum Assessment are important, the best part can be what you do with the results.  I like to use the summary results of  Assessment to have a teaching moments with teams.  I like to buy a few pizzas and have a lunch time conversation.  What can make the conversation interesting is the team discussing how it feels it is doing compared to the assessment.  While some teams will not fully implement Scrum, having the conversation will facilitate the team making conscious decisions on what it is doing and why it is doing it.  Sometimes, the conversation centers on why a team is not using one aspect.  That part of the conversation can indicate influences internal to the team, internal to the individuals, and external culture that negatively impact the team.  These conversation provide an opportunity for the team to constantly improve.

After establishing your baseline, reassess your team using the beLithe Scrum Assessment every three or four months to gauge your team’s progress.  Start helping your team today.

[ninja_forms_modal_form id=64 text_link=”Click here to take the beLithe Scrum Assessment.”]

What’s your score?

Thanks for coming in today.

Chris

Filed Under: Agile, agile, Scrum, Software Development

April 27, 2016 by Chris Daily 1 Comment

AgileIndy 2016: Self-Organization in a Command and Control World

conf-header-2016On Tuesday, Tana and I were honored to spend time with a packed house at AgileIndy 2016. We presented a topic that is near and dear to my heart: self-organization. Here’s the slide deck if you couldn’t make it to the presentation.

[slideshare id=60869845&doc=selforganizingpresfinal-160413144739]

Self-organization is a controversial topic in the agile and business communities right now. How do you allow individual contributors to figure out how the work is accomplished, and yet have some idea of what the outcome will be and when it will be complete? When challenges arise, many react as though being self-organized is the problem.  It’s unnerving to many managers who have been brought up in a traditional command and control world where you power and authority is defined by where you are in the org chart.  During the presentation, Tana and I introduced the concept of Delegation Poker from Management 3.0.  You can check out Delegation Poker  here and our Delegation Poker Board here. Delegation Poker, much like Planning Poker, is a technique which facilitates conversations within an organization with the intent of arriving at an outcome of a common understanding between interested parties.

I have been using self-organization techniques for years.  Some of them, such as using the Rule of Two Feet, have been thrust on me by my interactions with great teammates while other techniques just came naturally.  As part of our continuing journey, Tana and I have invested in learning more about not just the Agile processes, but the boundaries and impediments created by managers and organizations and how to start addressing them.  So far, the journey has been challenging, yet fascinating.

Look for more to come soon.

Thanks for coming in today.

Chris

Filed Under: Agile, agile, IMO, Scrum, Software Development

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