Creating Agile Organizations

Description

Design Your Organization for Maximum Agile Success at Scale

“[A] unique view of organizational agility. Cesario and Ilia first describe the [foundational] tools and vocabulary to think about agile enterprise-level change. The second section is a practical approach to adoption. It marries the foundational elements into a people and customer centric approach to change. The book is epic in scope … but it manages to present a cookbook for agile adoption and change.”
–From the Foreword by Dave West, CEO, Scrum.org

“Cesario and Ilia … understand that a key element of successful change to being adaptive at scale is Organizational Design (OD)–and that OD is something senior managers need to own, master, create, and lead, not delegate. … [F]ast delivery and learning isn’t enough at scale. Without other adaptive OD elements in place, there might not be any concrete change. … [A] wonderful book from two passionate people with years in the trenches involved in large-scale adaptive development.”
–From the Foreword by Craig Larman, co-creator, Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS)

For Agile to succeed at scale, strategy, structures, processes, reward systems, and people practices must align with and reinforce each other across the entire organization. Creating Agile Organizations is about making that happen. Whether you’re a leader, Scrum Master, or trainer, this book will help you use effective Organizational Design (OD) to achieve successful Agile transformation at the enterprise level. 

Drawing on years of experience scaling Scrum, renowned Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS) experts Cesario Ramos and Ilia Pavlichenko present proven techniques for use with any technology, in any large environment. In the context of a true systems-thinking approach, they provide specific solutions for challenges such as preparing and facilitating large-scale Scrum meetings, honing newly relevant leadership skills, and addressing challenges that cut across the entire organization. 

This book includes a library of tested tools for effective Agile leadership, including Product Definition Guides for describing any new product and a Feature Heat Map for designing teams and entire organizations.

• Organizing for adaptability, making strategic optimization choices, and choosing informed tradeoffs
• Exploring and applying proven OD principles at the leadership level
• Taking a birds-eye view of the activities most crucial to large-scale adoption
• Coaching to make Agile transformation successful across your organization
• Planning, designing, and facilitating Agile workshops that work
• Preparing and launching highly effective, well-aligned Product Groups 
• Coaching teams and guiding product ownership in large groups

Foreword by Craig Larman  xix
Foreword by Dave West  xxi
Preface  xxiii
Introduction  xxvii
Acknowledgments  xxxv
About the Authors  xxxvii

Part I: Foundational Concepts  1
Chapter 1: Organizing for Adaptability  3

Hello, VUCA World!  3
What Is an Agile Organization Design?  4
Typical Problems When Adopting Agility  6
Avoid Copy–Paste Scaling: A Typical Scaling Approach  10
Overview of an Agile Organization Design  11
Summary  16
References  17

Chapter 2: Systems Thinking  19

Basics of Systems Thinking  19
Applying Systems Thinking  31
Summary  48
References  49

Chapter 3: Optimize for Adaptiveness  51

What It Means to Be Adaptable  53
Flow Efficiency  54
Behavior of Queues  54
Queueing System Structures  61
Algorithm for Dealing with Queues  62
Choose an Operational Strategy  63
Summary  67
References  68

Chapter 4: Agile Organizational Design  69

Why Organizational Redesign?  70
Business Strategy Drives Organizational Design  71
Overview of a Design Process  72
Agile Organization Design Guidelines  73
Agile vs. Traditional Human Resources Management  101
Summary  104
References  105

Chapter 5: An Agile Adoption Approach  107

Principles of an Agile Adoption  107
Overview of an Adoption Approach  109
Overarching Adoption Guidelines  111
Applying Systems Thinking in Organizational Coaching  120
Summary  130
References  131

Chapter 6: Coaching for Change  133

Guideline 1: Influence People  134
Guideline 2: Co-Create the Change  136
Guideline 3: Voluntary Participation  139
Guideline 4: Acknowledge the Loss  144
Guideline 5: Deliver the Message Continually  147
Guideline 6: Help People to Cross the Edge  149
Guideline 7: Axes of Change  153
Guideline 8: Find the Right Balance of Radical/Incremental Change  159
Summary  161
References  162

Part II: Applying the Concepts  165
Chapter 7: Group Facilitation  167

Principles of Facilitation  167
Workshop Design  172
Facilitating Scrum Events  178
Summary  195
References  196

Chapter 8: Preparing the Product Group  197

Areas of Concern for Successful Preparation  197
Area 1: Involve the Managers  198
Area 2: Understand the Current Reality  204
Area 3: Create a Vision of the Future  221
Area 4: Identify the Product Group  233
Organizational Design to Eliminate Dependencies  242
Summary  249
References  250

Chapter 9: Launching the Product Group  251

Menu of Available Choices  252
Initial Product Backlog Refinement  253
Define the Definition of Done  257
Feature Team Adoption Map  260
Self-Designing Team Workshop  265
Team Lift-Off  270
Identify and Launch Communities  282
Identify Coordination Mechanisms  284
Create Useful Checklists  286
Summary  288
References  289

Chapter 10: Coaching Teams  291

The Building Blocks of the Agile Organization  291
Observations of an Agile Team  292
Building on the Team Lift-Off: Coaching Multifunctional Learning  296
Dealing with Recurrent Complex Problems in Teams: Systems Team Coaching  315
Improving Team Dynamics: Trust  329
Facilitate Feedback Loops for Learning: Learning New Practices  332
Summary  335
References  335

Chapter 11: Guiding the Product Ownership  337

What Makes a Team Product Owner?  337
The Product Owner in a Senior Position   341
Product Ownership Measures  345
Customer Understanding   347
The Product Owner Process  349
Stakeholder Alignment   351
Product Owner Leadership   354
Summary  356
References   357

Appendix Case Studies and Workshop Examples  359

Index  413

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