Agile and culture

Ather Imran
2nd Agile Conference Pakistan
14 November, 2015
Islamabad
The golden circle
Why?
Culture Eats Strategy for
Breakfast
Why organizations?
culture
culture
Why is culture critical?

People are more loyal to

Culture than to Strategy or
Process
Why is culture critical?

If you do not manage

culture, it manages you
 Organization

STRATEGY

STRUCTURES SYSTEMS PROCESSES

CULTURE
Organizational culture
 Agile organizations

Agile organizations are one that deal with:

• Uncertainty
• Change
• Complexity
 What is Agile?

A framework to manage organizations and

projects in a collaborative and interactive
way, such that they respond to Change,
Uncertainty and Complexity better.
Are agile & scrum same?

Agile is a Framework defined by:

• Agile Manifesto
• 12 Principles of Agile
Scrum is an implementation of Agile Framework
• A process with Roles, Structure, Meetings and
Workflows
Agile manifesto
12 principles of manifesto
 Agile organization?

An Agile organization is one whose Culture is

based on these principles
It is NOT one that has adopted a particular Agile
process like Scrum
Agile organization?

Agile defines a Target Culture for

successful delivery of Complex
projects
Agile survey 2014
Agile survey 2014
Agile survey 2014
Agile is all about people

Agile is all about PEOPLE, and as

such they will be the greatest
impediment
Agile is all about people

Agile Failure is Pervasive

 Conclusion

It is only through a Culture based on

Agile Manifesto and Principles that
we can have a truly Agile
organization
How?
Organizational Inertia

Organizations are inherently

Resistant to Change
Adoption vs. transformation

Adoption is changing What We Do

Transformation is changing Who We Are
Adoption vs. transformation

Doing Agile is NOT the same as

Being Agile
 Agile transformation

Organizations try to become Agile by

Adopting an Agile Process
Organizations can only become Agile by
Transforming their Culture
 Agile transformation

Agile Transformation is about

Manifesto and Principles
It is NOT about adopting a process and
practices
 Agile transformation

Agile is treated as a set of processes and

practices, where in reality it is about a
Culture and Value System
Agile culture
Modeling a culture
Schneider model
Agile Schneider map
Agile Schneider map
 Agile transformation

Adopting Process & Practices BEFORE

transforming the Culture based on Agile
Manifesto is like
Putting the Cart before the Horse
Agile culture – core components

• Focus on People
• Daily Visibility and Transparency
• Collaboration within a cross-functional team
• Self-organizing team
• Face to face communication
• Accepting Change as a normal and not as an
exception
• Incrementing and Iterating
• Continuous Learning
What?
Evolution not revolution
Evolution not revolution

Culture Transformation is a
methodical, incremental and
evolutionary process (unless in
extreme circumstances where it can
be a disruptive)
Agile culture
 Two possible paths

Diagnose your Culture:

• Culture Not Conducive for Agile
• Culture is Conducive for Agile
Culture not conducive

• Don’t Rush it (don’t run a marathon by

getting off the couch)
• Adopt Practices before Values
• Don’t be explicit about Manifesto
• ‘Sugar coat’ the changes
• Management buy-in
• Cellular Model
Cellular model
 Culture is conducive

• Use Agile Manifesto and Principles

explicitly
• Scrum is the best tool
• May not always be easy e.g. a High
Competence culture exists
• Incremental and Evolution