the tao-of-transformation-workshop
DESCRIPTION
During the Agile adoption, its a common complain that many team in many organizations get caught up in the ceremonies or mechanics of Agile and fail to understand/appreciate the true value and spirit of Agile. And because of this, the original intent of the Agile movement itself is lost. This is a serious issue! This workshop will highlight, a well-proven approach to transformation (not adoption) and show the distinct steps in this journey that an individual or a collective goes through when learning anything new. Activities, serving as examples, in the workshop, will focus to show the journey - that is, how to begin with rituals, then gradually move to practices, arriving at principles and eventually internalizing the values. Witnessing this gradual process of transformation will help participants discover for themselves their current progression. We hope this will serve as a guiding light during their Agile journey. Finally, we will leave the participants to ponder upon and discover for themselves their ideals in life and work as this is not only applicable to software development, but also to any discipline where humans are involved, including life itself.TRANSCRIPT
The Tao of Transformation
@softwareartisan
A Workshop
@nashjain
Individuals and Interactions
over
Processes and Tools
Individuals and Interactions
over
Processes and Tools
To know, is good.
To live, is better.
To be, that is perfect.
The Mother
Values, Principles and Practices
Values, Principles and Practices
• Valuesone's judgement and opinion of what is important in life and form the basis of behaviour and action.
Values
Values, Principles and Practices
• Valuesone's judgement and opinion of what is important in life and form the basis of behaviour and action.
Principles
Values• Principlesfoundation for a system of belief and help with translating values into action
Values, Principles and Practices
• Valuesone's judgement and opinion of what is important in life and form the basis of behaviour and action. Practices
Principles
Values• Principlesfoundation for a system of belief and help with translating values into action
• Practicesthe actual application of belief and are actions themselves.
Examples
ExamplesPractices
Principles
Values
ExamplesPractices
Principles
Values
Feedback
Fail-Fast
Unit Test
Self-Documenting
Code
Declarative Expression
Communication
ExamplesPractices
Principles
Values
Feedback
Fail-Fast
Unit Test
MVP
MVP
Validated Learning=
MVP
Validated LearningPr
actice
or Ritu
al?
=
MVP as a Ritual
• Release 1 = MVP
• Time to Validated Learning
• 6 Months
MVP as a Practice• Testing the most important hypothesis about the
product idea by building a mini-version.
MVP as a Principle• Reduce time to validated learning
• Avoid investment in building infra-structure, check-out alternatives.
• Examples
• Leveraging Kickstarter, Google forms etc…
• Lo-fi prototypes - paper/cardboard prototypes, wireframes etc…
Ignite: Lean Startup - Paul Howe, Founder & CEO of NeedFeed "How $40 Saved Us 9 Months and $2MM"
http://vimeo.com/24749599
Ignite: Lean Startup - Paul Howe, Founder & CEO of NeedFeed "How $40 Saved Us 9 Months and $2MM"
http://vimeo.com/24749599
Stand-up
Stand-up
=What I did Yesterday? What I am doing
today? What problems am I facing?
Stand-up
=What I did Yesterday What I am doing
todayWhat problems am I facing?
Pract
ice or R
itual?
Stand-up Exercise
• 7 Volunteers, 1 Scrum Master, 6 Team members
• Have a stand-up and Discuss the “Dinner Project”
• What you ate last night?
• What are you planning to eat tonight?
• Are there any roadblocks?
• Rest - Observe body language and behaviour
What did you see?Was there real value?
Stand-up Exercise - Take 2
• Be genuinely interested in understanding who is planning to do what and if we can offer help.
• Let’s keep the 3 question format (but some of them can be optional)
Stand-up Exercise - Take 3
• Let’s drop the 3 question format
• Let’s focus on the Game Plan for the day
• Set the goals for the day
• And plan to achieve them collaboratively as a team
We’ve guest for dinner tonight
Stand-up Exercise - Take 4
• No Standup instead we’ve JIT huddles to resolve/improve specific problems
• For Ex: Someone is cooking a sweet dish and is out of sugar. How can we collaborate and creatively solve this problem as a team.
We’ve guest for dinner tonight
a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order.Ritual
a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order.
Practice
Ritual
the actual application of belief.
Practice Vs Ritual
a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order.
Practice
Ritual
the actual application of belief.
Rituals
• Rituals are a helper.
• Starting Steps
• Their use lies in the training they give
• Preliminaries to values, but not the end themselves
• Rituals are a bar.
• When made an end in themselves, they stop the transformation
Discern
• When...
• Rituals are a helper
• Rituals are a bar
Discern
• When... Practice
Ritual
• Rituals are a helper
• Rituals are a bar
Discern
• When... Practice
Ritual
• Principles underpinning the practices
• Rituals are a helper
• Rituals are a bar
Practices
Principles
Values
Discern
• When... Practice
Ritual
• Principles underpinning the practices
• Rituals are a helper
• Rituals are a bar
Practices
Principles
Values
• Values underpinning the principles
Agility
=
TDD Refactoring
Stories
Stand-ups
Iterations
FuturespectivesRetrospectives
Agility
=
Pract
ice or R
itual?
TDD Refactoring
Stories
Stand-ups
Iterations
FuturespectivesRetrospectives
Stories - Sample 1
• As a developer,
• I want to create a database table
• So that I can access it from my service code
Stories - Sample 2
• As a Account agent,
• I want to create an invoice
• So that my company can request payment from the customer
Collaborative Story Mapping
Bob explaining the context scenarios and laying out
the initial map
A day in the life of Ed !
time
optio
nalit
y
necessary
less optional
more optional
activity 1 activity 2 activity 3 activity 4
first release
second release
third release
Team fully engaged!
Customer Development & Product Discovery
Cab Route Optimisation• Most companies provide cab pick and drop services to their employees.
• Company wants to
• improve the utilisation of the cabs
• reduce the cab expenses (lesser # of cabs, reduce total distance travelled by cabs)
• reduce the time taken for employees to get to office
• Constraints
• Employees traveling from different locations at different times (flexi-office hours, shifts, unplanned meetings)
• We need to give the cab vendor enough notice to arrange the cabs
Product Discovery
Goals/Themes CAPTURE TRAVEL
AND DATE TIME
VALIDATE ROUTES OF CARS AND TYPE OF CARS
DRIVER AND CAB ALLOTMENT
NOTIFY THE SUBSCRIBERS ABOUT CABS AND DRIVERS
CAPTURE EMPLOYEE TRAVEL PREFERENCE
Specify starting address
Enter my details (Emp ID,Name,Phn,Email ID)
Book a cab by specifying pick up /drop time
CALCULATE ROUTES
Read the rejection reason
View no. of employees, duration, no. of cabs per route
View total number and type of cabs per day in month
Get routes and number of people from system
Allocate driver and cabs to routes
Send sms notification with cab number, driver number and pickup time
MONITORINGCompare with the previous snapshot
Keep a track on average no. of employees per cab
Keep a track on the total distance travelled by the cabs
Monitor successful last minute changes
Monitor the avg. time taken by cabs per route
Low-Fi Prototyping & Interaction Design Testing
Landing Page
Entering their Location
Retrospectives
Retrospectives
=What Went Well? What Went Wrong? What Still Puzzles us?
Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could,
given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand.
Retrospectives
=
Pract
ice or R
itual?
What Went Well? What Went Wrong? What Still Puzzles us?
Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could,
given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand.
Retrospectives - 1
What went well? What needs improvement?
Retrospectives - 2
Retrospectives - 3
• Root Cause Analysis
• Mistake proof
• Data-Driven
• Stakeholder involvement.
Retrospectives - 4
• JIT
• Pull based, not scheduled
• Micro-retros, not batched.
Inspect, Adapt and Evolve
• Continuous Experimentation
• Jettison what does not work
• Retain or Improvise what’s useful
• Continuously curate and fearlessly discard
• Question and dispel gospels
If you don’t...
• Either fanaticism or indifference creeps in.
• Walk with the baggage all along.
• Closed for modification.
• Hard to get results.
Real-World is Messy• Not a straight path.
• We are all in this personal discovery.
• Progressing upon Progress - Continuous Improvement.
• Experience is a means to
• Draw out values from within.
• Seed values for cultivation.
• Neither handed out by the giver
• Nor accepted or rejected by the receiver
• In reality, values are inner dispositions of human being
Values
Values Permeate
Values Permeate
Values Permeate
Tell me and I Forget Talks, Discussions
Values Permeate
Tell me and I Forget
Show me and I Remember
Talks, Discussions
Demos, Screencasts
Values Permeate
Tell me and I Forget
Workshops, Tutorials, Pairing
Show me and I Remember
Involve me and I Learn
Talks, Discussions
Demos, Screencasts
Are you awareof your own values?
In less than a minute,write down what you value
the most?
Answer it from within before your mind attempts to
manipulate it!
ExamplesI know I’ve made a mistake
here, but now I know…I can work on it
Hey, let me show you what I found after we worked
on that stuff yesterday…
What do you deeply see in you… that which you embody or you are that? Or something that resonates with you
and you want to realise it?
Image Source: http://avastar.wikia.com/wiki/Stick_Figure, http://www.clipartbest.com/
What can lead toauthentic self-realisation?
What can lead toauthentic self-realisation?
Acting with Passion
What can lead toauthentic self-realisation?
ExpressingFeelings
Expressing Thoughts/Ideas
Acting with Passion
What can lead toauthentic self-realisation?
ExpressingFeelings
Expressing Thoughts/Ideas
Acting with Passion
Beyo
nd
Self-E
xpre
ssion
What can lead toauthentic self-realisation?
Source: Sri Aurobindo Foundation for Integral Management, Harvesting Values.
What can lead toauthentic self-realisation?
Ideals that are in harmony with higher nature of human
being
Source: Sri Aurobindo Foundation for Integral Management, Harvesting Values.
Ideals
set of standards or values to be aimed atIdeal
Values
Universal Ideals
Expressed in Behavior and Conduct
Truth
• Honesty• Transparency• Integrity and truthfulness in thought, feelings and action.• Impartial wisdom, ability to deal with each person or situation
according to deeper truth in it.
Strength and Force
• Marshalling energies and resources for implementation of Ideas• Courage• Tenacity• Firmness• Will Power
Beauty and Harmony
• Aesthetic Sensibility• Graceful Movements• Cleanliness• Simplicity• Charm• Tenderness• Rhythms in action and behaviour
Source: Sri Aurobindo Foundation for Integral Management, Harvesting Values.
Universal Ideals
Expressed in Behavior and Conduct
Truth
• Honesty• Transparency• Integrity and truthfulness in thought, feelings and action.• Impartial wisdom, ability to deal with each person or situation
according to deeper truth in it.
Strength and Force
• Marshalling energies and resources for implementation of Ideas• Courage• Tenacity• Firmness• Will Power
Beauty and Harmony
• Aesthetic Sensibility• Graceful Movements• Cleanliness• Simplicity• Charm• Tenderness• Rhythms in action and behaviour
Source: Sri Aurobindo Foundation for Integral Management, Harvesting Values.
Universal Ideals
Expressed in Behavior and Conduct
Truth
• Honesty• Transparency• Integrity and truthfulness in thought, feelings and action.• Impartial wisdom, ability to deal with each person or situation
according to deeper truth in it.
Strength and Force
• Marshalling energies and resources for implementation of Ideas• Courage• Tenacity• Firmness• Will Power
Beauty and Harmony
• Aesthetic Sensibility• Graceful Movements• Cleanliness• Simplicity• Charm• Tenderness• Rhythms in action and behaviour
Source: Sri Aurobindo Foundation for Integral Management, Harvesting Values.
Universal Ideals
Expressed in Behavior and Conduct
Fraternity
• Teamwork• Shared Vision• Mutual Trust• Goodwill and understanding• Stakeholders community
Equality
• Distributive Justices• Flattening of Hierarchies• Trend towards greater sharing of wealth, power, knowledge and
culture
Liberty
• Empowerment - Energise people with minimum rules and maximum freedom
• Individuals given freedom to think, initiate, decide, organise, achieve, learn, progress and reach their potentials in work-life
Source: Sri Aurobindo Foundation for Integral Management, Harvesting Values.
Universal Ideals
Expressed in Behavior and Conduct
Fraternity
• Teamwork• Shared Vision• Mutual Trust• Goodwill and understanding• Stakeholders community
Equality
• Distributive Justices• Flattening of Hierarchies• Trend towards greater sharing of wealth, power, knowledge and
culture
Liberty
• Empowerment - Energise people with minimum rules and maximum freedom
• Individuals given freedom to think, initiate, decide, organise, achieve, learn, progress and reach their potentials in work-life
Source: Sri Aurobindo Foundation for Integral Management, Harvesting Values.
Universal Ideals
Expressed in Behavior and Conduct
Fraternity
• Teamwork• Shared Vision• Mutual Trust• Goodwill and understanding• Stakeholders community
Equality
• Distributive Justices• Flattening of Hierarchies• Trend towards greater sharing of wealth, power, knowledge and
culture
Liberty
• Empowerment - Energise people with minimum rules and maximum freedom
• Individuals given freedom to think, initiate, decide, organise, achieve, learn, progress and reach their potentials in work-life
Source: Sri Aurobindo Foundation for Integral Management, Harvesting Values.
An Exercise
Mapping to Ideals
XP ValuesCommunicationSimplicityFeedbackCourageRespect
Pair Programming Collective Ownership On-site Customer System MetaphorRefactoring Simple Design Coding StandardsThe Planning GameRetrospectives
XP Practices
XP Values => Ideals • Communication
TruthBeauty
and Harmony
Strength and
Force
• Simplicity
• Feedback
• Courage
• Respect Fraternity
XP Practices => Ideals Refactoring, Simple Design, Coding Standards
Beauty and Harmony
Pair Programming, Collective Ownership, On-site Customer, System Metaphor
Equality, Fraternity,
Liberty
The Planning Game, Retrospectives,TDD, Continuous Integration, Small Releases
Truth
Agile Adoption?
Agile Adoption?
Using FeedbackPermeate Agility
and Manifest Ideals
How do I begin?
• From Near to Far
• Start with something that is very obvious, that which is within reach.
• That which is far is the goal.
• Take baby steps
Questions to ponder• Would you be able to apply this on a daily basis?
If yes, how? If no, why?
• What ideals would you like to manifest in you next?
• Is there a gap between inner values and outer action? If yes, how will you reduce it?
• Have you matched your disposition to the psychological content of the job?
Special ThanksTo my friends with whom I shared the slides, they actively listened and above all, had intimate conversations. Their opinions, suggestions, feedback has elevated the tone of this presentation.
Aslam Khan
Jaydeep Kulkarni
Ryan Lemmer
Venkat Subramaniam
Naresh Jain for adding the Workshop element to this talk to make it more tangible.
References
• Implementation Patterns
• Kent Beck
• Product Discovery and Story Mapping
• Jeff Patton
References• Sri Aurobindo’s Works
• Works of The Mother.
• Harvesting Values Workshop
• Sri Aurobindo Foundation for Integral Management (SAFIM), by Saikat Sen.
• Towards Integral Education
• Sradhhalu Ranade, Sri Aurobindo Ashram.