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Deliver Business Value, Not What the User

Wants!Mitigating Organization and User Bias in Business

Analysis

September 11, 2015Richard A. Johnston, Director

UNICON International

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Problem Statement

• Companies are wasting money and resources on unused software features

• New systems can change organizations and processes • Organizations and people resist change • Resulting bias affects users’ perception of their needs• Users’ needs may not align with business value• User bias affects quality of business analysis and ROI• Result of bias is waste

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Unused Software Costs

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Measurements of Feature Usage

28% to 45% of a system’s features are unused3 42% of CRM Software goes unused 4

$12.3B in unused software licenses in U.S.A in 2011 5

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Unused Software Waste

• Initial development, testing and deployment• Licensing• Increased documentation and training• Increased system complexity• Increased testing effort• Increased maintenance

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Factors Affecting Requirements Quality

• Organizational culture and inertia • User bias and resistance to change• Management support of process change• Approach to eliciting requirements and business value

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Organizational Culture and Inertia

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Organizational Culture Indicators

• Are markets and products rapidly changing?• Do decision makers support change in word and deed?• Does organization involve grass roots users?• Is organization punitive toward mistakes?• Is organization risk averse?

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• Systemso Processeso Procedureso Workflowso Intra-organizational interfaces o Data flows

• Organizationo Staffing levelso Management structureo Skills needed for career advancement o Impact on Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)

New Systems Introduce Change

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Organizations Resist Change

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Organization Structural Inertia Resists Change 1,2

• High Inertia – Churches, universities, monopolies• Low Inertia – Silicon Valley high tech companies• Sources of inertia

o Internal identities o External identitieso Political-coalition processeso External constraints (laws, regulations, labor agreements)

• User bias may reflect organization structural inertia

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Evolution Selection Favors Inertia

• Median level of inertia in a closed population of organizations increases over time2

• Change that exposes organizations to mortality evokes survival response• Inertia grows when prior attempts to change fail

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Inertia Increases with Threat of Organization Mortality

Old System New System

Low Mortality Threat ExampleEliminate duplicate data entry by automating interface to

exchange data between systems and reduce backlog

System BSystem A System BSystem A

Dept. 1 Dept. 2 Dept. 1 Dept. 2

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Inertia Increases with Threat of Organization Mortality

Old System New System C

Medium Mortality Threat ExampleConsolidate separate systems into one integrated system; modest process change, same organization structure

System BSystem A System B Equivalent Features

New Features

System A Equivalent FeaturesDept. 2Dept. 1

Dept. 2

Dept. 1

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Inertia Increases with Threat of Organization Mortality

Old System New System C

High Mortality Threat ExampleConsolidate separate systems into one integrated system,

change processes and reorganize management structure

System BSystem A System B Equivalent Features

New Features

System A Equivalent FeaturesDept. 2

Dept. 3 replaces Depts. 1 and 2 – allows more work to be done with same # of people

Dept. 1

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Organizational Foresight 1

• Foresight is the ability to accurately estimate the magnitude, complexity, risks and side effects of change in advance.

• It requires knowledge of the organization• Communication paths and interconnections• Business rules • Dependencies• The actual processes and procedures being used• Roles of organizational units• Culture

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Factors Affecting Organizational Foresight 1

• Complexity – Number of interconnections and associated rules

• Opacity – understanding of interconnections among units in the organization (rigid, organizational silos have high opacity)

• Cultural asperity – does not readily accept changes. “We’ve always done it that way”

Result: Increased inertia

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Risks of Limited Foresight

• Incomplete, contradictory and confusing user requirements• Cascading changes as new requirements are uncovered• Each cascade of change takes longer than expected • Increased risk of project failure, delay and waste• Non-business value (i.e., political) factors may influence feature

seto Include someone’s pet features to win support of organizational factionso Include features to avoid conflict – “don’t rock the boat”

• Underestimation o Timeo Cost o Complexity

• Return on investment (ROI) falls far short of expectations

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People Resist Change

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• Loss of control• Excess uncertainty• Surprise, Surprise!• Everything seems different• Concerns about competence• Loss of face• More work• Ripple effects• Past resentments• Sometimes the threat is real

Common Reasons for Resisting Change7

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• Inertia• Foot-Dragging• “Stirring the pot”• Recruiting opposition forces within organization• Raising never-ending roadblocks to adoption• Raising new showstopper requirements at 11th hour• “Our jobs are too complex to include in the system; every

case is different”These manifestations can contribute to user bias

Manifestations of Resistance to Change7

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Summary of Fears Causing User Bias

Career impact

Loss of status or prestige

Learning curve

External visibility into job performance

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Some Typical User Biases Encountered in Business Analysis

• Perspective- incomplete view due to silo or user role• Burdened • Conflicted• Threatened• Fix It All Now!Fear of change may be a root cause of some biases

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How Do We Navigate the Bias Minefield?

Fix It All

Now

ThreatenedConflictedBurdened

User Perspective

Inertia

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Detection of User Bias

• Inadequate preparation for meetings• Body language• Response to questions indicate narrow silo process view• Emotional state• Listen to how users express their concerns• Encourage users to “open up” – difficult if managers are

present

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Management Must Address Uncertainty about Consequences of Change

• Tell the truth• Be transparent• Repeat the message • Walk the talk• Communicate expectations, track and measure compliance• Hold people accountable for cooperation with change

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Examples of Potential Management Talking Points to Address Uncertainty

o Plenty of work even with new systemo Survival depends on reducing rework, waste and improving

quality o Opportunity to work on more meaningful tasks o Management supports this effort and needs your

participationo You will be involved and consulted throughout the process

Talking points must be made with integrity! Be truthful!

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Mitigating Effects of Bias

Perspective Bias Indicators• User perspective varies by role

o Executiveso Managerso Daily userso Stakeholderso Customers

• Management view differs with reality at grass roots

• Official process ~= Actual process

• Management may not identify greatest business value

Mitigation• All user groups should be heard• Communicate discussion topics in advance• Avoid reliance on user or customer proxies • Get them talking about the process while

drawing process swim lane interactively• Use small groups - synergy and process

variation; encourage dialogue interchange• Explore interconnections beyond their silo• Tactfully probe business value of

requirements• Talk with managers separately from staff

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Mitigating Effects of Bias

Burdened Bias Indicators• “Let’s get this requirements

discussion over with so I can get back to my work”

• Firefighting mode – difficult to see big picture

• Misplaced priorities – just fix the annoyances with current process

• Lack of preparation for interviews• Absence from interviews

Mitigation• Let them vent initially• Get them to talk about their

challenges and frustrations while documenting process

• Some questions:o How much of what you do is

rework?o How often does this occur? o What is the impact?o Why is it done this way?

• Show the work that could be accomplished if the new system could reduce the rework

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Mitigating Effects of Bias

Conflicted Bias Indicators• Management wants me to do

my current job duties and work with business analyst on new system

• Will management support delays in current duties due to new system work?

• What will management reward?• Am I eliminating my job by

improving the process?• How do I maximize my reward?

o Short termo Long-Term

Mitigation• Emphasize management support• Yes, it will mean more work now,

but it will be worth it when the system is designed

• Describe meaningful benefits of new system in terms that they value

• Try to accommodate schedule conflicts

• Management communication is key to success

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Mitigating Effects of Bias

Threatened Bias Indicators• Impact on job future – new

system may have:o Greater automationo More efficient processeso Less waste and rework

• Expert (old system) Rookie (new system)

• Doubts about learning the new process

• Loss of status as “go to” person on the system

Mitigation• Assess factors that user fears• Subtly try to allay fears• Listen respectfully to concerns• Assess potential impact of

obstructionist behavior• Discuss obstructionists privately

with product owner• Work around the user

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Mitigating Effects of Bias

Fix It All Now! Bias Indicators• One-time opportunity for funding• Opportunity to right all wrongs• Implement conceivable future

needs now• False “Efficiency” mindset –

develop feature now to avoid modifying code later

• Encouraging group-think of blue sky features

• Negotiation ploy – “No harm in asking for feature; all that development can do is say no”

Mitigation• Explore frequency of feature use• Explore value proposition for

featureo Reduce waste?o Increase efficiency?o Is feature needed if process

changes?• Triage feature priority based on

business value with product owner (as in agile)

• Get support for decision from product owner

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Summary

• Get executive approval and support• Understand executive appetite for process improvement• Consider organizational inertia and lack of foresight when

estimating project• Break through organizational opacity and silos• Seek to reduce complexity as it rarely adds business value• Seek holistic understanding of processes (you may be the only

one who does!)• Anticipate biases and mitigate their effect• Align team on requirements that add the most business value

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References1. “Structural Inertia and Organizational Change Revisited III: The Evolution of Organizational Inertia*By Glenn R. Carroll, Michael T. Hannan, Laszlo Polos2002 Working Paper No. 1734 Organizational BehaviorStanford University2. The Evolution of Inertia By Glenn R. Carroll, Michael T. Hannan, Laszlo PolosIndustrial and Corporate Change, Volume 13, Number 1, pp. 213-242http://phil.elte.hu/polos/EvolutionInertia.pdf3. Which Features Do My Users (Not) Use? 2014 IEEE International Conference on Software Maintenance and Evolution(Source: E. Juergens, M. Feilkas, M. Herrmannsdoerfer, F. Deissenboeck, R. Vaas, and K. Prommer, “Feature Profiling for Evolving Systems,” in ICPC, 2011.)4. Gartner Survey 28 February 2003 G00113437, Beth Eisenfeld, Esteban Kolsky, Thomas Topolinski5. Jon Brodkin Network WorldApril 15, 2011, Source: Vendor 1E poll of IT managers6. The Fog of Change: Opacity and Asperity in OrganizationsBy Glenn R. Carroll, Michael T. Hannan, Laszlo PolosAdministrative Science Quarterly, September 2003 Vol. 48, No. 3, pg. 399-4327. “Ten Reasons People Resist Change”, Harvard Business Review 9/25/2012, By Rosabeth Moss Kanter chair of the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative. https://hbr.org/2012/09/ten-reasons-people-resist-chang.html

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Questions?

Thank you for the opportunity to share!

If you have questions or would like a presentation at your organization, contact:

Rich Johnston, DirectorUNICON International

614.861.7070johnston@unicon-intl.com

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