TL;DR: Agile Failure Patterns 2.0 (Webinar Replay) The fourth Hands-on Agile webinar addressed 12 reasons why ‘agile’ is not the quick fix for dysfunctional organizations — from the ‘what is in for me’ syndrome to outdated technology stacks tp the lack of a failure culture. Agile Failure Patterns 2.0 (Webinar Replay) Webinar Agile Failure Patterns 2.0: The Episodes . (Why is the organization pursuing to become agile? The organization is not transparent about vision and strategy hence the teams are hindered to become self-organizing. Or let us put it in a different way, Alice-in-Wonderland style: “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”) The first episode covers the lack of a vision . (The middle management as well as team members do not embrace an agile mindset or abandon it quietly, believing it is a management fad that will go away sooner or later.) The second episode covers the question whether ‘agile’ is a fad or trend . (My budget, my feature: The organization tries to become agile without switching from a project-based to a product-based development approach. The process continues to be ruled by (annual) budgets, and risk-mitigation by committee is still the norm.) The third episode covers projects, budgets, and stage-gates . (Teams, therefore, do not move out of their comfort zones but instead play safe. Perhaps, replace “culture of failure” with “culture of learning to get back up again after falling” is a better match.) The fourth episode covers the lack of a failure culture . (The management still believes in its traditional role: telling people what to do, how to do things, and making sure everyone is busy at all times. Therefore, engineers are considered to be too valuable to waste their time with user interview.) The fifth episode covers the efficiency and utilization focus , resulting in the organization moving at the speed of the slowest to change silo. (The organization is not optimized for a rapid build-test-learn culture, and thus departments are moving at different speed levels. The resulting friction caused is likely to equalize previous Agile gains.) The sixth episode covers the convoy of silos . (Not everyone embraces ‘agile’ enthusiastically — particularly not those who will lose opportunities when self-organization becomes the norm, and the pursuit of personal agendas turns into a distant memory from the past.) The seventh episode covers the ‘what is in for me’ syndrome . (A perceived loss of control at the management level leads to micro-management. Or the organization is practicing ‘agile light:’ The management abandons self-organization the moment a critical problem appears and forms ‘task forces’ instead.) The eighth episode covers prevailing Taylorism and the resulting micromanagement . (The incentives of teams on the one side and stakeholders or individual team members on the other side are contradicting each other — which can easily result in a moral hazard. For example, the sales department tries to save the quarterly bonus by ‘requiring’ new features they hope will bring new revenue or sells non-existing products.) The ninth episode covers misaligned incentives . (Engineering teams are not free to choose “their” tech stack but have to work with what other people provide to them. Being forced to work with inferior technology significantly reduces the teams’ willingness to accept accountability for their work.) The tenth episode covers outdated technology stacks . (For example, moving people among teams upon short notice. Or teams are not adequately staffed, for example, scrum master positions are not filled, and product owners have to serve two roles at the same time. Or teams are too small and hence not cross-functional. Or not involving teams in the recruiting process.) The eleventh episode covers team building issues . (A team is not co-located, not working in the same room, but scattered across different floors, or worse, various locations. The work environment is lacking spots for formal and — more important — informal communication: cafeterias, tea kitchens, sofas, etc. Or it requires whiteboards.) The twelveth episode covers inadequate facilities If you enjoyed the article, do me a favor and smack the 👏👏 👏 multiple times — your support means the world to me! If you prefer a notification by email, please sign-up for my weekly newsletter and join 18,292 peers. 📺 Join 550-plus Agile Peers on Youtube Now available on the Age of Product Youtube channel: 🆕 Hands-on Agile Webinar #6 on . product owner anti-patterns Hands-on Agile Webinar #5 on sprint planning anti-patterns. Hands-on Agile Webinar #3 on product backlog anti-patterns. 🎓 Do you want to read more like this? Well, then: 📰 Join 18,292 peers and sign-up for my weekly newsletter 🐦 Follow me on Twitter and subscribe to my blog Age of Product 💬 Alternatively, join 3,600-plus peers of the Slack team “Hands-on Agile” for free . was first published on Age-of-Product.com. Webinar #4: Agile Failure Patterns 2.0
