Learn Agile Like A Startup!

In San Francisco, we work with a lot of "start-up" companies. Recently, we discovered there are cultural distinctions at start-ups that affect learning in a different way than non- “start-up” companies.

First, many "start-ups" are not start-ups at all in terms of age. In a recent private course, the company considered themselves a start-up even though the firm had been around for seven years. While the company was neither new nor "old", it did have “start-up” culture. It was a mindset they shared. Therefore, in this context, it’s not the "age" of a company that defines a start-up but rather it’s the culture fostered in its DNA. That culture is what helps start-ups perform uniquely compared to other companies. Here is a bit on how they apply it to learning.

What Makes Training at Start-ups Different…

1. Engaged Response to Ambiguity

Ambiguity is expected within a start-up environment. Working in this environment, some survival skills emerge to simply keep sane. The muscle memory it builds is the tolerance for not having all of the answers up-front.

Fewer questions on rules; more focus on outcomes. Rather than spending time wrestling with hard coded rules and preset pathways, people at start-ups expect the latitude to guide themselves in times of ambiguity. They don't need to be told the specific step-by-step order to get the tasks done. They prefer to use their creativity to reach alignment and in doing so, they eagerly took on the accountability for achieving outcomes (of the training class.)

Tolerance for ambiguity is correlated with managing the emergent nature of their work. In many cases, they are careful not to leap to large assumptions. Rather, they often work in shorter increments due to customer demands. This characteristic helps them respond to ambiguity and change, and helps teams to align quickly when change occurs.

2. Readiness to Learn and Adapt.

Lively conversation and being heard are each equally important. Every table was loud and actively talking. But we noticed that everyone took the time to hear the other out. They were listening to each other, even within the chatter. It was like watching a jazz band play, where everyone was conscious of the sound the others were playing, to keep in sync. No rules could govern that.

3. Timing is relative.

Start-up culture is known for many things, including late starts. When we found out the group wanted to start at 10:00 AM, we thought we might be in trouble because of the stigma attached to the casual nature of start-ups. We learned, however, that start-times and end-times are NOT critical in a start-up culture rather that it’s their ability to get aligned. As the team gathered to start at 10, the entire team came in READY to learn and absorb lessons from Scrum. Not only did we start on-time, they returned on-time from breaks, and they often stayed to ask questions during the break. And out of 20 students... not one person took out a phone or laptop during training. They gave 100% to learn and engage, even under the pressures of getting other work completed.

4. Puppies (and Mindset) will Build Bridges.

One of the team members brought in their puppy, Lou. He's a cute 9-week-old Bassett Hound everyone had fallen in love with. In many Bay Area companies, it’s not unusual to have dogs in the workplace. Circumstances allowing for a dog to be present showed us the benefits of this mindset, especially for setting the tone for learning. Here's what it did for our training:

Mindset of Humanity. When people were holding the puppy, their humanity shined brilliantly. In fact, attendees had more heartfelt conversations and fewer arguments as someone held the puppy. Teams remained engaged in conversation while speaking more softly and kindly to one another. "Puppy therapy" has been used to reduce stress, increase empathy, and improve morale at universities, hospitals, and workplaces. Seeing this in training showed us how it helps teams change how they interact with one another.

Opens Connections. When puppies are in the room, it seems to be a trigger for opening pathways to engaging conversation. Even the most introverted person is likely to open up and be playful when talking about a puppy. This helps us quickly establish rapport with one another, achieve deeper levels of connection and helps amplify work conversations. As puppies help us become more human, our relationships with each other become more personable. We become more human.

While many companies allow for dogs in the workplace (including 12 US presidents that had their dogs in the Oval Office), it may not be possible for you or your teams. But do you need to have a puppy at your training to show humanity? Absolutely not. However, what would occur if people talked like there was a puppy in the room? As a Scrum Master, what can you do to substitute a puppy with something else to help bring out your team's humanity and engagement?

5. Leadership Shows Up.

Demonstrated They Are Part of the Team. In the office, we noticed the founders and leadership sit in the bullpen along with the teams in the open office setting. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, among other executives, sits in a bullpen too. Their chairs are the same, their computers are the same, and their monitors are the same. Factually, there was nothing to distinguish leadership from team members in the workspace. This levels the playing field to ensure transparency and open access to the company's employees.

In our training, the CTO joined us and sat with the teams to engage no differently than what he expected from his employees. The CTO was responsive and showed them his expectations by how present he was and needed to know Scrum just like everyone else. No special sessions for executives. No special treatment.

Demonstrated Presence. When the leaders showed up, they literally showed up. Each leader asked questions and participated fully. Indirectly, this behavior communicated to the teams a number of things: (a) Scrum is important and valuable to learn, (b) not having all of the answers is OK - this gives us time to ask more questions, and (c) leadership wants to understand how Scrum amplifies their "operating model" for value delivery.

6. Noise Reflects Engagement and Alignment. The conversations were animated and meaningful.

Morning breaks are loud. It's great to see a break room in the morning where the chatter is deafening. The "good morning" and laughter after a long weekend reflected their feelings toward one another. They really cared about each other and used part of the morning to connect. This carried into the training where teams felt safe to ask each other questions about what was happening in their environment just as they were talking in their breaks.

Personal voice is also valued. Being in a startup means that it’s important to be purpose-driven as well as being heard and recognized as an individual. During the discussions, both the voice of the group and the individuals' voices were heard and valued.

As a side note, the training was done in the MIDDLE of the open office. There were a few people that didn't participate and they simply used their headphones to keep the noise from distracting them.

7. Debate things that matter. The issue of tools came up. You can imagine the debate that happens at most companies. Here, they didn't care. It was more important to get alignment on tracking their backlog. They didn't debate whether the tool was right not. Rather, they focused on finding ways to keep aligned on priority across teams.

8. Diversity amplifies learning. Neither age and nor gender were factors in the make-up of the company and the training participants. In a start-up, many people presume they are millennials however this wasn't the case. There were a mix of ages and company backgrounds. And being a software company, many people may assume more males than females. This wasn’t the case either.

Diversity mindset. They set their past aside and opened up their thinking to a new point-of-view. Having an open mind and setting aside past biases helped them immediately start to recognize how a new way of working can help their effectiveness and efficiency.

This is not to say that companies that aren't start-ups cannot learn Agile. It's quite the contrary as large, established companies have often demonstrated their ability to have great Agile mindsets. However, we've discovered that when training a start-up company, several considerations help them accelerate faster.

What ideas do you have to help your teams accelerate learning?

Please feel free to add your ideas below!

Stacey Louie (CSP, CSM, CSPO, SPC4), CEO of Hyperdrive Agile Leadership

Stacey Louie is the CEO of Hyperdrive Agile Leadership and has been coaching companies including PayPal, Cisco, HP, Prudential Financial, StubHub and Nike through Agile Transformations. He has been a CIO/CTO and has launched startup companies. Stacey also founded AgileCamp and leads the Silicon Valley Agile Leadership Network.

Feel free to contact Stacey at [email protected].