MBIs, the Currency of Agile at Scale (DAVS)

When approaching Disciplined Agile Value Stream (DAVS) you immediately realize that MBIs are its cornerstone, nevertheless, it is not until you understand what an MBI conveys, that you really discover the potential of DAVS.

For a non IT profile as mine, it has been difficult to visualize how different agile approaches could be of interest not being a software developer. I myself have tried to adopt/adapt agile frames mainly to the industrial area where I work but "something" was always missing, mainly:

• Not all departments of the organization felt represented in an agile approach
• Agile was thought to be for IT
• IT departments felt constraint about the approach itself
• Teams and strategy seemed to be rather apart

How can MBIs help to overcome these perceptions?

MBIs are defined as the smallest thing we can do that provides value to a customer. Let me share what I have found most valuable about DAVS and MBIs.

MBIs are aligned with the Business Strategy

MBIs are the result of a discovery workflow process where strategies and ideas translate into work. As in many other aspects in life the result is important, MBIs are a powerful visual outcome, but the process to get there is what really counts in DAVS. To get MBIs we have to count on: Executives, Managers and Team leads.

From a Business perspective all the work defined in an MBI will be funded. Executives are in charge of budgets and responsible to set aside funding for later allocation when it's needed, just in time. MBIs are acknowledged by executives, managers and teams as the main source for funding, a commitment from all parts to them.

But, if an MBI is defined as the smallest thing that provides value to a customer, we need to include their perspective in the MBI itself. We have to analyze the market and customers each MBI is aimed at. In a recent webinar provided by @joshuabarnes available in YouTube he provides an example of an MBI in a Business Canvas format. Highly recommended to further understanding the business dimension of an MBIs.

MBIs are CONTAINERS, they convey all the work needed to develop an item, which means a coordination of all areas, departments and teams involved in them

How does it sound to you if we make a zoom of one of the MBIs and see what it takes to be done, which departments and areas are needed. This is not just a matter of IT, I can see the organization represented as a whole, including development, support, marketing, operations, HHRR... Operations and supporting value streams coexist with the development value stream.

MBIs help us realize the capacity of the people that will do the work

We are now in the Implementation and Support part of the sequence. Based on the agreed MBIs, teams pull from the backlog when they have the capacity to build entire items. In this process we will work on the MBIs definition of ready, definition of done, explicit statements of how are we going to work the MBIs, conditions that must be met to be completed... We will reach agreements among departments, define dependencies, see how we can eliminate them and understand what it means to work with a cadence.

Be ready to quantify and measure each increment because this will serve you and your teams as a source of alignment.

MBIs make it visible all the work in the flow, help communication between business, development, operations and supporting value streams

Value streams are defined as the workflow from end to end, from the customer to the realization of value. As a value stream is the work and not the people doing it, visualizing MBIs helps us think in terms of systems, of flow. Since MBIs are the result of an strategic process they provide clarity of what to align around, which makes all the organization visualize and paddle in one direction.

Interesting? Thank you for your time.