The Requirements for an Agile Approach
This page is part of the collection of posts I have on my The Agile is or isn’t dead conversations miss the point post.
This is a work in process. More links will be added. It is not a description of Amplio. It is an analysis of what is needed for an approach to improve effectiveness. I came to this after 10,000 conversations in the 2004-2014 period with consultants and practitioners of all roles at conferences. In these conversations I looked for what worked and what didn't.
Amplio is an implementation of these requirements. But be clear, I first looked to see what was needed and then built it.
Background
Amplio is the fifth generation of an attempt to incorporate what’s been used effectively by consultants and practitioners.
It is based on the question of how to create the greatest value to critical stakeholders in the quickest amount of time while providing a great working environment for the people doing the work.
It recognizes that there is no single solution available for all situations but that every situation has a solution that is best for it.
Requirements for an approach, current challenges, what’s needed
Recognize that we don’t want frameworks to follow; we want to create agreements amongst our people to be effective. When you follow frameworks, people often have different interpretations of them. When you make explicit agreements, people understand each other.
People often misunderstand a lack of precision to achieve short documents with being simple. It isn't. Misunderstandings complicate things.
Requirements
Anti-patterns to overcome
Lack of theory causes resistance and slow learning. Telling people to “follow to understand” is demeaning and illustrates a lack of ability to explain up front.
How do you work with people who don’t have the values you want them to.
People are exposed to new concepts but unable to apply them in their workplace during the training.
Being purposefully incomplete means people have to re-invent known practices.
People learn new concepts but do not learn how to convey them to others.
Immutability. This will preclude fit-for-purpose solutions. It also makes the approach brittle.
The belief we can't understand what's happening. ?Amplio Foundations
Missing essential practices.
Expensive and ineffective training.
The belief that it takes years to become effective.
Some people have problems going from abstract to concrete. While others have problems going from concrete to abstract. Both for requirements and for how to do our work and for how to convey ideas.
A question to ask
Why are you asking what the framework says? You want a system that empowers you to think for yourself, not one to follow.
"A good tool improves the way you work. A great tool improves the way you think.” Jeff Duntemann
The shift needed
Shift from how simply something is designed to how simply it can be used.
Shift from following a framework to working with your own people to define the agreements on how you are going to work together. ? The benefits of this are: -??You learn to think for yourself so you can adapt to change -??You have a fit for purpose ways of working, not an immutable framework you have to fill in -??By creating your own way of working people understand why they are working the way they are – this increases motivation and reduces resistance?
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The amount to learn at first appears daunting.
But the cost in dollars can be made low by using modern training methods. And the cost in time can be made low by incorporating theory and having new concepts be presented in a way you can relate to them.
What’s Provided
A values first mindset.? Identify critical stakeholders, their values, success criteria and constraints.
Provide theory to explain the underlying cause and effects in the system. This lowers resistance and speeds up learning.
Value stream analysis – both development and customer centric.
Provide a way to tell which practices will work better for you (Factors for Effective Value Streams).
Provide Alexandrian patterns so people can apply known solutions for their context.
Appeal to the better nature of people so they want to do
How do you work with people who don’t have the values you want them to.
Provide lessons over time so people can try them out in their workplace.
Integrate how to convey new concepts with the new concepts.
Immutability. This will preclude fit-for-purpose solutions. It also makes the approach brittle.
Expensive and ineffective training.
Provide a diagnostic tool to see where you are along with a way to create an improvement backlog.
A way to have a quick start based on a few key questions.
How to improve existing approaches being taken.
How to create quality UXs.
Missing practices
Include a support system of collaboration boards and PowerPoints
Lean management
Requirements
Only expose what’s needed at the start. Allow for incremental learning.
Not everyone has the same needs. So must enable people to pick their curriculum.
#Amplio #AmplioUniversity
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Executive Coach | Trainer | Author
3 个月The image is a bit of an eyechart, and I am failing the reading test. Is there a larger version of it?