Readings Preparing for LeSS for Executives - Revision history

Clarman at 20:43, 21 April 2017

2017-04-21T20:43:13Z

Clarman at 20:40, 21 April 2017

2017-04-21T20:40:50Z

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2017-04-21T20:38:43Z

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There's better-than-even odds that if you're reading this, you think you want to learn an approach to '''scale agile development'''.
 
 
Surprisingly, [https://less.works/ '''LeSS'''] (Large-Scale Scrum) is not about scaling. It's about '''descaling''' and '''simplification''' of the limiting organizational '''structures''' so that '''many teams''' can work together on '''one product''' as simply as possible to towards the system optimizing goals of (1) '''highest value''' from global perspective and (2) '''agility''' to change cheaply based on '''learning'''.
 
 
But there's a '''change problem''' that '''you the reader''' are part of... If I had to boil down about 40 years of this work to one key idea, it is:
 
 

'''You must ''own'', not ''rent'', your change and organizational design'''.

 
 
And to ''own'' it, senior managers that have the authority to change the organizational design (eliminating groups, roles, sites, policies, etc.) have to do learning and change. [https://less.works/ '''LeSS'''] is not about superficial techniques that don't impact the structure.
 
 
What learning? To start, the following pre-readings.
 
 
 
==== Who's Asking? ====
I'm [[Craig Larman]], the creator (along with my friend and colleague Bas Vodde) of [https://less.works/ '''LeSS'''] (Large-Scale Scrum), the author of [http://www.craiglarman.com/wiki/index.php?title=Books_by_Craig_Larman three books on scaling lean thinking & agile development], and have focused for decades helping organizations succeed with scaling (or more precisely, ''descaling'') with [https://less.works/ '''LeSS'''].
 
 
 
==== Why Read and Learn This? ====
Before I start to work with a management team that is interested in introducing [http://less.works '''LeSS'''], and before we meet together for a 2-4 day "informed consent" workshop and/or course, these are the pre-readings I urge all participants to study before we start.
 
 
Why? '''Real''' ''lean thinking'' and agile (which involves ''systems thinking'') adoption are the exact opposite of the "copying without knowledge" and "install this solution and you will be successful" sales pitches associated with fads and consulting-company "grand solutions." Rather, real lean thinking and agile systems thinking involve ''real thinking'' ;)
 
 
That is, that people (especially including the senior managers) take the time to deeply grasp (1) the nature of their ''system'', (2) the root causes of its issues, (3) the complexities of its system dynamics, (4) the deeper concepts of LeSS, with a focus on ''why'' not what, and only then (5) create a situationally-appropriate organizational design experiment based on these ideas and principles — instead of the common "adopt our solution and you will be agile" sales pitch.
 
 
This approach, LeSS, is '''not offering a prescribed checklist of so-called "best practices."''' Is that a problem? Such checklists sound seductively simple and appealing and easy, but they inhibit (1) contextual solutions, (2) thinking and understanding deeply, (3) a learning organization, (4) ''owning'' rather than ''renting'' your ideas and insights, and (5) a continuous improvement culture. Such "best practice solutions and checklists" promote ''conformance over learning'', and ''copying over insight''.
 
 
 
==== Adoption Process ====
I recommend you do not simply decide to adopt LeSS. Rather, I recommend that you take the time to carefully learn, apply sober reflection, and then make an informed consent decision to try a non-trivial experiment — or not. Therefore, I recommend that the starting process is this:
 
 
1. Carefully study these pre-readings.
 
 
2. Discuss them amongst yourselves.
 
 
3. Participate in a 2 to 4-day "'''Informed Consent'''" workshop or course with me, where I will help you learn more in depth, explore your system with you, and answer all your questions about the implications and next steps.
 
 
4. After I leave, you together take a careful and considered decision to consent to the next step, or decide to decline continuing.
 
 
5. If your group decides with careful informed consent to go forward with an experiment, then I will help you in the next major phases: (1) LeSS Preparation, and (2) LeSS Sprint1.
 
 
NOTE! The starting step of LeSS adoption should be "50" people for "6 months". Note a large or big-bang adaption. LeSS adoptions are ''deep and narrow'' rather than broad and shallow.
 
 
 
==== The Preparation Readings to Learn From ====
 
1. [http://hbr.org/2012/05/six-myths-of-product-development HBR: Six Myths of Product Development]

 
 
2. The following chapters from our first LeSS book [http://www.amazon.com/Scaling-Lean-Agile-Development-Organizational/dp/0321480961/ref=pd_sim_b_1 Scaling Lean & Agile Development: Thinking and Organizational Tools with LeSS]:

'''Systems Thinking''' (or the equivalent [http://less.works/less/principles/systems_thinking.html Systems Thinking] chapter at less.works)
'''Lean Thinking''' (or the equivalent [http://less.works/less/principles/lean_thinking.html Lean Thinking] chapter at less.works)
'''Queuing Theory''' (or the equivalent [http://less.works/less/principles/queueing_theory.html Queuing Theory] chapter at less.works)
'''Feature Teams''' (or the equivalent [http://www.infoq.com/resource/articles/scaling-lean-agile-feature-teams/en/resources/feature%20teams_%20infoq_%20final.pdf Feature Teams] chapter at infoq.com)
'''Teams''' (or the equivalent [http://less.works/less/structure/teams.html Teams] chapter at less.works)

 
 
3. The following chapters from the book [http://www.amazon.com/The-Fifth-Discipline-Practice-Organization/dp/0385517254/ref=pd_sim_b_1 The Fifth Discipline]. This book comes from researchers at the [http://mitsloan.mit.edu/ MIT Sloan School of Management], was named one of ''the seminal'' management books of the last 75 years by the ''Harvard Business Review'', and has been one of the best-selling (multi-million) and most influential management books of all time, for very good reasons. It's available in both p-book and e-book formats.

'''Give Me a Lever Long Enough'''
'''Does Your Organization Have a Learning Disability?'''
'''Prisoners of the System, or Prisoners of our own Thinking?'''
'''The Laws of the Fifth Discipline'''
'''Personal Mastery'''
'''Mental Models'''

 
 
4. The following chapters from our third LeSS book [https://www.amazon.com/Large-Scale-Scrum-More-Addison-Wesley-Signature-ebook/dp/B01JP91OR4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471358164&sr=8-1&keywords=scrum+larman#nav-subnav Large-Scale Scrum: More with LeSS]:

'''Chapter 2: LeSS''', or the equivalent [https://less.works/less/framework/introduction.html chapter online]
'''Chapter 3: Adoption'''
'''Chapter 4: Organize by Customer Value'''
'''Chapter 5: Management'''
'''Chapter 7: Product'''

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-Why? '''Real''' ''lean thinking'' and agile (which involves ''systems thinking'') adoption are the exact opposite of the "copying without knowledge" and "install this solution and you will be successful" sales pitches associated with fads and consulting-company "grand solutions." Rather, real lean thinking and agile systems thinking involve ''real thinking'' ;)
+Why? '''Real''' ''lean thinking'' and agile (which involves ''systems thinking'') adoptions are the exact opposite of the "copying without knowledge" and "install this solution and you will be successful" sales pitches associated with fads and consulting-company "grand solutions." Rather, real lean thinking and agile systems thinking involve ''real thinking'' ;)
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 ==== Why Read and Learn This? ====
-Before I start to work with a management team that is interested in introducing [http://less.works '''LeSS'''], and before we meet together for a 2-4 day "informed consent" workshop and/or course, these are the pre-readings I urge all participants to study before we start.
+Before I start to work with a management team that is interested in introducing [http://less.works '''LeSS'''], and before we meet together for the LeSS for Executives course, these are the pre-readings I urge all participants to study before we start.
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 This approach, LeSS, is '''not offering a prescribed checklist of so-called "best practices."''' Is that a problem? Such checklists sound seductively simple and appealing and easy, but they inhibit (1) contextual solutions, (2) thinking and understanding deeply, (3) a learning organization, (4) ''owning'' rather than ''renting'' your ideas and insights, and (5) a continuous improvement culture. Such "best practice solutions and checklists" promote ''conformance over learning'', and ''copying over insight''.
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   '''Personal Mastery'''
   '''Mental Models'''

Readings Preparing for LeSS for Executives - Revision history

Clarman at 20:43, 21 April 2017

Clarman at 20:40, 21 April 2017

Clarman: Created page with "__NOTOC__ {| style="background-color: #bf6730;" !width="33%"|'' '' !width="34%"|'' '' !width="33%"|'' '' |-valign="top" style="text-align: justify" | style="padding-le..."

Clarman: Created page with "NOTOC {| style="background-color: #bf6730;" !width="33%"|'' '' !width="34%"|'' '' !width="33%"|'' '' |-valign="top" style="text-align: justify" | style="padding-le..."