Cultural architecture agile2011

2011, Raj Mudhar - rajile.com

Cultural ArchitectureRaj MudharAgile 2011

http://jeffersonsrebels.blogspot.com/2011/02/is-it-conceivable-for-multiculturalism.html


Bio - Raj MudharCultural:

Employer:

Job:

Career:

Interests:

Born in Leeds, England, Father from Uganda, Mother from India, live in Canada and work around the world.

Alcatel-Lucent - 70000+ employees operating in 100+ countries. www.alcatel-lucent.com

Agile Servant Leader - helping our Wireless business transform, serving 9000+ employees.

16+ years in telecom as a programmer, manager, cross-company partnership leader, and head of R&D for the Korean 3G telecom market.

Culture, food, music.

Blog: http://rajile.com - Twitter: rmudharLinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/rajmudharE-mail: [email protected] - [email protected]


Acknowledgements

Linda Robinson, Nirmal Kaur Mudhar, and Kanwal Mudhar-Graham - who tested my thinking.

Chitra Kasthuri, François Morin, Yong Wang, Lv Yi, Robert Tingaud, and Catherine Louis who shared their perspectives.

All the people on every international project I ever worked on who taught me to be culturally aware.


Delivering Great Products that Customers love!


The True Story of a Cartesian Thinker

Part #1


“The way I was...“

Cartesian thinker - linear, abstract, command & control mindset

History of success in the past using traditional methods

Experienced and respected

Plan-driven Waterfall as the default


Now...

Lead an Agile program, using Scrum & some XP (12 teams and growing)

Adopting Servant Leader principles

Aggressive impediment remover

Trust in teams


Exercise

List one cultural stereotype from your own culture or one that you know well.


Artifacts & ProductsThe visible signs of culture.

This is the WHAT of culture - What you see, hear, taste, smell.

The source of cultural stereotypes

Misunderstanding happens when you apply your own rules and filters out of context.


Rules and Filters


Exercise

List a value and a norm from a culture you know.Value = How I aspire to behaveNorm = How I am expected to behave


Values & Norms

Values are the WHY of culture

Norms are HOW we live the values


Exercise

Ask yourself the five-why’s of a cultural value.How long did it take before you arrived at a point that defies explanation?


What is Culture?

Basic Assumptions

Implicit

Norms and Values

Artifacts and Products

Explicit

Culture directs our actions

Like breathing - you don’t even think about

it.

Norms - how I should behave, Values - how I

aspire to behave

What you see, taste, smell, visible signs, source of stereotypes

Source: Trompenaars/Hamden-Turner


Korean/French TeamOk! We have a decision

A BTime passes...

French - let’s see where we are on the path to B.

Korean - let’s see where we are on the

path to C.

A

C

B


Exercise

Create a narrative of what you think could have happened to cause the disconnect between the French and Korean team members.

What rules and filters did you apply? What values and norms were at play?


Culture MapEgalitarian Hierarchical

Informal Formal

Individual Group

Transactional

Direct

Interpersonal

Indirect

Fluid Controlled

StructuresStyle

InterestsRelationship

CommunicationTime

ControlInternal External

MotivationBalance Status

Source: ALU CUlture Wizard


ExerciseA Scrum team does not have healthy conflict. The team exhibits a lack of commitment and finger-pointing. Consider a:

French Scrum team

Chinese Scrum team

American Scrum team.

Use the culture map for help.

What “could” be the problem?M.C. Escher


Cultural DimensionsUniversalism Particularismversus

Communitarianism Individualismversus

Neutral Emotionalversus

Diffuse Specificversus

Achievement Ascriptionversus

Rules Relationships

The Group The Individual

The range of feelings expressed

The range of involvement

How status is accorded



Grey ZoneEach cultural dimension is a continuum

There is no one right place to be on the continuum - all is dependent on the context

We run into trouble when we attempt to simplify... stereotyping

Context is everything


The True Story of a Cartesian Thinker

Part #2


Triggers for Change

Failure - a sense of urgency.

Simple, testable methods.

Recognized my culture, background, education was getting in the way.

International experience taught me to keep an open mind.


Conclusion


A little bit of knowledge is a

dangerous thing

CAUTION


Over 40/Under 40My Korean Friend


Think Fractals, Layers


Q & ABlog: http://rajile.com - Twitter: rmudharLinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/rajmudharE-mail: [email protected] - [email protected]


Back-Up


UniversalismApply rules and

procedures universally to ensure equity and

consistency although...

We do not want to drown in chaos or lose

our sense of central direction so we must...

We do not want to degenerate into rigidity and bureaucracy so we

must...

Encouraging flexibility by adapting to particular

situations. However...

Central Guidelines with local

adaptations and discretion

ParticularismSource: Trompenaars/Hamden-Turner


IndividualismEncourage individual

freedom and responsibility, however...

We need to avoid conformism and slow decision-making so

we must...

We do not want to degenerate into self-

centeredness or forced compromise, so we must...

Encourage individuals to work for consensus in the

interest of the group, although...

Give clear objectives that

need individual

initiative and accountability

to succeed

CommunitarianismSource: Trompenaars/Hamden-Turner


Specific, Low ContextThe quality of the

product

can be developed because it ultimately

is a guarantee for

needs to be developed so that eventually

The quality of the relationship

Diffuse, High ContextSource: Trompenaars/Hamden-Turner


AchievementWe need to reward

what our people achieve based on skill, but...

We do not want to be hindered in our achievement

by not challenging the status quo, so...

We want to avoid the instability that comes

from only valuing recent performance, so we must...

Respect who our people are based on their experience,

although...

Respect what people are so we can better take advantage of what they do

AscriptionSource: Trompenaars/Hamden-Turner


Patterns of SpeechAnglo-Saxon - silence is uncomfortable - take turns speaking, interrupting is rude

Latin - interrupt often to indicate interest and engagement

Asian - Silence to process what is said is a sign of respect


Showing EmotionFrench, Italian, Spanish - showing emotion is prevalent - words are not enough

American - show emotion but separate it from rational, objective argument

Korean - within “clans” emotion is ok but with outsiders, it is not


The Boss Outside Work

China - the boss is the boss outside work - significant influence

France/USA/Finland - the boss is just another person outside work - limited influence


Corporate CultureHierarchical

Egalitarian

TaskPerson

Family (Latin)

It’s who you know - your network

Power oriented

Eiffel Tower (German)

Structure, titlesExpertise

Incubator (Silicon Valley)Management by passionControlled ChaosDriver to work here is

learning more than money

Guided Missile (Anglo-Saxon)

Mgt. by ObjectivesMBAsNot people focused



Corporate CultureHierarchical

Egalitarian

TaskPerson

Where does your

company’s culture

fit? Single or

multiple cultures?

Cultural architecture agile2011

Business

Transcript of Cultural architecture agile2011