Starting with Why - Goals/Drivers

What are YOU looking to improve?

Delivering effective throughput for our size

Provide Visibility - minimum surprises to our stakeholders

Engaging/Motivating our people

Improving how we do things on an ongoing basis

Be confident in our process

Be flexible - be able to deal with changing priorities/requirements effectively

Be trusted by our stakeholders/partners

Be versatile - so we can work according to Business priorities not R&D skills

Deliver good quality - minimum complaints and rework due to defects

Work in a sustainable pace - reasonable balanced load over time without churning our people or our product

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You have 5 improvement points, use them to choose areas for improvement

Effective throughput for the capacity Visibility - minimum surprises

Engaged people

Operational maturity

Confidence in the process

Customer collaboration Flexibility - ability to deal with changing priorities effectively

Confidence/trust in the group's ability to deliver by people working with the group

Stakeholders/interfaces/clients are satisfied with the leanness of the group

Alignment - ability to focus on the things that matter

Good quality - minimum complaints and rework due to defects

Sustainability - balance capacity and demand, reasonable load over time

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5

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Establish the WHY for each improvement focus

Focus Area Why Improve This

Focus Area Why Improve This Definition of Improvement

How will you know you improved? For each focus area decide on a “Definition of Done” - metric or a set of “stories” that will indicate improvement or reduced pain

How will you know? Typical metrics/indications to consider

Effective throughput for the capacity

Visibility - minimum surprises

Engaged people

Operational maturity

Confidence in the process

Flexibility - ability to deal with changing priorities effectively

Confidence/trust in the group's ability to deliver by people working with the group

Alignment - ability to focus on the things that matter

Good quality - minimum complaints and rework due to defects

Sustainability - balance capacity and demand, reasonable load over time

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5

10

Running Tested/Deployed Features Velocity

Spotify style survey Key employee retention

Improving second nature independent

of leaders/current figures

Running a chaotic unstable process

Stabilizing

Running a static stable process

Improving sporadically

Improving in a systemic way Low confidence

Confidence in running current process practices with coaching support

Confidence in running current process practices independently

Confidence in understanding principles and mindset to experiment with practices

Confident enough to be a showcase for lean agile thinking and execution  

Cycle time/WIP for MMFs

Years

Months

Weeks

“Net Promoter Score”

Delivery is more often than not based on RND capabilities not what the product/business needs

Sometimes unable to deliver by business priorities due to RND lack of versatility

Always able to deliver business priorities but hurts efficiency Always able to deliver business priorities effectively

Sustainable Flow levels over time

Escaping Defects

Business Value Outcomes

Cycle Time Variability

Release Due Date Performance

Committed Scope Plan vs Actual

Improvement Activity Flow

X weeks passed. Score yourself again. Are you on the right direction? What are you going to do now?

Effective throughput for the capacity Visibility - minimum surprises

Engaged people

Operational maturity

Confidence in the process

Customer collaboration Flexibility - ability to deal with changing priorities effectively

Confidence/trust in the group's ability to deliver by people working with the group

Stakeholders/interfaces/clients are satisfied with the leanness of the group

Alignment - ability to focus on the things that matter

Good quality - minimum complaints and rework due to defects

Sustainability - balance capacity and demand, reasonable load over time

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5

10

Scenarios that might happen when revisiting

• Goals achieved – Raise the bar on those areas or choose new focus

• Goals not achieved – retrospect why and decide what to do

• Don’t know – discuss what was wrong with the metrics/DoD

Why Improvement Focus

• The user stories of your improvement initiative “As <who> I want <what> so that <why>”

• “Start with the Why” – knowing why we are doing something is essential to engagement as well as alignment

• We rely on the why to guide us when there are multiple options of the how

• Establishes the Sense of Urgency towards change• The process AND the artifact rallies the troops

How to establish the Improvement Focus

• Together with the management team of the group

• Fair Process / Procedural Justice – – decide on improvement focus with as much insight

as possible– gain as much support/understanding/

commitment to the improvement focus as possible

What to do with the Improvement Focus Map

• Communicate to everyone, in multiple forums and forms (f2f, emails, group level, 1:1, etc.)

• Hang on the wall in the managers room or the corridor outside it (or both)

• Mention aspects of this as much as possible in day to day communication

• Use as decision filter – is this decision aligned with our X improvement focus? Will it help us achieve it? Slow us down?

When to revisit the Improvement Focus map?

• Periodically – – reminder at the start of each retrospective– From time to time hold focused retrospectives which

specifically look at one improvement focus area• Tripwire – set a re-assessment in advance when starting

an improvement phase (e.g. 2 months)• Significant Changes in the ecosystem

– New Manager/Leader for the group– New Manager/Leader the group reports to– Changes in the goals/operational situation (e.g. move from

Growth to Sustain/Cut)

Example Usage

Score your organizationEffective throughput for the capacity

Visibility - minimum surprises

Engaged people

Operational maturity

Confidence in the process

Flexibility - ability to deal with changing priorities effectively

Confidence/trust in the group's ability to deliver by people working with the group

Alignment - ability to focus on the things that matter

Good quality - minimum complaints and rework due to defects

Sustainability - balance capacity and demand, reasonable load over time

0

5

10

You have 5 improvement points, use them to choose areas for improvement

Effective throughput for the capacity

Visibility - minimum surprises

Engaged people

Operational maturity

Confidence in the process

Flexibility - ability to deal with changing priorities effectively

Confidence/trust in the group's ability to deliver by people working with the group

Alignment - ability to focus on the things that matter

Good quality - minimum complaints and rework due to defects

Sustainability - balance capacity and demand, reasonable load over time

0

5

10

How will you know you improved? Effective throughput for the capacity

Visibility - minimum surprises

Engaged people

Operational maturity

Confidence in the process

Flexibility - ability to deal with changing priorities effectively

Confidence/trust in the group's ability to deliver by people working with the group

Alignment - ability to focus on the things that matter

Good quality - minimum complaints and rework due to defects

Sustainability - balance capacity and demand, reasonable load over time

0

5

10

For each focus area decide on a “Definition of Done” - metric or a set of “stories” that will indicate improvement or reduced pain

1. Cycle Time for MMFs goes down from Months to Weeks

2. MMF WIP goes down from Months to Weeks3. Survey Stakeholders

1. NPS style survey – baseline now and check again later

2. Collect stories expressing lack of trust, try to collect stories expressing trust

1. Delivery is more often based on business priority. Count “Priority Skips”

2. Leading indicator – Talent Matrix across the group

1. More Features delivered per month2. More Outcomes delivered per month (higher

maturity)

Improvement FocusFocus Area Why Improve this area Definition of Improvement

Flexibility Business cycles growing shorter and shorter – competition is killing us with new features, cannot experiment and open new markets like this

1.Cycle Time for MMFs goes down from Months to Weeks

2.MMF WIP goes down from Months to Weeks

3.Survey Stakeholders

Effective Throughput

1.More Features delivered per month2.More Outcomes delivered per month

(higher maturity)

Confidence/Trust Without trust we are slowed down by bearucracy and cannot really go to fast delivery end to end

1.NPS style survey – baseline now and check again later

2.Collect stories expressing lack of trust, try to collect stories expressing trust

Alignment Our new business is shifting and we must be able to focus our delivery capabilities there in order to quickly establish market share

1.Delivery is more often based on business priority. Count “Priority Skips”

2.Leading indicator – Talent Matrix across the group

X weeks passed. Score yourself again. Are you on the right direction? What are you going to do now?

Effective throughput for the capacity

Visibility - minimum surprises

Engaged people

Operational maturity

Confidence in the process

Flexibility - ability to deal with changing priorities effectively

Confidence/trust in the group's ability to deliver by people working with the group

Alignment - ability to focus on the things that matter

Good quality - minimum complaints and rework due to defects

Sustainability - balance capacity and demand, reasonable load over time

0

5

10

Background: Countermeasures / Experiments:What we will do

Current Condition / Capabilities:

Target Condition / Capabilities:

Follow up plan:

Effective throughput for the capacity

Visibility - minimum surprises

Engaged people

Operational maturity

Confidence in the process

Flexibility - ability to deal with changing priorities effectively

Confidence/trust in the group's ability to deliver by people working with the group

Alignment - ability to focus on the things that matter

Good quality - minimum complaints and rework due to defects

Sustainability - balance capacity and demand, reasonable load over time

0

5

10

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