My talk at Agile Cincinnati 2019, providing an analogy of Agile transformation.

1. APRIL 29, 2019
Agile Transformation
Playing a Different Game

2. Aaron Kopel
CEO
Project Brilliant, LLC

3. Enterprise
Agile
Coach
Organizations
ranging from
2 to 85,000
people
MinorityOwner ofNFL team
Led World’sLargestAgileTransformation
19 years in
Software/IT…
last 14 using
Agile methods
Co-Founder
of AgileIndy
(1700+
members)
Innovation
Award
Winner
Founder of
2 Tech
Startups
My kids still
think I’m cool!
National
Science
Foundation
grant award
winner
Business
Agility
Evangelist
One of
only 40
CST &
CEC
World
Traveler…
51 countries
and counting!
Only Certified
Enterprise
Coach (CEC)
in Indiana
Time Man of
the Year
2006

4. 5-May-19 © 2019 Project Brilliant LLC 4

5. NOTABLE CLIENTS
5-May-19 © 2018 Project Brilliant LLC 5

6. TODAY’S TOPIC
AGILE TRANSFORMATION
PLAYING A DIFFERENT GAME
Transformation is difficult; people are so used to the current game! In
this session, we will walk through the analogy of a professional sports
team switching from baseball to playing basketball in order to highlight
the challenges and pitfalls organizations face when
undertaking an Agile transformation. Some things stay the
same… athletes, coaches, owners, and fans, but so many aspects of
the game change... rules, positions, scoring, statistics, player
trades, and expectations of the fans. Join us for a light-hearted look at
the challenges of an Agile transformation. Let's play ball!
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7. OUR SCENARIO
• Professional Baseball organization
• Fan interest waning, revenue declining
• Owner knows a change is needed…

8. BASEBALL ATTRIBUTES
• Introductions
• Pace
• Fan excitement
• Process flow
• Play calling
• Player roles
• Transparency
• Average score
• Decision making
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üTraditional (boring)
üLeisurely
üMild to none 99% of game
üRigid structure
üManager from dugout
üHighly specialized
üHidden strategy
ü~4 runs / team
üHeavy statistical analysis

9. WE NEED A CHANGE…
Owner hears about a
friend who owns a
basketball team…
Let’s send Sam (our
top baseball scout)!
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11. THE SCOUTING REPORT
• Ball is orange
• 2 hoops
• Field made of wood
• Game only 4 innings
• Home run is 3 points
• Foul scoring & limits
• Constant activity
• Typical score ~100
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12. MANAGEMENT JUMPS INTO ACTION!
üChange ball color to orange
üInstall hoops
üConvert infield to wood
üShorten game to 4 innings
üHome run = 5 points
üLimit of 6 foul balls per pitcher
üFree “throw” for each foul ball
üPlayers continuously run laps when not in the game
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13. PLAY BALL!
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14. RESULT… DISASTER
• Confusion – game no longer makes sense
• Exhaustion – constant running laps
• Injuries –sliding on wood, running into poles
• Game stalls – pitchers “foul out” constantly
• Fans revolt – revenue drops, management replaced
…Clearly Basketball failed.
Basketball doesn’t work!
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15. SEEKING AGILITY
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Thrashing
Agility
© Trail Ridge Associates

17. MANAGEMENT JUMPS INTO ACTION!
üConvert to Basketball court (2 hoops)
üFollow Basketball rules
But…
üKeep Baseball equipment
üContinue functional specializations
üManage from dugout using baseball statistics
üIncentivize by individual baseball metrics
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18. PLAY BALL!
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19. RESULT… DISASTER
• Confusion – players don’t understand game; how to win
• Destruction – destroy court with spikes & bats
• Injuries – hit with ball at close range
• Mismanagement – metrics inconsistent with game
• Fans revolt – revenue drops, management replaced
…Clearly Basketball failed.
Basketball doesn’t work!
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20. SEEKING AGILITY
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Thrashing
Agility
Limited Agility
© Trail Ridge Associates

22. BASKETBALL ATTRIBUTES
üSpotlights and flame throwers at introduction
üFast paced and continuous with few breaks
üHigh level of excitement
üDynamic and free flowing
üDecisions mostly called by players on the fly
üGeneralized roles, team-based delivery
üPlayers highly aligned to overall strategy
üTeam score per game >100 (exciting!)
üReal-time feedback guides improvement
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• Introductions
• Pace
• Fan excitement
• Process flow
• Play calling
• Player roles
• Transparency
• Average score
• Decision making

23. LEADERSHIP TAKES ACTION
• Invest in understanding the game
• Let go of the past and “sunk costs”
• Create the environment for the game
• Follow the rules and continuously improve
• Change structure, policies, metrics
• Focus on outcomes, not output
• Emphasize people and learning
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24. CHANGE AGENTS & COACHES
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25. RESULTS – WIN!
• Alignment & clarity
• Optimizing for effectiveness in the new game
• Long-term learning and adaptability
• Sustainable change
• Employee engagement
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26. SEEKING AGILITY
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Thrashing
Agility
Limited Agility
© Trail Ridge Associates

27. 27

28. TREE OF AGILITY
Doing
Being
Practices
Frameworks
Values
Principles

29. SYSTEM OPTIMIZING GOALS?
• Customer Value
• Adaptability
• End-to-end cycle time
• Personal secrecy
• Ideation
• Busy-ness
• Management bonuses
29
“Indirect Wishes” (desired outcomes)
• Increase Revenue
• Reduce Cost
• Increase Innovation
Effectiveness over Efficiency

30. GROWING & SUSTAINING AGILITY
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© Trail Ridge Associates

31. PRIORITIZATION OF VALUE
Paradigm Shift
From Plan-Driven to Value-Driven Development
31
Fixed
Estimated
Scope
Time$
Time
Scope
Plan
Driven
Value
Driven
The Plan drives
cost/schedule estimates
Release dates and fixed cost
drives prioritization
Waterfall Agile
$

32. LOCAL VS. GLOBAL OPTIMIZATION
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Overall
Organizational
Priorities
Product
Backlog
A
Product
Backlog
B
Product
Backlog
C

33. MOVING TOWARD GLOBAL OPTIMIZATION
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Product
Backlog
(True)
Product Owner
Sprint
Backlog
per Team

34. ALIGNING TEAMS FOR VALUE DELIVERY
34
UI Team
Messaging Team
Bus Logic Team
Database Team
Application Team
Feature
1
Feature
2
Feature
3
UI
Messaging
Bus Logic
Database
Application
Feature
Team
1
Feature
Team
2
Feature
Team
3
Feature TeamComponent Team

36. SOME PARTING ADVICE
Don’t start…
• launching a bunch of teams
• Scaling before you have something
working
Do start with…
• Educating executives (mindset shift)
• Clarify and align to outcomes
• Narrow & deep changes to structure &
policy
36
Kotter

37. Thank you!
Aaron Kopel - CEO
Aaron@ProjectBrilliant.com
317.253.8500
@aakopel
Linkedin.com/in/aaronkopel
Project Brilliant, LLC
450 E. 96th St.
Suite 500
Indianapolis, IN 46240