Scaling Agile is easily misunderstood. Scaling is the term we often hear used to describe using Agile methods with large enterprises.  Larger enterprises often deal with bigger and more complex problems than small ones. They have more employees, subcontracting companies, different business units, more processes and a strong culture that defines how things are done. At the same time, they need to be able to deliver results in an ever-changing business environment. They need to be Agile but the bigger the company, the bigger the challenges are for scaling Agile. 

Scaling frameworks available in the market today are maturing quickly and provide a variety of choices. Like the Agile Manifesto, these frameworks are based on principles, and they vary widely in the specificity of the recommended approach.

In this session, we will compare how two scaling frameworks, LeSS and SAFe, address the challenges of agility at scale.  We will talk about how these two frameworks align, coordinate, and manage dependencies across multiple teams to maintain consistency and agility at scale. 

Everyone hopes that Agile will help increase innovation at their company.  But in the scaled, commitment-driven world of SAFe, organizations are finding it more and more difficult to innovate.  Learn some of the common barriers to innovation in SAFe organizations and what you can do to avoid them.

"A brittle Culture can doom even a great organization." - Joe Tye

"How do things get done around here?" It seems like such a simple question to answer, but pause, and try to answer that for yourself. And not from a process perspective. Do you truly understand the purpose (the why) behind the work being conducted? Does the working environment support that purpose and would you consider it a thriving or surviving environment?

Defining what an organization wants to achieve and how it will go about achieving it is a critical step that many organizations completely overlook. We are quick to jump to process conclusions yet if an organization is going to experience a thriving Agile journey, they should first understand: how things get done around here. 

Start with Culture - the foundation that leads to thriving Agile journeys.

The 12 Agile Principles from the Agile Manifesto are building blocks for a successful, sustainable Agile journey - regardless of industry and/or department. Many pitfalls that organizations experience are due to oversight and lack of adherence to the Agile Principles. In this session, I will review the 12 Agile Principles, how they apply to all industries, common issues that lead organizations astray, and proven solutions to get back on course throughout any Agile journey.

We have all been there, a shiny new and improved framework is released and we must implement it, but is this always the answer to improve your Agile organization? Frameworks are needed and provide guidelines for teams but if the teams/companies do not follow the principles and fundamentals of the Agile Manifesto it makes it very difficult for the framework to be successful. The belief is that switching up the specific framework is the answer but they soon realize that the framework is not the main issue that is the driving force. This can leave the teams/companies in a tough situation after committing to a framework that they are not ready for.

I will be sharing my experiences across multiple different companies on how this assumption has let them down and how we had to return the teams back to the fundamentals to solve the issues they are experiencing.

The VersionOne 11^th Annual State of Agile Survey for 2016 found that enterprise agility is increasing throughout organizations and across almost all industries at an accelerated rate.  Respondents from very large organizations, employing more than 20,000 people, also increased.  Scrum and scaling frameworks are getting a lot of attention at these large organizations as a way for them to do Agile, but the focus is getting the processes and tools up and running over the individuals and interactions.  Once these frameworks are deployed, the leader responsible for bringing the process change into the organization declares success and slaps the Agile label on their process and there is a belief that implementing Agile methods will generate culture change.  The culture remains one of compliance to the process over customer satisfaction, self-direction and continuous improvement. 

In smaller organizations, having a clear line of sight between the employee’s daily work and the business value they are delivering is easier to establish and communicate.  In the larger organizations, the line of sight to the customers becomes much more elusive.  This lack of line of site to the customers puts the employees in silos of work that gets prioritized by urgency versus importance and often quick hits versus real business value.  Without clarity and alignment, people begin to disconnect from the purpose of their daily work and become order takers. 

In this session, we will discuss the role of the agile leader in creating the culture where people can be successful in their jobs. A culture where everyone is aligned, engaged, and continuously improving so agility can take hold and thrive.  We’ll discuss using high alignment to create an engaging environment with Autonomy, Mastery, and a shared Purpose that values Individuals and Interactions over Process and Tools. 

As Agile has become a popular buzzword for the C-Suite, more organizations are taking the plunge into scrum and scaled agile from the top-down and expecting to reap the benefits of being a highly mature agile organization quickly. Easy training solutions like internal or vendor-delivered Agile 101 or even an enterprise-wide CSM certification are woefully inadequate, and potentially harmful, for a successful agile transition. In this workshop we'll learn a more realistic and effective (and less expensive) way to train an agile organization.

Everything we do in life and in work can have a hiccup.  No matter how much we plan, we are bound to run into things we did not account for.  The military refers to this as “Murphy’s Law”.  But what happens when you’re graced with an unforeseen change?  Mike Tyson describes it best: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

This talk will focus on tactics within communication, transparency, and execution that teams/organizations can use after life’s curveballs have hit and it’s time to get back on track.

While individual teams frequently experience new levels of productivity after adopting Agile, those same practices when applied more broadly rarely align with an organization’s existing norms, especially with regard to management style. It is often those techniques that got middle managers promoted that need to desist. For example, instead of pushing their team to over-deliver to the client an Agile product manager is better served by supporting the team in giving the customer just a fraction of potential value, sooner. Such adjustments are hard to address, but if they’re not, managers and team members become misaligned – some hold on to what worked previously, and others embrace new Agile approaches and expectations. This is borne out repeatedly in assessments that look at Agile and organizational culture.

Recently, Agilists representing 20+ Agile transformations at Fortune 500 companies were surveyed about the factors that most influence a successful transformation, positively or negatively. The two factors, among 24, that had the greatest influence – both as a roadblock and enabler – were Supportive IT leadership and Senior Executives Who Clearly Understand the Case for Change (to Agile).  

These results speak to the reality that scaling Agile requires more than organic growth or a “Coach them and it will happen” mentality. Transforming the organization, any significant transformation, requires highly engaged leadership who deeply care about the change, the goals and the path. Aligning the organization during Agile transformation can be done with an approach that is typical for organization change managers.

This talk will explain how to apply change management to your Agile Transformation so that ceremonies are better integrated, culture changes are more clearly defined and addressed, and management is positioned to lead the organization through the changes – all so that your organization delivers better results for its customers faster.

How can we avoid those painful awkward silences in meetings and ceremonies with large groups (big room planning, inspect & adapt/multiple team retrospectives, etc)? How can we get better participation and discussion in these meetings so that more than just the extroverts and senior team members participate? Do an ice-breaker activity! 

By getting people to move, interact, work together, and even have some friendly competition we raise the level of energy in the room and break down some introverted inhibitions. Feel less like you are pulling teeth to get people to speak up and participate. Improve the quality and depth of your discussions by getting perspectives from more team members regardless of their title or tenure.

In this lightning round we'll do a kick-off ice-breaker activity that can be used to start a large group meeting. We'll also share and discuss other ideas for group games and activities. 

In my experience shepherding agile transformations, I see natural tendencies to focus support of role transformation at the executive level and at the team level.  We partner executives with coaches to guide them into new ways of leading delivery, and train and coach individuals into new team level roles such as product owners and scrum masters.  Despite acute awareness of key role transformation requirements, organizations tend to neglect the crucial middle management level of technical managers who are key in driving and sustaining agile transformation, as much, or more so than even executive and team level roles.

In this session we will explore the vital transformation of technical managers into agile leaders through a deeper dive into the following themes of delivery leadership,

• Educating managers for a new way of leading technology delivery
• Optimize the delivery system over optimizing individuals and directing teams
• Coach and mentor staff, collaborate with peers and hold executives accountable
• Drive the technology strategy, empower others to execute on the tactical