Al Shalloway’s Post

I am finding posts by Scrum.org about flow and moving off of Scrum interesting. There is a common promotion that Scrum can model Flow. It doesn't. It is an incremental approach. It CAN embed flow practices. But that's not flow. Flow inside Scrum is like Daily Scrum's inside waterfall - they might be useful but it doesn't change the overall approach. The most recent one "What Happens to the Scrum Master if the Team Is No Longer Doing Scrum?" https://lnkd.in/gCskcmF7 ignores two things: 1) Scrum Masters who have only had Scrum training are not prepared to move off of Scrum. 2) they typically won't lead teams off of Scrum. Here was my response to the article: This presumes that the Scrum Master is trained in anything but Scrum. This is OFTEN not the case which is why Scrum teams often get trapped in Scrum - their "leader" doesn't want them to move to something they are unaware of. As Upton Sinclair remarked "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends upon his not understanding it." And Goldratt remarked "A comfort zone has less to do with control than it has to do with understanding." Scrum Masters who only talk about Scrum won't see other opportunities for the team as reflected in Edgar Schein's observation that "We don't talk and think about what we see, we see what we are able to think and talk about." This post tries to diminish the impact of Scrum's myopia and immutability. In order to do what's described here a good Scrum Master must be trained in Kanban, Flow, Lean and / or Theory of Constraints. All of these theories have aspects that are incompatible with Scrum's lack of a theoretical model which underlies it's need to be immutable. ------- The bottom line is if you want to be a good Scrum Master you must learn more than Scrum. If you want to hire a good Scrum Master, hire someone who has flexibility in Agile - not necessarily a Scrum certification.

If you're having troubles getting people aligned on what to build, there's a good chance you've not identified critical stakeholders and learned their values and success criteria. Learn more about this at a Vodcast by Tom Gilb and myself April 26, 9am Pacific. Go here to learn more https://lnkd.in/g-QAX_in

The real problem with the Agile wars is they aren’t being initiated as Agile wars. Yes, there are many people saying what’s wrong with frameworks and what could be better. But, with the exception of Scrum folks deriding SAFe, most of what I see is an attempt to help people improve. In most other circles, especially scientific and engineering ones, this would be called “uncovering better ways.” The problem is that the big gorillas in the room don’t want to discuss improvements in general. Instead they defend their offerings with "you're just marketing" or “nothing says you can’t do that.” But I believe in what happens, not what could happen. No one questions they can work. The question is “is there a better way?” Why aren’t we discussing this? We should be embracing negative feedback. I remember once a CST, irritated at a post of mine, said “how’d you like it if I said something negative about Amplio?” I responded “I’d love it. That would help me improve it.” Learning should not be defended against. The irony is so many Agilists complain about people resisting while many are doing it themselves. This morning I presented what was originally intended to be a talk on Amplio Foundations. Think of this as this as the physics of Flow – it’s what Amplio is based on. I consider Amplio a scientific, engineering approach to understanding the first principles and cause and effect in knowledge work. I’ve been talking about these concepts for years. They are based on an integration of Russ Ackoff, Christopher Alexander, Edwards Deming, Don Reinertsen, Eli Goldratt, and Tom Gilbs’ work (amongst others).  See “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants https://bit.ly/3SqIma7 I tried introducing some of these concepts back in ‘08 on the Scrum Dev group in a nice way but was told not to talk about Lean there and was summarily thrown off. It's been like that ever since. While I intended this morning's talk to be just about core principles, it was clear that they not only provide a basis for a good team process but that one could create one that was lighter than Scrum while providing more insights and understanding. I intend to write this up in the next few weeks. For anyone who is doing Scrum (or Scrum But) and wants to improve it or get off of it, I invite you to: 1. If you’re already in the Amplio Community of Practice, you can see the video here https://bit.ly/49POjCU  If not, take the link and sign up (free) or wait a few days and it’ll be available on our YouTube Site. I’ve attached the slides to this post. 2. Check the Amplio Team track which gives a  12 step improve path to Scrum (the # is coincidental). You can see this without joining the ACoP although some information will be missing: https://bit.ly/4d5023z 3. Ask me about my advanced workshops – always happy to chat. Go to https://lnkd.in/gkQ5Rda2 to see other workshops.

The dogma is getting worse. I'm not surprised. Companies are starting to question the value of Agile coaches in general and Scrum in particular. This is scary for many. Fear breads dogma and cognitive inertia. But it also creates an opportunity. "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” Upton Sinclair I continue to be amazed how people say I'm selling my stuff when, in fact, I'm selling an idea. The idea I am “selling” is that we can tell what's happening a lot better than what is generally known. I am not alone here. Eli Goldratt, Donald Reinertsen and Tom Gilb have written books on this. This has NOTHING to do with my approach. My approach is built on it. But it isn't my approach. It is either truth or it isn’t. I am discussing it because only a few of us seem willing to investigate this. Many others have discounted this idea out of hand with no discussion. If it's true, any then every approach can benefit from knowing this. If it's true and an approach doesn't build on it, then that approach won't be as good as it can be. It's worth knowing if it's true or not. Learning and challenging our ideas is a central concept of Agile - "we are discovering better ways ..." Most every problem I see discussed on LinkedIn, whether it be how to do something or the lack of management buy in, can be addressed with this understanding. And it takes considerably less effort to do so. And considerably less training. That actually may be the problem. ;0) Selling uncertainty is a great way to sell workshops. I like selling understanding. And when it comes to working with complexity, I’m literally giving it away. One key tenet of this is that tere are many things that if you do, you can predictably make things worse. The first thing to do then is know what these are and stop doing them. You can see a live session tomorrow – go to my website to join the Amplio Community of Practice – or wait until I put it on youtube.

A Simpler View of Complexity From “The Choice” by Dr Eli Goldratt & Efrat Goldratt-Ashlag. Eli “The first and most profound obstacle is that people believe that reality is complex, and therefore they are looking for sophisticated explanations for complicated solutions. Do you understand how devastating this is?” Efrat “He doesn't claim that reality is not overwhelmingly complex; he acknowledges it in full. But what he says is that there is a way to realize that from another more important aspect, it is exceedingly simple.” Eli “What I mean by Inherent Simplicity is that reality, any part of reality, is governed by very few elements, and that any existing conflict can be eliminated. If we take that as a given, as absolutely correct in every situation, we'll find ourselves thinking clearly.” The two aren’t waffling about complexity. They are saying that we can look at complex systems and get an understanding of things. But you have to know how to look. Sensemaking is the process by which people give meaning to their collective experiences. It has been defined as "the ongoing retrospective development of plausible images that rationalize what people are doing" Weick & Obstfeld. There are several schools of sensemaking. Many people in the Agile space like to classify domains as complex, complicated, simple, …. As a disciple of Goldratt I take a different view. We’re not in one domain or the other. Rather the world around us has varying degrees of complexity, complicatedness, simplicity, …. We can understand enough to be effective. We can’t predict black swan events or even market changing conditions but we can prepare for them by being able to pivot. We can discover our own errors by having quick feedback measured in hours and days not days and weeks. This is the key to working in the complex world of knowledge work. It involves a combination of discovering first principles that can be considered to be the physics of flow – the few elements that govern reality. Then using them to create a set of factors for effective value streams that enable us to make decisions that will improve our methods. For those aspects of our reality that are not complex, these will result in improvements. And if we don’t attend to them, we’ll definitely be less effective. Complexity, either due to outside influences or of our own making by not seeing the full ramifications of our actions, will, of course impact us. This is why we need to be on guard for this with continuous feedback. It’s like having a boat with several holes in it that we can see (simple, complicated). Plugging them up is important. When a new one is caused by complex things we hadn't seen, we have to fix it. But we shouldn’t discount the other ones either. How to do this is the essence of my Amplio Foundations session on the 23rd. Amplio Community of Practice  members can attend live and ask questions. See my website for how to register.

This was a fun, informative talk. Feel free to ask me questions about it here. Just tag me so I know you asked. If you are a candidate for a good podcast, Temitope Awere is a great podcaster. I highly recommend doing one with him. :) thanks so much for having me Temi. :)

Some advice if you're looking for a job. I was talking to a friend the other day who is looking for a new position and I gave him three pieces of advice regarding his job search. Thought it might be useful for others: 1. Take a few minutes and write down where you'd like to be in a year or 2 with your new position. Try to visualize it as best you can. Who you are working with, what your days is like, how it feels, what is satisfying about it, and how you are growing as a result of it. Add anything else that comes to mind. 2. Remember that you are trying to find a company that works well for you as well as them finding someone who works for them. This will have you be interested in them, which you should be - both for their benefit and yours. 3. Remember who you are. Don't try to fit in if it's not who you are. They are looking for people with a particular passion and interest. If you try to talk about what you aren't you're not going to convey who you are - which is what you want them to see. Trust the right company will see this. Self-select by having companies you don't want to work with recognize you are a bad fit. Find a company that wants someone like you. I guess I had a fourth one as well. Don't listen to recruiters who say anything negative about your chances. Most are just trying to fill positions in a market that's getting more crowded and makes personal attention more difficult. Experience is not the big issue. Who you are is more important. Are you open minded? Are you willing to learn? Maybe you aren't and maybe that's not what they want. Some folks now want Scrum Masters who do Scrum by the book. Is that you? If not, don't pretend it is - you'll be miserable. On the other hand, don't pretend to not be that if you are. Doubt can often be a useful tool to see what you believe you need to learn. If you don't do well in a certain situation ask yourself if that's the situation you want to do well in? Many interviews are run by people who pidgeonhole people. Is that who you want to work for? I know times are tough - but new possibilities await. Trust yourself.

If you’re having difficulties with Scrum and want to learn how to adjust what you are doing to something more effective, I have created a free path to do so. In the free Amplio Community of Practice, I have started a track which guides you from Scrum to a simple, effective team approach that fits you. By adjusting to your team’s needs you can have a simple, well defined  workflow that is fit for purpose. This lowers resistance, increases effectiveness and increases motivation. I call this the Amplio Team track. Amplio Team is not a hybrid approach but instead is based on the theories of Flow, Lean, the Theory of Constraints and human centered development directly. It also incorporates the practices of Scrum and Kanban. This combination of practices and theory enables you to choose which practices will work best for you. Many teams have trouble with Scrum for one of two reasons. The most common is that Scrum was designed for autonomous, cross-functional teams that can plan at least one week ahead. This does not fit today’s world as much as it did almost 30 years ago when Scrum was created. The path I present will help you overcome these issues. The second is the presumption that teams will figure out what to do without a model of understanding, but that inspect and adapt is sufficient. This often does not happen and teams tend to flounder and do Scrum so poor it's not really Scrum. The path presented addresses this as well by providing a few key practices that can overcome the challenges that many teams get saddled with with Scrum. There are three other tracks in the community of practice that you may find of interest. One on foundations of knowledge work, Amplio itself, and a coaching track. A presentation is made each week which includes an opportunity to ask questions about any of the tracks. If you are having challenges with Scrum and want to learn how to move to something better, somthing that puts you in charge, go to https://lnkd.in/grXq9SUi There is no cost to the program. You can work at your own pace. And you will have opportunities each week to ask questions as you have them.

Coaching tip: when an approach you're promoting isn't working for a client, you need to balance the thought of 1) they are not doing it correctly with 2) it doesn't fit them. All too often on LinkedIn when I hear someone saying they are having trouble with something there is an immediate assumption they are doing it wrong. I call this "framework bias" where promoters of frameworks are in love with their approach and can't believe it's not working. They should be looking at the situation to see what's happening and if the approach is a fit they make the immediate assumption that people are doing it wrong. One of the key tenets of Agile is to respect people. But all too many seem to respect frameworks (process) over people.

When did we decide it was ok to not understand? I admit, perhaps I go too far. I’ve been trained in theoretical mathematics where, for the most part, you can deduce most things (yes, I know of Gödel’s incompleteness theory).  And supplemented it with an engineering degree that adds an aspect of inquiring “why did that happen?” when things go wrong. Add my involvement in the human potential movement of the 80s which gave me an understanding of the biological mechanism that we call thinking but is mostly reaction, and you can see why. And yes, I understand product development is a complex adaptive system. Any kind of knowledge work is. In fact, I’d contend any organization regardless of what they are doing is. But I like understanding where I, and those I’m trying to help, work. And I have a track record of being able to do it. Too consistently to just be attributed to luck or skill or experience. The evidence is there. Supplement understanding (which is sometimes false) with a quest for quick feedback, and you can stay on track. You can see the rocks before you hit them. But most people don’t look for understanding. And the laws needed to achieve quick feedback are discounted by those who worship complexity. Most people have been all too happy with “follow until you understand.” Too many people use the excuse “we’re in a complex system and can’t understand except after the fact.” This is justified by looking at a complex world that is orders of magnitude more complex than building products. It’s really not that hard to understand product development. But you have to know what to look at. What does the customer need? Look at the customer journey and what their commitments are and how this can be improved. It’s not magic. How to improve your effectiveness and efficiency? Learn the theories of Flow, Lean, and the Theory of Constraints. Learning how to attend to the customer journey is easy – but few do it. The second one is a lifelong journey. But you can create an easy start by taking an existing solution and tailoring it slightly with a little guidance which is readily (and freely) available. If you like, get a coach to help you start. But get one that has you understanding from the beginning. “Follow until you understand” is a trap. It puts you in the passenger seat. It discards your own experience which, with a small amount of explanation, can be used to understand right from the beginning. If you don’t understand how can you hope to help others understand? And if you can’t, then don’t complain about their actions. Start learning together. What’s missing is the courage to step out on our own. The real naysayers are not those who are saying to abandon frameworks but those who are saying to hold onto them. They are discounting the rest of us. I believe we have barely scratched the surface of what’s possible. I am working with others who have the same sense.