Category: <span>External Contributors</span>

Agile Leadership Agile

Agile Leadership: Journey, Navigation and Transformation

A leader with power becomes a great leader by empowering others!

An ode to all great leaders …

Empowering pays off
Dreams come true
Bad times don’t last
But good leaders do!!!

The Triangle of Agility depicts the practicing team, the management (leadership) and the customer engaging seamlessly to tap the full potential of professional agile delivery practices. In this blog, let us find out what is required from the leadership.

Section 1: Understanding the Journey of Agile Leadership:

At the very outset every leader who is looking forward to embark on the journey of Agile Leadership can benefit from the following:

  • The mindset, values, principles, practices and ways of working
  • The Triangle of Agility

Advocacy of the mindset, values, principles, practices and ways of working that make Agile delivery successful. The following aspects are helpful:

1. Overcoming fear of acceptance in Agile Delivery:

Anything new means that there is a need to embrace change. With change comes resistance. Resistance could be due to a variety of reasons, the most common one being fear. It’s quite natural that there is fear in accepting agile delivery as well. However it is important to understand what’s behind this fear.

Understanding that will be the first step in dealing with it, and then taking subsequent steps to figure out ways to overcome such fears and to go forward and beyond. Read the full blog on “Overcoming fear of acceptance in Agile Delivery”

2. Mindset is the key:

Agile Delivery is an approach with a mindset based on a set of values, principles, practices and ways of working. Various frameworks and methods like Scrum, XP, Kanban, Lean, Nexus etc. are its proponents. Based on the context of the delivery, one or more Agile Delivery frameworks and methods can be used in conjunction.

Essence: Understand the Elements of Agility. Practice agility!

In the world of Agile delivery, it is important to start with a good mindset. Equip the Practitioners to Learn, Listen, Feel Empowered, Question and Elicit Feedback. An old proverb says “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” In Agile delivery, give a professional a framework, and you groom the person for a project. Equip a professional to think (develop the right mindset), and you groom the person for a transformation.

Essence: A right mindset can create long term excellence!

  • Being conscious of the right mindset is important for Agile Delivery. How to move towards the right mindset?
    • Inertia to Momentum: From being inert move towards creating room for catalysts to create momentum
    • Rigidity to Flexibility: From being rigid, look forward to Unlearning, Learning as Continuous and Common Practices
    • Command and Control to Guiding: Leading from behind is as important as Leading from the front. Have a structure that is less hierarchic and more holacratic.
    • Perfection to Pragmatism: Right First Time (RFT) is good to have. Perfection is nice, being pragmatic better. RFT at 80:20 should find acceptance.
    • Being Yes Man / No Man to being Reasonable: Shift thinking from All Yes OR All No to a healthy mix of Yes and No
    • Attitude to Acceptance: Park cushions, egos and hierarchies outside the door. Strive towards building cohesive teams.

Essence: Practitioners, Team and Organizations moving from Left to Right, will help create and build the right mindset for Agile Delivery!

3. The Power of Values and Principles:

The Values behind the Manifesto for Agile Software Development insist on a shift in thoughts and actions. Read the 4 Values

Essence: The Values behind the Manifesto for Agile Software Development augment the mindset required to practice agility!

The Principles behind the Manifesto for Agile Software Development are the guiding factors. Read the 12 Principles

Here’s a take on those 12 Principles, while maintaining the sequence from the Manifesto:

  1. Collaborate with Business: The principles 1-3 focus on what’s important for a “Customer”
  2. Power your Teams: The principles 4-6 focus on the importance of “People” involved
  3. Practice and Promote Ways of Working: The principles 7-9 focus on what’s important from a “Process” perspective. Additionally, they also stand for “Progress”
  4. Keep Improving: The principles 10-12 focus on how to “Evaluate” for continuous improvement

Essence: The Principles behind the Manifesto for Agile Software Development are all-encompassing and enriching!

4. The significance of Practices and Ways of Working:

Few important Practices and Ways of Working are as follows:

  1. Agile Delivery Practices are deliberately designed to be lean. Strive towards lean practices.
  2. Estimation in Agile Delivery is effective because it is done for a small piece of work, based on what is known and is done for the short term. Short term practicality in estimation is what makes long term projection a possibility. Practice Agility in Estimation.
  3. Simple processes and frameworks create disciplined “ways of working” that guide knowledge workers to produce the desired outcomes. Simplicity at work is essential. Lean thinking is necessary to eliminate waste. Retain processes and frameworks that add value and provide guidance to the practices that can be followed by a team to collaborate and achieve a common goal. In agile delivery simple processes and frameworks that are lean and efficient produce optimal outcomes.

Essence: Integrating the Values and Principles in Practices and the Ways of Working makes the fundamentals strong and the whole approach and experience empirical!

5. Agile Delivery is not a “Silver Bullet”:

Switching to agile delivery expecting instant results is akin to expecting a magician to make the elephant disappear. Of course, agile delivery is magical in the sense that it can help you identify the elephant in the room. Only hard and smart work, collaboration and the intent to solve complex problems with agility and flexibility will make the elephant in the room gradually fade away. An Agile delivery approach is neither a “panacea” for all difficult problems nor a “silver bullet” for all complex challenges. Read the full blog “Agile Delivery is not a Silver Bullet”

Realization of how the Triangle of Agility needs to be balanced with due consideration to Customer Collaboration and Building Practitioners and Teams:

6. The Triangle of Agility (Practicing Team, Management and Customer) explained:

A triangle with balance will be the essential premise for tapping the full potential of professional agile delivery practices. Without it, most practices will eventually be rendered sub-optimal or ineffective.

The 3 arms of the Triangle can be depicted by the following aspects which are mutually inclusive:

awareness, mindset and acceptance from…“the Practicing Team”
realization and advocacy from…“the Management (Leadership)” (internal stakeholders,
senior management, PMO etc.)
willingness and provision for opportunities from…“the Customer”

Essence: Imbibe the discipline, show the maturity to transform from “Doing Agile” or saying “We’re Agile” to “Being Agile” or “Practicing Agility”!

7. Customer Collaboration:

Never hold the customer responsible for the problem. Remember, the customer came to you with the intention of getting the problem solved.

Customer:

– is smart– Value customer’s thoughts
– can be tricky– Involve the customer
– is understanding– Ask and Acknowledge
– likes truthfulness– Point out and guide
– is reasonable– Be transparent and firm

Essence: Know, Understand, Engage and Collaborate with the customer. Demonstrate agility. This will reflect in your solutions and lead to customer satisfaction!

8. Building Practitioners and Teams:

Executing a project in Agile Delivery needs few of the traditionally conducted practices to be unlearned.

Traditionally these are some of the practices followed in Delivery:

  1. Start by Leading / Pulling from the front. Continue to Lead / Pull / Push – Command and Control Style
  2. Manage (Planning and Tracking) a Task Force / team of subordinates
  3. Delegate work while continuing to own the decision making via reported statuses

As part of unlearning, focus on:

— Leading from Behind-Inspire / Equip / Empower
— Creating Practitioners-Educate and Guide
— Giving Accountability-Help Deliver Value

Essence: Unlearning the traditional practices and drawing lines that should rarely (under exceptional circumstances only) be crossed will reduce / eliminate a lot of micro-managerial aspects in delivery and result in high performing teams!

Traditional delivery approaches dwell and thrive upon a top-down command and control structure. Agile delivery approaches tap the potential of collaboration to unleash the power of teamwork. A cross functional team that can self manage is better placed to deliver value continuously over a longer period of time. The birds that fly in V formation to cover long distances, don’t stop when the bird in front is tired. They simply change positions to add a greater flying range. Similarly, people sharing a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more efficiently because they travel on the thrust of one another. It is sensible to take turns doing demanding tasks and add a greater range to maintain constant pace for a longer period without getting tired as a team. This is what is expected out of an Agile Delivery Team.

Essence: Being cross-functional (as a team), cross-skilled (as a team member) and cross-available (as an individual for the team) will enable an Agile Delivery Team to strike a balance between maintaining constant pace and the need for it being indefinite (until the Product Delivery completes), without getting tired!

Section 2: How the 8 aspects mentioned in Section 1 unfold – Navigating the Agile Leadership Journey:

Once the foundation is set and the expectations are clear, the leader embarks on the journey and the navigation should happen with:

  • an open mindset to overcome fear
  • to imbibe and instill the values and principles
  • to adopt and adapt to the practices and ways of working
  • the eagerness to unlearn and learn
  • conscious intent to delegate and lead from behind
  • belief and advocacy for a pragmatic approach to implement the Triangle of Agility, focus on Customer
    Collaboration and the need to build Practitioners and Team

The 8 aspects described above serve as guidance throughout in various situations.

Section 3: Bringing it all to life – Transforming into an Agile Delivery Leader:

While navigating through the aspects listed above, the leader:

  • promotes agile delivery, devops, design thinking, lean thinking, automation etc.
  • creates space for budding practitioners to grow
  • builds agile delivery teams
  • creates a culture that can transform traditional command and control driven engagements, teams and units into self managing, cross functional, value driven ones.

Knowing “as-is” as it is and then doing as need be to achieve the “to-be” will lead to what is to be and not to be! While aspiring to transform is a good thought, taking a practical approach towards it is very important.

As-is: Assess and summarize the present situation as it is. As a leader, identify and acknowledge the problem and probably accept that one needs to be equipped to solve it (do the transformation).
To-be: Decide what the future state should be and anticipate to do as need be. As a leader, do what is needed to be equipped to solve the problem (do the transformation).

What is required to transform will be the action plan. This needs willingness, a good mindset, agility and skills to execute. Nothing will happen overnight, but it will be a good start. With an action plan rolled out for transformation (from as-is to to-be), outcomes, tangible experience and sustenance will start showing up like never before and that could be the beginning of greater things to come!

The beauty of such an Agile Delivery Transformation is that the leader sets out on a journey to navigate the intricacies of what is required to “Inform-Conform-Transform”. As part of the journey, the leader transforms into an Agile Delivery Leader and also transitions the traditional model of delivery into one that is flexible, pragmatic and helps deliver optimal value to businesses driven by agility.

How the leader navigates and helps realize such a transformation will be instrumental in transforming the leader into an Agile Delivery Leader. And thus the Journey, the Navigation and the Transformation!

About the Author

Chethan Kumar Baliga

Agile Delivery Leader | Helping teams SUCCEED in AGILE Transformation journeys | Weekly Posts – Agile Elements | PAL©, CSM©, SAFE©

LinkedIn Profile

Agile - silver - bullet Agile

Agile Delivery is not a “Silver Bullet”!

Switching to agile delivery expecting instant results is akin to expecting a magician to make the elephant disappear. Of course, agile delivery is magical in the sense that it can help you identify the elephant in the room. Only hard and smart work, collaboration and the intent to solve complex problems with agility and flexibility will make the elephant in the room gradually fade away.
An Agile delivery approach is neither a “panacea” for all difficult problems nor a “silver bullet” for all complex challenges.
Instead –

  • Start believing and valuing its values, principles and practices
  • Understand the frameworks and the methods
  • Inculcate what is possible / applicable at work
  • Understand the domain and the context of the problem

From an implementation perspective be sensitive to the following:

1. Beware of actions that are executed for convenience rather than for improvement

2. Look out for signs that indicate hindrance to lean practices in Agile delivery

3. Watch out for Anti-patterns


From an approach / expectations perspective be practical about the following:

4. Agile delivery is not a mandate

5. Executing a project in Agile delivery needs few of the traditionally followed practices to be unlearned

6. First taste of success comes after a good amount of perseverance in Agile delivery

Let us study these 6 areas in detail

1. Beware of actions that are executed for convenience rather than for improvement

It is easy to lose the plot in an Agile delivery transition due to actions that add little or no value and are merely done to give an impression that things are working well. What are some of the possible signs?

  • Renaming Use Cases to User Stories
  • Clubbing two or more iterations into one for want of time
  • Equating Story Points to Person Days
  • Leadership / Management setting deadlines because of a dozen reasons
  • Preparing tens of reports because somebody asked
  • Leads, Managers etc. continuing with the traditional command-and-control approach
  • Associates expecting to be managed by the command-and-control approach
  • Doing a bare minimum 15 minute retrospective and not discussing possible improvements
  • Adding associates to a team to deliver more story points

The list can go on…

Enough customer representatives, marketing executives, leaders, architects, managers, leads, team members etc. have been a part of such instant Agile delivery transitions that are projected as “happening” by saying “doing agile” OR “we are agile” while in reality they are just using Agile delivery as a wrapper to their existing ways of working to suit their convenience & to satisfy some egos.

Tip: During a transition to Agile delivery, learn to differentiate between professional & flaccid / mechanical setups of Agile delivery, before it is too late.

2. Look out for signs that indicate hindrance to lean practices in Agile delivery

Clear signs that one will not achieve lean practices in Agile delivery:

  • Frequent context switching – Lot of valuable time and effort is lost
  • No room for Slack – Difficult to handle change and dealing with unknowns becomes difficult
  • Agreed documentation is seen as an overhead – Results in compromise on transparency and incomplete work
  • Patterns and Anti-patterns are treated alike – The purpose of Values and Principles is defeated
  • Technical debt is ignored – Emergent design and architecture are compromised and lead to poor quality deliverables
  • Embracing change is avoided – Rigid forecasts, poor customer collaboration and inability to incorporate early feedback
  • Agile delivery practices are deliberately designed to be lean.

Tip: Work towards addressing the shortcomings listed above. Strive towards lean practices.

3. Watch out for Anti-patterns


A deviation taken, a rule / guideline twisted, a stop-gap arrangement made and even an omission – done once and then repeated several times frequently to become a norm or a standard can be thought of as an anti-pattern.


While we consciously allow a select few anti-patterns to stick around, some of them get bigger and sometimes we don’t realize when they become patterns.

Once they get engrained, mostly no one bothers to touch them to correct, not even with a barge pole. And the next you hear is that they are teaching these new found patterns to others.

Anti-patterns lead to the following:

  • Give an impression of having made a positive impact to the ways of working
  • Hide the underlying problem for a while
  • Increase risk and lead to counter-productivity at work
  • Defeat the purpose of patterns and further diminish the realization of value

Tip: On the ground we can allow certain anti-patterns for a while, and the moment we realize that they have lived their shelf-life, we should phase them out!

4. Agile delivery is not a mandate

Agile delivery brings delight to the team, the management and the customers when used holistically.

At times, the usage of an agile approach gets limited to a “tick the box” process. This is a very mechanical way of doing Agile delivery, usually not known to last long.

Think about why Agility is required, see if the framework chosen is the right fit in the context and then apply it. Learn from what is being done. “Pivot and persevere” as applicable.

Tip: Set the context and get into the mind set of practicing agility!

5. Executing a project in Agile delivery needs few of the traditionally followed practices to be unlearned

Traditionally these are some of the practices followed in delivery:

  • Start by Leading / Pulling from the front. Continue to Lead / Pull / Push – Command and Control Style
  • Manage (Planning and Tracking) a Task Force / team of subordinates
  • Delegate work while continuing to own the decision making via reported status

If the team members are:

  • Not making mistakes OR are not allowed to
  • Not enabled to learn from mistakes OR are criticized for making mistakes
  • Not empowered to discuss and decide
  • Not interacting freely with the Subject Matter Experts and Customers chances are that there is micro-management at play.


It is quite possible that teams that have transitioned to Agile delivery might continue to adopt a Command and Control Style for various reasons including but not limited to:

  • Established habits
  • Lack of trust
  • Citing of lack of maturity in the team
  • Focus on schedule and costs instead of delivering business value
  • Traditional Management and Leadership styles and status reporting
  • Cargo Cult mentality

and some more…

As part of unlearning, focus on:

  • Leading from Behind – Inspire / Equip / Empower
  • Creating Practitioners – Educate and Guide
  • Giving Accountability – Help Deliver Value

Primarily:

  • The Product Owner (PO) / equivalent is accountable for the Product
  • The Scrum Master (SM) / equivalent is accountable for the Agile delivery approach
  • The Team is accountable for delivering the Product using an Agile delivery approach
  • The Management / Leadership enables, supports and provides guidance

Tip: Unlearning the traditional practices and drawing lines that should rarely (under exceptional circumstances only) be crossed will reduce / eliminate a lot of micro-managerial aspects in delivery and result in high performing teams.

6. First taste of success comes after a good amount of perseverance in Agile delivery


Organizations that start afresh with Agile delivery can try these approaches while choosing a team to get into Agile delivery:

  • The first team can be the one that will be working on a small product OR a fairly independent component without too many dependencies on other teams / components.
  • In the absence of a small product OR a fairly independent component, the first team can also be the one having considerable dependencies on other teams. In this case, other teams would deliver in bulk once in a couple of months or more (yet to practice agility). The first team would use those deliverables over the next few iterations in a phased manner.


Such an arrangement is necessary until the other teams get aligned to Agile delivery one by one.

Tip: Think big, start small. Get the Elements of Agility right. Practice Agility!

An Agile delivery approach along with many of its frameworks and methods can only do so much if the expectation is that it can work wonders just like that overnight. The people involved, the processes that the agile approach brings to you, the values and principles that you should imbibe and the practices that you inculcate will be instrumental in exploiting the complete potential that such agile delivery brings to the table.


Focus on the 6 areas discussed above from an implementation perspective and from an approach / expectations perspective. Be sensitive, be practical and be empathetic. A world of possibilities will then open up and that is when great things can be done with an Agile delivery approach.

As Patrons (Practitioners, Leaders) OR as Beneficiaries (Expecters, Recipients) while we value that “Agile delivery can do great things for us”, what we must value more is that “We can do great things with Agile delivery”!

Value Agile delivery for what it is and what it brings to the table. Believe, Understand, Inculcate!

About the Author

Chethan Kumar Baliga

Agile Delivery Leader | Helping teams SUCCEED in AGILE Transformation journeys | Weekly Posts – Agile Elements | PAL©, CSM©, SAFE©

LinkedIn Profile

agile delivery Agile

Overcoming fear of acceptance in Agile Delivery

Anything new means that there is a need to embrace change. With change comes resistance. Resistance could be due to a variety of reasons, the most common one being fear. It’s quite natural that there is fear in accepting agile delivery as well. However it is important to understand what’s behind this fear.

Understanding that will be the first step in dealing with it, and then taking subsequent steps to figure out ways to overcome such fears and to go forward and beyond.

In this blog post, let us try to understand the common reasons for fear of acceptance in Agile Delivery and the ways to overcome these fears.

If you are a Business Owner / Business Service Provider, partially or fully

Fear could be due to:
Fear 1: Is the IT Service Provider well equipped and skilled enough to build solutions using Agile delivery?
Fear 2: How will Stakeholders and Investors react and respond?
Fear 3: What is going to be our go to market success rate?
Fear 4: There are too many frameworks, methods and practices. How do I know that the right one has been chosen?

Here’s how you can address the fears.

Is the IT Service Provider well equipped and skilled enough to build solutions using Agile delivery?

  • Check for recommendations from your business network
  • Ask your IT Service Provider for Case Studies
  • Talk to their leaders and key practitioners

How will Stakeholders and Investors react and respond?

  • Highlight value delivery, time to market and possible cost optimization
  • Showcase successful case studies, product rollouts and value propositions
  • Spend time discussing their apprehensions, propositions and elicit mutual participation

What is going to be our go to market success rate?

  • Engage with market leaders in your network and seasoned practitioners to understand
  • Seek guidance and consultation from market analysts
  • Start small, take measured risks, invest

There are too many frameworks, methods and practices. How do I know that the right one has been chosen?

  • If you have an in-house IT department, then engage them to get specific framework recommendations which can be discussed with the IT Service Provider
  • If not, ask your IT Service Provider for proven frameworks to be used and to play within the boundaries in the beginning
  • Once you build a relationship and experience, trust your IT Service Provider to choose the right frameworks, methods and practices based on your business context

If you are an IT Service Provider, partially or fully

Fear could be due to:
Fear 1: What about the learning required and skills to be developed?
Fear 2: How will Stakeholders and Customers react and respond?
Fear 3: What is going to be our delivery success rate?
Fear 4: There are too many frameworks, methods and practices. How to choose?

Here’s how you can address the fears.

What about the learning required and skills to be developed?

  • Get a broad understanding of Agile Delivery, important frameworks and practices
  • Invest on essential learning and create skilled practitioners
  • Uphold continuous learning

How will Stakeholders and Customers react and respond?

  • Highlight value delivery, time to market and possible cost optimization
  • Showcase successful case studies, product rollouts and value propositions
  • Spend time discussing their business, products and propositions and elicit mutual participation

What is going to be our delivery success rate?

  • Engage with Agile delivery leaders and seasoned practitioners to understand
  • Seek guidance and consultation
  • Start small, get equipped and build capabilities

There are too many frameworks, methods and practices. How to choose?

  • Early on, ask for help from experts to understand the choice of frameworks, methods and practices based on the context of your project / product engagements
  • Start with proven frameworks and play within the boundaries in the beginning
  • Once you build capabilities and experience, trust your practitioners to choose the right frameworks, methods and practices based on the business context of the customer

A balanced Triangle of Agility where the practicing team, the management and the customer engage seamlessly will be instrumental in overcoming fear of acceptance in Agile Delivery.

About the Author

Chethan Kumar Baliga

Agile Delivery Leader | Helping teams SUCCEED in AGILE Transformation journeys | Weekly Posts – Agile Elements | PAL©, CSM©, SAFE©

LinkedIn Profile

AI and QA External Contributors

Elevating Software Quality with AI-Powered Testing

Are you tired of the same old challenges in software testing? Are you seeking innovative ways to enhance accuracy, coverage, and efficiency in your testing processes? Enter the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered testing, a revolutionary approach that is transforming the way we ensure software quality. In this article, we dive deep into the realm of AI-powered testing and explore its applications that are changing the game for software developers and quality assurance professionals.

The Marriage of AI and Software Testing

Software testing has always been a vital aspect of the development lifecycle, ensuring that software products meet the highest quality standards. However, as applications become more complex and user expectations rise, traditional testing methods often fall short in keeping up with the pace of development. This is where AI enters the scene as a game-changer.

AI, with its ability to analyze vast datasets, predict patterns, and learn from historical data, offers a new dimension to testing. By integrating AI algorithms into the testing process, developers can achieve more comprehensive and accurate results while optimizing resource allocation.

Applications That Redefine Testing

  • Precision Test Case Generation:  AI-powered testing can automatically generate test cases by analyzing requirements, specifications, and code. This automation not only saves time but also ensures that a broader range of scenarios is covered, enhancing overall software reliability.
  • Proactive Defect Detection: AI algorithms learn from historical testing data to predict potential defects. This predictive capability allows teams to address issues before they escalate, minimizing the risk of post-release bugs that could impact user satisfaction.
  • Simulating Real-World Scenarios: AI can simulate complex user behaviors, stress tests, and edge cases that are challenging to replicate manually. This realism in testing improves coverage and helps identify vulnerabilities that might otherwise go unnoticed.
  • Efficiency and Resource Optimization: With AI automating repetitive tasks, testers can focus on creative exploratory testing and critical thinking. AI also optimizes testing efforts by prioritizing high-impact areas, ensuring resources are allocated where they matter most.

Unleashing the Future Potential

AI-powered testing is not just a fleeting trend; it’s a fundamental shift in how we approach software quality assurance. As AI technologies continue to advance, its applications in testing will expand even further. We can expect to see the convergence of AI with other methodologies like DevOps and agile, resulting in faster and more efficient testing cycles.

Leading AI-Powered Testing Tools

A variety of testing tools that use AI have come into existence, reshaping the methods of software testing. Noteworthy names like Applitools, Testim.io, test.ai, Virtuoso, ContextQA, and others are at the forefront of tools that use AI to make testing tasks automatic, examine large sets of data, and efficiently spot problems.

Embrace the Change

The synergy between AI and software testing is transforming software quality assurance. By leveraging AI’s analytical capabilities and combining them with human expertise, we are ushering in a new era of accuracy, efficiency, and innovation in testing.

So, if you’re a software developer or quality assurance professional looking to elevate your testing game, it’s time to embrace the power of AI-powered testing. As the software landscape continues to evolve, those who embrace this revolutionary approach are the ones who will lead the way in delivering exceptional software experiences.

Join the conversation, explore the possibilities, and elevate software quality through AI-powered testing. The future of testing is here, and it’s more exciting than ever before.

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