Gunther Verheyen introduced “Evidence-Based Management (for Software Organizations)” as the closing keynote of the ScrumDay France 2014.
‘Evidence-Based Management’ has its roots in medical practice and promotes evidence-based decision-making in the managerial domain.
For software organizations, direct evidence of value needs to be gathered on the outcome of the work; not on the way the work is performed (teams, practices or individuals). Evidence on the latter is supportive and circumstantial. People and teams adapt processes and implement practices to improve the actual outcome.
If no direct evidence is collected on value, informed management decisions to maximize value cannot be made.
Evidence-Based Management of Software Organizations (closing keynote ScrumDay France 2014)
1. by Scrum.org – Improving the Profession of Software Development
Evidence-Based Management
of Software Organizations
Gunther Verheyen
Directing the Professional series, Scrum.org
ScrumDay France
April 10-11, 2014
http://www.scrumday.fr/en_US/keynote-de-cloture-evidence-based-management-for-software-organizations/The survival and prosperity of organizations thriving on software products highly depends on the VALUE they deliver with their services. If no evidence is collected on value, informed management decisions to maximize value cannot be made.‘Evidence-Based Management’ has its roots in medical practice and promotes evidence-based decision-making in the managerial domain. Outcome is measured as the only appropriate source of direct evidence of value; not teams or individuals. People and teams adapt processes and implement practices to improve the actual outcome, and provide supportive evidence, evidence on the ability to create value.
Indeed, the Agile movement promotes emergence. Indeed, Agile thrives on self-organization. Indeed, Scrum has no defined role of ‘manager’.But is that sufficient to label managers as useless or not needed?The Agile movement successfully established a set of values and principles that better fit the creative and complex nature of software development. The focus is on teams, collaboration, people, self-directed discovery. The Scrum framework provides a great foundation for organizations to grasp ‘Agility’.The adoption of the Agile thinking via Scrum represents a major and on-going shift in our industry. Even without Scrum having prescriptions for management, it is clear that the self-organizing fundaments of Scrum have a profound impact on the role, approach and act of managing. The challenge is to discover and implement the new needs and demands for managers.Self-organization requires boundaries, and shared goals and objectives. Self-organizing teams benefit from the provision of information on the market and company strategie. Self-organizing teams benefit from facilitation with standards, expectations, infrastructure and tools.
Fad: a practice or interest followed for a time with exaggerated zeal: craze
A hard lesson
Many software professionals know about scrum as a simple line drawing that describes the Scrum frameworkAdvanceSome think of Scrum as “That thing IT people do once a day when they stand in a circle.”AdvanceSome oppressive managers, project managers, and self-anointed Scrum Masters have caused some developers to think of Scrum this wayAdvanceBizarrely, some see Scrum and agile in the exact opposite mind frame.An excuse to focus on drama instead of getting down to business
Scrum-driven organizations see Scrum as a way to make money. Lots of it.Why? What do they know that you don’t?They know that Scrum is rooted in empiricism, and they learned how to apply this to their entire business.What’s empiricism?
Nimble.Resilience.Agility is a need that arises from the fact that building software is complex and can’t be perfectly planned given the speed and amount of change. It takes courage to admit it, more courage to live by this fact.
ExploreEmpiricismComplexity AgilityLearning ObjectivesGain understanding of complexity in software environmentsHow empiricism controls risk, and provides predictability in complex environmentsWhat is agility and what is Scrum’s place within the Agile discussion?
Indeed, the Agile movement promotes emergence. Indeed, Agile thrives on self-organization. Indeed, Scrum has no defined role of ‘manager’.But is that sufficient to label managers as useless or not needed?The Agile movement successfully established a set of values and principles that better fit the creative and complex nature of software development. The focus is on teams, collaboration, people, self-directed discovery. The Scrum framework provides a great foundation for organizations to grasp ‘Agility’.The adoption of the Agile thinking via Scrum represents a major and on-going shift in our industry. Even without Scrum having prescriptions for management, it is clear that the self-organizing fundaments of Scrum have a profound impact on the role, approach and act of managing. The challenge is to discover and implement the new needs and demands for managers.Self-organization requires boundaries, and shared goals and objectives. Self-organizing teams benefit from the provision of information on the market and company strategie. Self-organizing teams benefit from facilitation with standards, expectations, infrastructure and tools.
Many investments may provide more agilityNew methodologies exists that claim to make you AgileIs Agile/Agility a fad?What value is IT contributing to the organization?Outcome: deliver increased value.
ORGANIZATIONAL:Revenue per EmployeeProduct Cost RatioEmployee satisfactionCustomer satisfactionFOUNDATIONAL:Release frequencyRelease stabilizationCycle TimeInstalled Version IndexUsage IndexInnovation RateTotal defects
Try something that is hot in the market; or,Use evidence based management:Observe and analyze how work is done now;Assess and analyze the capability of the people doing the work;Identify the most likely improvement to add value.Does not include marketing, sales, or new product ideas.
Indeed, the Agile movement promotes emergence. Indeed, Agile thrives on self-organization. Indeed, Scrum has no defined role of ‘manager’.But is that sufficient to label managers as useless or not needed?The Agile movement successfully established a set of values and principles that better fit the creative and complex nature of software development. The focus is on teams, collaboration, people, self-directed discovery. The Scrum framework provides a great foundation for organizations to grasp ‘Agility’.The adoption of the Agile thinking via Scrum represents a major and on-going shift in our industry. Even without Scrum having prescriptions for management, it is clear that the self-organizing fundaments of Scrum have a profound impact on the role, approach and act of managing. The challenge is to discover and implement the new needs and demands for managers.Self-organization requires boundaries, and shared goals and objectives. Self-organizing teams benefit from the provision of information on the market and company strategie. Self-organizing teams benefit from facilitation with standards, expectations, infrastructure and tools.