The word leadership can trick us into believing that we are talking about the same thing when are actually not. This presentation explores different leadership accountabilities and how they might manifest in different roles. I also describe different patterns of how this might play out using a couple specific examples from ThoughtWorks and Spotify.

1. What do you mean when you say
“leadership”?
Jason Yip
Agile Coach, Spotify
jyip@spotify.com, @jchyip

2. Begin TL;DR

3. When people say “leadership”, they are
typically oversimplifying a multifaceted set
of problems we are dealing with in product
delivery.

4. Product
Direction
Design
Direction
Technology
Direction
People
Direction
Product
Leadership
Design
Leadership
Technology
Leadership
People
Leadership
Product
Management
Design
Management
Technology
Management
People
Management
This is closer to what we’re dealing with.

5. End TL;DR

6. When you hear or say
“leadership” it is unlikely that
everyone means the same thing.

7. I’m glad we all agree what “leadership” means and
can now have a meaningful discussion.

8. If we don’t even mean the same
thing by “leadership”, it’s
difficult to help each other
become effective at it.

9. Let’s be more thoughtful
about how we talk about
“leadership”.
https://flic.kr/p/67troU

10. “Leadership” is multifaceted.

11. “Leadership” is multifaceted
because we are solving more
than one type of problem.

13. Groups of people trying to
achieve collective outcomes
encounter 3 basic problems:

14. Problem 1: We need to determine the right things to do.
https://flic.kr/p/5LYgFW

15. Problem 2: We need to agree on those things to do.
(or at least accept)
https://flic.kr/p/aCsLj

16. Problem 3: We need to coordinate ourselves to do those things.
https://flic.kr/p/fxh1Kk

17. The better we are at addressing
these problems, the more
successful we are likely to be.

18. Conversely, there are
multiple paths to failure.

19. - Right direction
- Everyone aligned
- Can’t coordinate
Can’t deliver

20. - Right direction
- Not aligned
- Everyone coordinated
Everyone working on
multiple, unaligned
things. Can’t deliver.

21. - Wrong direction
- Everyone aligned
- Everyone coordinated
Can deliver... the
wrong thing. Can’t
achieve desired
outcomes.

22. Direction: Determining the correct thing to do
Leadership: Influencing people to align with a
direction
Management: Coordinating people and resources

23. Direction, not necessarily “director”
Leadership, not necessarily “leader”
Management, not necessarily “manager”

24. Product
Direction
Design
Direction
Technology
Direction
People
Direction
Product
Leadership
Design
Leadership
Technology
Leadership
People
Leadership
Product
Management
Design
Management
Technology
Management
People
Management
Let’s get more specific to product delivery.

25. Product Direction covers the
discovery and determination of
product strategies and roadmaps
that will work.

26. Product Direction activities

27. Product Leadership covers the
communication and inspiring of
others to connect with the
product strategy.

28. Product Leadership activities
Story telling Involvement
https://flic.kr/p/aR1iPM

29. Product Management covers the
coordination of people and
resources to facilitate product
delivery.

30. AKA “project management”,
though I prefer “delivery
management” (no end point)

31. Product Management activities
Stand-ups, planning, kanban boards, lots of meetings etc.
https://flic.kr/p/7RL28b

32. Product vs Design → Business
outcome vs customer experience
(NOTE: there are feedback
loops)

33. Design Direction covers the
discovery and determination of
the target customer experience.

34. Design Direction activities
Design Sprints Collaborative Design

35. Design Leadership covers the
communication of, and inspiring
others to connect with, the
target customer experience.

36. Design Leadership activities
Story telling Involvement
https://flic.kr/p/aR1iPM

37. Design Management covers the
coordination of people and
resources to engage in various
design and UX activities.

38. https://flic.kr/p/7RL28b
Design Management activities
Stand-ups, planning, kanban boards, lots of meetings etc.

39. Technology Direction covers the
discovery and determination of
technical strategy and roadmap.

40. Technology Direction activities
Technical strategy Technical roadmap
https://flic.kr/p/5Q5SS8

41. Technology Leadership covers the
communication and inspiring of
people (mainly developers) to
connect with technical strategy.

42. Technology Leadership activities
Story telling Involvement
https://flic.kr/p/aR1iPM

43. Technology Management covers
the coordination of people and
resources to engage in various
technical design activities.

44. https://flic.kr/p/7RL28b
Technology Management activities
Stand-ups, planning, ad-hoc design sessions, etc.
https://flic.kr/p/7RL28b

45. People Direction covers the
discovery and determination of an
individual’s career aspirations and
growth.

46. People Leadership covers
inspiring and sustaining of
motivation for individuals to grow.

47. People Direction and Leadership activities
Job Crafting One-on-ones

48. People Management covers all
the administrative activities
associated with “direct reports”.

49. People Management activities
Help navigate organisational policies Approve expenses
https://flic.kr/p/7bT6dT
https://flic.kr/p/8Gi1ta

50. We could use some examples
right about now...

51. ThoughtWorks custom application development

52. Product
Direction
Design
Direction
Technology
Direction
People
Direction
Product
Leadership
Design
Leadership
Technology
Leadership
People
Leadership
Product
Management
Design
Management
Technology
Management
People
Management
ThoughtWorks emphasis - Technology and Design
NOTE: simplified
Expectation of
self-sufficiencyClients...

53. Spotify product delivery

54. Product
Direction
Design
Direction
Technology
Direction
People
Direction
Product
Leadership
Design
Leadership
Technology
Leadership
People
Leadership
Product
Management
Design
Management
Technology
Management
People
Management
Spotify emphasis - Direction, Leadership, People
NOTE: simplified
Autonomy...

55. Product
Direction
Design
Direction
Technology
Direction
People
Direction
Product
Leadership
Design
Leadership
Technology
Leadership
People
Leadership
Product
Management
Design
Management
Technology
Management
People
Management
What do you emphasise?

56. Begin TL;DR

57. When people say “leadership”, they are
typically oversimplifying a multifaceted set
of problems we are dealing with in product
delivery.

58. Product
Direction
Design
Direction
Technology
Direction
People
Direction
Product
Leadership
Design
Leadership
Technology
Leadership
People
Leadership
Product
Management
Design
Management
Technology
Management
People
Management
This is closer to what we’re dealing with.

59. End TL;DR

60. First encountered Extreme
Programming in 1999
Buildmaster →
Principal Consultant
2001 - 2015
Agile Coach since
February 2015
Jason Yip
@jchyip
https://jchyip.blogspot.com
https://medium.com/@jchyip
jyip@spotify.com, jchyip@gmail.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonyip