Tony Fifoot - Improving innovation through batch size optimisation

Improvinginnova,onthroughbatchsizeop,misa,on

SCRUMAustralia2016

TonyFifoot

@tonyfifoot

7Monthsto7Days

Whatisbatchsize?

Numberofstoriesinarelease?

Numberofthingsyoulearnbeforepivotindirec,on?

Numberoffeaturestakenintoaplanningsession?

(Manufacturing)Numberofitemsstackedonapalletbeforeweloaditontoatruck…orisitthenumberofpalletswecanstackonatruckbeforeitships?

Innova,onandbatchsize

Somebrieftheory

Tocreatevalue

Generatevaluableinforma,onquickly

Maximiseopportuni,es

Minimiserisks

ChangetheproductàRisk

Generatevaluableinforma,onquickly

P L P L P L P L P L P L

TypicalProjectRelease.6Months. NextPlan Learn Plan à

$

$ $ $ $ $ $

ExploitVariability

Withoutvariabilitywecannotinnovate.

Economiccostofvariabilityisimportant.

Wanttoexplorepoten,alhighvaluepayoffs.

Needtorunsmallexperimentstodothis.

U,lisa,onvs.CycleTime

U,lisa,onvs.CycleTime

Cycle,meincreasesasbatchsizeincreases

Reducebatchsize

Cycle,meincreasesasvariabilityincreases

Reduceu,lisa,on

hXp://impactvs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/engage.png

GovernanceandProjectsRoadmapsandCon,nuousEnhancementTeamsandEmpowerment

Op,mumbatchsize

GovernanceandProjectsRoadmapsandCon,nuousEnhancementTeamsandEmpowerment

hXp://impactvs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/engage.png

Op,mumbatchsize

GovernanceandProjects

hXp://www.videezy.com/free-video/jail

GovernanceandProjects

hXp://www.videezy.com/free-video/jail

Benefitslinkedtofeatures

Focusisonfeaturedelivery,notdeligh,ngthecustomer,notinnova,ng

Scope,Time,Cost(Yep–s,ll)

FocusisonconformancetoplanNottoexploitemergingopportuni,es

GovernanceandProjects

hXp://www.videezy.com/free-video/jail

Changefundingmodels(eg:CFI’s)

Focusonvaluedeliveryanddeligh,ngthecustomer

Linkbenefitstooutcomes,notfeatures

GovernanceandProjects

hXp://www.videezy.com/free-video/jail

Evolveproductsratherthandeliverpre-definedfunc,onality(ETP,HDD)

Makeprojectssmaller

GovernanceandProjects

hXp://www.videezy.com/free-video/jail

Batchsizeplanningtoobigeg:SAFe3Month

PCBdecisionstypicallymonthly

Slowfeedbackloop

Paperworktostartorchangedirec,on

GovernanceandProjects

hXp://www.videezy.com/free-video/jail

Reduceplanningbatchsize

EmpowerteamstoreduceneedforPCBdecisions

Alignpaperworktoproject/decisionbatchsize

Op,mumbatchsize

hXp://impactvs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/engage.png

GovernanceandProjectsRoadmapsandCon,nuousEnhancementTeamsandEmpowerment

Roadmaps

Con,nuousEnhancement

U,lisa,on

Roadmaps

Con,nuousEnhancement

U,lisa,on

Bridgevisiontodelivery

Roadmaps

Tradi,onally:•  Prescrip,veandrigid•  Notalignedtolearning•  Highlevelsofu,lisa,on

Roadmaps

Tradi,onally:•  Teamfeatureplansend-to-end•  Highlevelofu,lisa,on

•  Can’tadapttonewinforma,on

FeatureA

FeatureDFeatureB

FeatureE

FeatureF

FeatureH

FeatureH

FeatureEFeatureC FeatureG

Team1

Team2

Team3

RoadmapandProjectplan:

Roadmaps

•  Hypothesisbasedbatches•  ETPreleases,notfeaturedone

•  Branchbasedonnewinforma,on

•  Lowu,lisa,onlevels

Supplementtoincludesmallbatchlearning

Roadmaps

Con2nuousEnhancement

U,lisa,on

Bigbatchprojects

Completefeatures

Bigbatchreleases

Con,nuousEnhancement

HDDbatches

ETPfeatures

Smallbatchreleases

Needcon,nuousenhancementsfollowingtheearlyreleases

•  Tempta,ontomovetonextfeature

•  Needtofollowwithmoresmallreleases

•  Needthesetobuildtrust

Otherwisefeaturemagnetfirstreleases

Con,nuousEnhancement

Roadmaps

Con,nuousEnhancement

U2lisa2on

hXps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:I-80_Eastshore_Fwy.jpg

U,lisa,on

Tolearnquickly,need:•  Fastthroughput•  Lowcycle,me

Asu,lisa,onratesincrease,cycle,mesincrease.Worsewithlargerbatches.

U,lisa,on

Image:hXps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:I-80_Eastshore_Fwy.jpg

Needtoplanforlowu,lisa,onofteams,andindividuals.

U,lisa,on

Mindfulness•  Oppositeofmul,tasking•  Thisleadstoinnova,on•  Higherqualityinterac,onsanddecisions•  Increasesemployeeengagement

Credit:KimberleySchaufenbuelhXps://hbr.org/2015/12/why-google-target-and-general-mills-are-inves,ng-in-mindfulnessImage:hXps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:I-80_Eastshore_Fwy.jpg

Image:hXp://impactvs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/engage.png

Op,mumbatchsize

GovernanceandProjectsRoadmapsandCon,nualImprovementTeamsandEmpowerment

TeamsandEmpowerment

Communica,on

Forinnova,onyouneedfrequent,smallbatchcommunica,on(eg:SCRUMteams)

MonthlyPCBorPGBmee,ngstomakedecisionsdoesn’tsuitfastmovinginnova,on.

Empowerment

Frequentdecisionsattheteamlevel

Balancebetweenautonomyandcontrol:

•  Setvisionandroadmaptoguideteamdirec,on

•  AgreeHypothesisDrivenDevelopmentandfocusonETPreleases

Economics

EmpoweredteamsneedtounderstandtheeconomicconsequencesoftheirdecisionsArmthemwiththeinforma,ontheyneedBuildeconomicconsidera,onsintoHDDortheETP

Image:hXp://impactvs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/engage.png

Op,mumbatchsize

GovernanceandProjectsRoadmapsandCon,nualImprovementTeamsandEmpowerment

hXps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dark_chocolate_Blanxart.jpg

Breakintosmallbatches

Replacetradi,onalprojectscoping.Encouragesmallbatchrapidlearning.

UseHDDandETPreleases.

Deployasearlyasfeasible.

hXps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dark_chocolate_Blanxart.jpg

Breakintosmallbatches

HenrikKniberg–Crisp.MVPcanbegreat,butisokenmisused.Minimumcanendupfarfromsmall.Toinnovateweneedtogetsomethingintothehandsofcustomersandlearnfromit.Buildandreleaseaseriesoftestableproducts.

hXps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dark_chocolate_Blanxart.jpg

ETP–EarliestTestableProduct

Structuredexperimentsinavalidatedlearningloop.Iteratethroughaseriesofexperimentsasrapidlyaspossible.Startwithacleartestablehypothesisthatisvalidated(orinvalidated).Thencyclethroughexperimentstowardavaluableproduct.

hXps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dark_chocolate_Blanxart.jpg

HDD–HypothesisDrivenDevelopment

hXps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dark_chocolate_Blanxart.jpg

DeploymentOp,onsManywaystodeploybeXerthanbigbang;)•  ExplainerVideo•  LandingPage•  Flintstone/WizardofOz•  Beta•  Concierge•  Piecemeal•  A/Btes,ng

Generateinforma,onquicklyFocusonvalueLearnandpivotSetavisionandempowerteamsReduceu,lisa,onCon,nuousplanningOverall:LookforbatchsizeissuesReducebatchsize

ChangeAgentincrea,vesokwareenvironments;teamalignmentenabler;non-professionalcyclist;loveroffamily,Frenchfoodandwine

Thanks!

@tonyfifoot

TonyFifoot

CreditsandReferencesGeneral:DonaldReinertsen.“PrinciplesofProductDevelopmentFlow”2009.ETP:HenrikKniberghXp://blog.crisp.se/2016/01/25/henrikkniberg/making-sense-of-mvpDeploymentOp2ons:VladimirBlagojevichXp://scalemybusiness.com/the-ul,mate-guide-to-minimum-viable-products/U2lisa2on:hXp://www.leanessays.com/2010/11/managing-pipeline.html?m=1U2lisa2on:KimberlySchaufenbuel.hXps://hbr.org/2015/12/why-google-target-and-general-mills-are-inves,ng-in-mindfulness

@tonyfifoot