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Open@Scale adds two important elements to the Scrum@Scale framework:

1. An enterprise-level Engagement Model called OpenSpace Agility, and 2. A team-level set of communication protocols called The Core Protocols, for streamlining

tasks like engaging, making decisions, listening to other individuals and groups, and discovering opportunities for value creation/innovation.

Open At Scale also defines several suggested and entirely optional elements which may be added at any time. These optional “apps” or elements include:

• Clean Language • Leadership Scrum • Agendashift • Fail Agility

The Fundamental Assumptions of Open@Scale:

• Supporting Agreements are Essential: Preparing for and sustaining improvement requires clear agreement about supporting any and all changes to decision rights. Implementing Scrum means implementing Scrum decision rights, per role, as defined in the Scrum Guide. Failure to implement these decision rights results in a weak implementation and/or failure of Scrum. Without agreements that support this change, weak results are guaranteed. Supporting agreements are essential.

• An Engagement Plan is Essential: The willing people power most of the improvement;

the unwilling people power most of the impediments. Those who actively engage in the change propel it forward. A plan for engaging employees in the change is therefore essential. Imposing change does little to engage employees, and often results in a weak or failed attempt to scale Scrum. Those in higher-authorization roles influence the attitudes and behavior of their direct reports. When these authority figures do not support, the result is a cascading of resistance through the reporting structure. It is therefore essential to pay attention to engaging everyone, especially those with authority over direct reports. Engagement and an engagement plan, is essential.

• Enterprise-wide Iterations of Change are Essential: Working in iteration of change that

complete with an invited, whole-group inspection events is the best way to achieve lasting progress with organizational change. Pre-announced inspection events lead to rich and actionable feedback at the enterprise level, while at the same time substantially increasing engagement and reducing resistance.

• Whole-Group Process is Essential: Enterprise transformation is a whole-group activity

that is by definition active and ongoing.

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BACKGROUND Real business agility is not simple to achieve and is not actually possible without the use of Open patterns of leadership and interactions. Open patterns of organization, Open leadership and Open interactions are required for genuine success with enterprise agility at scale. Open At Scale contains these essential elements. Open At Scale is composed of three elements: Scrum@Scale:

Scrum@Scale is an open source Agile framework for scaling Scrum beyond one team. Scrum@Scale achieves this by building on Scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide. Scrum@Scale provides an additional set of supporting roles, rules, artifacts and events that provide enough structure to allow the scaling of Scrum beyond one team, and beyond software. Scrum@Scale implements a 100% empirical approach to achieving enterprise agility.

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OpenSpace Agility:

OSA is an open source Engagement Model. It provides a way to engage as many employees as possible in the use of Scrum@Scale. OpenSpace Agility is used to create 90-day waves or iterations of change called Chapters. Each Chapter of change has a clear beginning, middle and end. Each Chapter constitutes a story- a segment of a wider narrative of change. OpenSpace Agility is based on Open Space Technology and is 100% implements Inviting Leadership™ and Invitation-Based Change™ to strongly support the empirical approach of Scrum@Scale.

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The Core Protocols:

The Core Protocols are a set of structured interactions for achieving high performance at the

level of Team. Since the fundamental building block in Scrum@Scale is the team, it is essential

for all teams to achieve and maintain very high quality interactions. The Core Protocols provide

a toolkit and guidance for doing both.

The Core Commitments

1. I commit to engage when present. § To know and disclose

§ what I want, § what I think, and § what I feel.

§ To always seek effective help. § To decline to offer and refuse to accept incoherent emotional transmissions.

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§ When I have or hear a better idea than the currently prevailing idea, I will immediately either § propose it for decisive acceptance or rejection, and/or § explicitly seek its improvement.

§ I will personally support the best idea § regardless of its source, § however much I hope an even better idea may later arise, and § when I have no superior alternative idea.

2. I will seek to perceive more than I seek to be perceived. 3. I will use teams, especially when undertaking difficult tasks. 4. I will speak always and only when I believe it will improve the general results/effort ratio. 5. I will offer and accept only rational, results-oriented behavior and communication. 6. I will disengage from less productive situations

§ When I cannot keep these commitments, § When it is more important that I engage elsewhere.

7. I will do now what must be done eventually and can effectively be done now. 8. I will seek to move forward toward a particular goal, by biasing my behavior toward action. 9. I will use the Core Protocols (or better) when applicable.

§ I will offer and accept timely and proper use of the Protocol Check protocol without prejudice.

10. I will neither harm—nor tolerate the harming of—anyone for his or her fidelity to these commitments.

11. I will never do anything dumb on purpose.

Copyright © 2010 Jim and Michele McCarthy

(The Core is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. For exact terms see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/. The Core is considered as source code under that agreement. You are free to use and distribute this work or any derivations you care to make, provided you also distribute this source document in its entirety, including this paragraph.)

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THE CORE PROTOCOLS:

• About the Core Protocols • The Core Commitments • Pass (Unpass) • Check In • Check Out • Ask For Help • Protocol Check • Intention Check • Decider • Resolution • Perfection Game • Personal Alignment • Investigate

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EXERCISES: Scrum At Scale: With 1 or 2 others, Identify distinct roles, artifacts, and events on the PRODUCT side With 1 or 2 others, Identify distinct roles, artifacts, and events on the PROCESS side OpenSpace Agility: With 1 or 2 others, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of moving in 90-day enterprise iterations. With 1 or 2 others, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of inviting the whole group into inspecting how the process is working, and how it can be improved The Core Protocols: With 3/4/5 others, practice the CHECK IN protocol With 3/4/5 others, name the top 2 hardest-to-do CORE COMMITMENTS

REACHING DANIEL MEZICK:

DANIELMEZICK.COM Daniel Mezick

dan@newtechusa.net 203 915 8248