Re: Do C-Level managers, and business drivers really need to know about XP?

Hi Bill, 

following your comments I completely agree almost any change to process can have an immeasurable effect on corporate culture and morale, I combine culture and morale for good reason.

The companies that I have seen the best results of XP or indeed any agile process are ones where morale has got pretty low, and due to the necessity of the software (in this case) management and culture have initially approved what are somewhat radical moves/process (through seeing little other choice or options at the time).

And since Morale is so low, anything new breeds motivation, if process change and is backed by existing culture. The new process will create a lot of new energy, where agile process win is by focusing on what can be done and not what can not be done, this instills remarkable confidence in the people involved. And normally the results can be rather impresive.

However, it must be noted I have also seen a lot of new process implemented in same scenarios fail dismally, this is due to using a large cumbersome process deamed to save the project.

Notr very clear this sorry, a little tired.

to summarize

Agile methods do pervade and change corporate culture, to date I have not seen much change at high level but certainly where the bulk of the work is done and the process is used big changes occur.

Agile methods biggest asset is the morale and confidence boost they give to the people using them. without the morale and confidence factor, there is no quality work in my opinion.

just a few early/late morning comments in a rush

Scott Worley
 

Scott Worley
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Bill Walton 
  To: [email protected] 
  Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 3:14 AM
  Subject: Re: [xpAdoption] Do C-Level managers, and business drivers really need to know about XP?


  Since my emails are now getting through, and since I'd resent 3 times before
  the last one got through making it pretty unreadable (for me anyway), I
  thought I'd resend from the original.  I apologize if the duplication
  offends.

  > Ron Jeffries wrote:

  > > Scott Worley wrote:

  [snip]

  > > In my opinion (I am a C-Level Manager) NO, what they/we want is
  > > results if its due to a new process that the dev team or indeed any
  > > other team is using, thier team lead/PM should know about it, but
  > > above that it is not necessary.  A PM can request resource from
  > > higher management and in most cases the justification is of the
  > > standard Time/Cost/Resource type. A PM should act as a consultant to
  > > the teams they ENABLE and the management they provide a service for.
  >
  > I'm inclined to agree with you. I think that if XP and Agile deliver what
  > we think they do, the C-level (I am coming to hate that term) people will
  > need to understand the impact, because their planning cycles may be able
  to
  > change. They may be able to demand more concrete information from their
  > projects.
  >
  > The only reason I can see for knowing much more about it is if they wished
  > to promulgate the ideas further in the organization. Since most of the
  > top-down installations of XP I've seen have been near-disasters, I'd like
  > to see it coming from the bottom up instead.
  >
  > I have the impression that Bill Walton, who lurks here but rarely speaks,
  > thinks that the C-level folks need to know more, or different things.
  Bill?
  > What's your view on this?

  I'll preface my brief remarks with a qualifier.  I'm talking about the
  adoption of XP / Agile practices by very large US corporations.  Size does
  matter.  A number of organizational dynamics are introduced by size alone.
  Also, I'm talking about organization-level adoption, not the "trial
  projects" that inevitably preceed it but to not necessarily lead to it.

  Several months ago, as I began my serious investigation into XP, I met with
  a former co-manager at Sabre.  Her VP is adopting XP across his
  organization; 300+ developers.  Virtually the first words out of her mouth
  were these:  "XP is not just another development methodology.  XP is a
  culture change."

  Culture change in large organizations is typically a slow, painful process
  that requires support from the highest levels.  The changes required for /
  enabled by the adoption of XP involve much more than planning cycles.  It's
  a mistake, IMO, to underestimate the level of support, and therefore the
  level of understanding, the successful adoption of XP at an organization
  level in large US corporations will require from the C-level folks.

  [snip]

  Best regards,
  Bill




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