Last newsletter we announced our FLEX Train the trainer program. But as I’m working with clients — some using FLEX, others in improving their SAFe adoption — I find myself recommending the FLEX 3 day workshop to them so they can understand both the recommended practices and principles better, and therefore be more self-sufficient and require less coaching. We have an online one coming up next week (starting July 22), so I wanted to make sure you knew it was about to start. Continue reading “Lean-Agile Newsletter – July 17, 2019”

Note: This newsletter is a blend of our full newsletter of June 20 and our LinkedIn newsletter of June 26.

We have four exciting announcements this newsletter – including one for those trying to improve their organization’s development process and one for you techies.

Becoming a FLEX Trainer

First, the really big news – we’re looking for trainers in our new FLEX patterns framework for Agile at all scales

As many of you know, I have been working on a better approach to Agile at scale than is currently available. There are several challenges I have seen with virtually all of them. I recently wrote a blog Checklist for a good framework that lays out what I consider to be the minimum requirements for a framework.  FLEX has developed to the point of meeting those requirements and more. If you’re looking for a method where you can learn to train it or if you are a consultant and want another offering, please let me know. You can learn more about FLEX here. 

Some other blogs:

• FLEX as a Pattern Framework. FLEX Is a breakthrough not just for content but for how it is organized.
• Robust Vs Complicated. Having a robust system does not have to be complicated.

Webinar: June 27th. Creating the Next Paradigm Shift in IT and Product Development
Agile has been around for more than two decades. This is more than a lifetime in the information age. Dark Agile has been around for just about as long and seems to be increasing. The reason is reflected in Einstein’s observation, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” The next paradigm is not based on Agile but on flow and Lean-Thinking. It acknowledges the reality that it is easier to work your way into a new way of thinking than it is to think your way into a new way of working.

This talk discusses the main shifts required for the next wave after Agile:

1. Focus on achieving Business Agility, the quick realization of business value predictably, sustain-ably and with high quality.
2. Attend to lowering the cost of delay to achieve this. The cost of delay is the costs to an organization of deferred value achieved, higher risk sustained, and lost opportunity.
3. Provide a customized starting point and road-map.
4. Focus on the work to be done, not on the framework.
5. Understand the critical factors of systems thinking, attending to complexity, and the role of Lean-Management.
6. Organize practices as groups of patterns so that knowledge can be added without making things more complicated.

For those considering or wanting to improve SAFe.

As a former contributor to SAFe, an SPCT and Gold partner, I know how to make SAFe better. If you’re considering doing SAFe or want to see how to improve it, see Part IX: Using FLEX to both enhance and simplify SAFe.

The TDD Companion

This book is meant to be a lightweight companion to the TDD practitioner. Each entry is a page long at most.

These pages are loosely organized, except where specific pages relate to each other.

The idea is that you can pick it up, open it anywhere, and gain a useful insight without having to spend hours poring over it.

As always, happy to chat with you about your challenges and how we can help.

Al Shalloway 
CEO, Net Objectives
425-269-8991 @alshalloway

SAFe® is a registered trademark of Scaled Agile, Inc.

Don’t see one in your area? Let us know so we can see about scheduling one nearby!
Date	Events
June 27	Webinar: Creating the Next Paradigm Shift in IT and Product Development
July 22	Online Course: FLEX for SAFe Scaled Learning Workshop
July 22	Online Course: FLow for Enterprise Transformation Workshop
Now	Online Course: Advanced Scrum Master and Kanban Online Workshop
Now	Online Course: Lean-Agile at Mid-Scale: FLEX Essentials
Now	Online Course: Foundations of Sustainable Design
Now	Online Course: Agile Product Management Essential Concepts (Free!)
Sep 25-27	Public Course: FLow for Enterprise Transformation Workshop
Let us know if we can schedule a public course in your area

This newsletter continues our theme on what’s the next thing after Agile, as well as presents a few of Scott’s top posts this month. You can subscribe to the RSS feed on NetobjectivesThoughts if you want to get them as he writes them (and you’ll get mine as well).

FLEX Workshop. Aug 16-18. Southern Orange county.

FLEX is the culmination of how Net Objectives has been working on Lean-Agile at scale for well over a decade. It incorporates Flow, Lean, Systems-Thinking and Agile while driving from a business value delivery perspective. FLEX creates a framework tailored for your organization that continues to adapt as you grow. You will leave this workshop both having tailored a framework for your organization and having been given some expertise on how to go back and educate your associates. Licensing of materials is also available.

Webinar: June 3rd. The Six Most Important things I’ve Learned in 20 Years of Agile

Al Shalloway has been on the forefront of most Agile and Lean methods of the last 2 decades. In this webinar he shares the six most important insights he’s had over this time and how they relate to each other:

1. How to design with patterns thinking
2. The objective is business Agility
3. Why the Concept of the MBI is so critical
4. Lean-thinking (systems thinking and delays and management)
5. Acceptance Test-Driven Development with Behavior Driven Development
6. Why we need to focus on our work and not a framework

Each of these insights is critical to achieve effectiveness at any scale beyond a team. Al explains each concept and how they work together to provide guidance on how to improve the effectiveness of your organization

Webinar: June 17th. Creating the Next Paradigm Shift in IT and Product Development

Agile has been around for more than 2 decades. This is more than a lifetime in the information age. Dark Agile (as Agile done poorly has started to be called) has been around for just about as long and seems to be increasing. The reason is reflected in Einstein’s observation – “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” The next paradigm is not based on Agile but on flow.

This talk discusses the main shifts required for the next wave after Agile:

1. Focus on achieving Business Agility – the quick realization of business value predictably, sustainably and with high quality
2. Attend to flow to achieve this
3. Use Flow and Lean Thinking to achieve flow
4. Focus on the work to be done, not the framework
5. How Systems thinking, attending to complexity, and the role of Lean-Management are the foundation for this

Scott Bain’s TDD Posts

TDD as a Sustainable Process: Introduction	LinkedIn	Blog & Audio
Sustainable TDD: Part 1	LinkedIn	Blog & Audio
Sustainable TDD: Part 2	LinkedIn	Blog & Audio
Sustainable TDD: Part 3	LinkedIn	Blog & Audio

My Top Posts for May

What I’m Up to- Leading the Next Mindshift	LinkedIn	Blog & Audio
Why We Need Adaptive Frameworks	LinkedIn	Blog & Audio
How MVPs are limiting you if you’re using SAFe	LinkedIn	Blog & Audio

A side note for those considering or wanting to improve SAFe. As a former contributor to SAFe, an SPCT and Gold partner, I know how to make SAFe better. If you’re considering doing SAFe or want to see how to improve it, see Part IX: Using FLEX to both enhance and simplify SAFe.

As always, happy to chat with you about your challenges and how we can help.

Al Shalloway

CEO, Net Objectives
425-269-8991 @alshalloway

SAFe® is a registered trademark of Scaled Agile, Inc.

I have been doing Agile for over 20 years. I see a new path forward, however. One that includes the entire value stream (from concept to consumption) and one that integrates many ideas on the technical side throughout the value stream. This newsletter focuses on two things:

1. What’s the next thing after Agile (or, if you prefer, what is Agile morphing into?)
2. How to improve your technical agility

For those who want to see what’s coming in Agile at scale

• An Introduction to FLEX: FLow for Enterprise Transformation, May 3. This talk discusses a breakthrough in how to use frameworks and provides a light-weight, viable alternative to SAFe for small to mid-scale organizations.
• FLEX workshop (scroll down after selecting). May 6-8. A small workshop on FLEX in Orange County, CA. Work with me for three days on how to create a tailored framework for your organization.
• How using MBIs ties strategies, the intake process, ATDD, and planning together. People are getting more interested in how to drive business agility, but Agile remains weak here, either because they attempt to drive it from a bottom up approach or use overly complex approaches. Minimum business increments are a key missing piece of Agile that can make a real impact on your bottom line.

For those wanting to see what’s coming in technical agility

• The relationship between ATDD and Design Patterns.
• Scott Bain’s blogs on TDD. I joke that I want to be like Scott when I grow up. He truly is the best instructor I’ve seen in my career. He’s also a great writer, having authored one book (Emergent Design) and co-authored another (Essential Skills for the Agile developer). He’s been writing a series of blogs on TDD that are definitely worth reading. Follow him on LinkedIn or follow our blog on the link provided.

A side note for those considering or wanting to improve SAFe. As a former contributor to SAFe, an SPCT and Gold partner, I know how to make SAFe better. If you’re considering doing SAFe or want to see how to improve it, see Part IX: Using FLEX to both enhance and simplify SAFe.

As always, happy to chat with you about your challenges and how we can help.

Al Shalloway, CEO, Net Objectives
425-269-8991
@alshalloway

SAFe® is a registered trademark of Scaled Agile, Inc.

Courses

Don’t see an offering in your area? Let us know so that we can see about scheduling one nearby!

Events

• May 3.  Webinar: An Introduction to FLEX: FLow for Enterprise Transformation
• May 6-8. Public Course: FLow for Enterprise Transformation – Going Beyond Lean and Agile to Achieve Business Agility

Online Courses

Here are online courses and workshops being offered now on Net Objectives University.

• Advanced Scrum Master and Kanban Online Workshop
• Agile Product Management Essential Concepts (Free!)
• Foundations of Sustainable Design
• Lean-Agile at Mid-Scale: FLEX Essentials

First of all, we have a new website which better explains some of our services. See www.netobjectives.com.

Second, I’m almost done with my book: Going Beyond Lean and Agile: Introducing FLEX – FLow for Enterprise Transformation. While it’s about our approach, we have written a section on how you can make SAFe agile by putting our Lean Portfolio and Product Management on top of Essential SAFe. To learn more, see Part IV: Using FLEX to both enhance and simplify SAFe. You will see how to have much less complexity while having much more effectiveness.

We have created an online workshop: Advanced Scrum Masters / Kanban on-the-job workshop. This workshop is let by Al Shalloway. The cost is only $100 a month and usually takes three months to complete. This workshop is part of the Net Objectives University. A lot more is there beyond this workshop.

We are offering our first workshop on our FLow for Enterprise Transformation approach. FLEX is not another framework but rather an approach that integrates existing solutions to create a custom-fit approach to your needs. More effective, less complicated than preset solutions.

Of course, we are still offering our standard set of ATDD/BDD, TDD, Design Patterns, Scrum and Kanban classes.  Note the public offerings of some of those courses coming up in Seattle and California in the next month plus listed in the table below my signature.

If you are considering doing some Agile at scale and think SAFe’s too big (or expensive) please contact me as I would love to chat about some ideas and services you may not be aware of.

There are regular new blog posts on NetObjectivesThoughts.com. Many of these have audio included and are available on iTunes.

I would be happy to chat about anything regarding delivering value to your customers (internal or external) faster.

Al Shalloway, CEO, Net Objectives
425-269-8991
@alshalloway

SAFe® is a registered trademark of Scaled Agile, Inc.

Courses

Don’t see an offering in your area? Let us know so that we can see about scheduling one nearby!

Public Courses

• April 10-12. Design Patterns Thinking
• April 30-May 2. Sustainable Test-Driven Development
• May 5-7. FLow for Enterprise Transformation – Going Beyond Lean and Agile to Achieve Business Agility

Online Courses

Here are online courses and workshops being offered now on Net Objectives University.

• Advanced Scrum Master and Kanban Online Workshop
• Agile Product Management Essential Concepts (Free!)
• Foundations of Sustainable Design
• Lean-Agile at Mid-Scale: FLEX Essentials