Cut me

Some

Slack

Morgan KOBEISSI

July 2016

not the tool!

Morgan Kobeissi

BI Web Stack Dev

BI Agile Coach

 

My Daily Life

 

What is Slack?

"the degree of freedom in a company that allows it to change."

What does it mean?

An organization that can accelerate but not change direction...

Ouiii..?

...is like a car that can speed up but not steer

so...

 lot of progress...

short run

but...

long run

just another road wreck

instead

go for a more "agile" car

Game of Fifteen

Another example

Game of Fifteen

Efficient use of space

Busyness vs Business

The goal is only partly expressed in getting something done

Busyness vs Business

The other part of the goal is that we learn, grow and enjoy ourselves along the way.

Busyness vs Business

Extreme busyness is injurious to the real work of the organization.

Efficiency has a Cost

It’s possible to make an organization more efficient without making it better. 

Introduce Slack

Make an organization a little less efficient and improve it enormously. 

Introduce Slack

Allow the organization to breathe, to reinvent itself, and to make necessary change.

Benefits of Slack

Reduce Stress

Increase Agility

Capacity for Redesign

Capacity for Change

Key personnel retention

Improved ability to invest

Benefits of Slack

Capacity for

sensible risk taking

instead of

risk avoidance

Mainly...

Better Responsiveness

Slack for Change

Change represents Investment

via

Conceptualization (Design)

Implementation

Slack for Change

Slack is the way you invest in change

Slack as Investment

Slack represents capacity sacrificed in the interests of long-term health

Slack as Investment

When companies can’t invent, it’s usually because their people are too busy.

Slack as Investment

Learning to think of it that way (instead of waste) 

Separates organizations “in business” from those that are merely busy.

Great!

But How?! :) 

Velocity Stabilizer

If your velocity bounces

commit to less!

Velocity Stabilizer

Schedule important work

that is not time critical

Work you can set aside in case of an emergency

Technical Debt

Even the best teams accumulate it

Research Time

Programmers must continuously improve their skills

Learn

Widen your range

Focus

Share

Apply

Slack; a Shock Absorber

Smooth iteration? refactor

Behind schedule? don't

A buffer to meet commitment

Always refactor new code though! 

Slack; a Shock Absorber

Big Problem?

Cancel Research Time

Too big?!

Out of Slack scope...

Pitfalls!

Always cancelling Slack

If you consistently use most of your slack, you’ve overcommited.

Pitfalls!

It ain't slack if it's required

Results

When you incorporate slack into your iterations, you consistently meet your iteration commitments.

Results

You rarely need overtime.

Results

In addition, by spending so much time paying down technical debt…

Results

   Your code steadily improves

and makes further enhancements easier.

   increasing your productivity

Results

Research increases knowledge

that helps you develop more effectively

and provides insights

Furthermore

Alts: Reading Groups

Instead of research time… particularly for teams interested in discussing fundamental ideas rather than exploring new technologies.

Conclusion

Allows you to be “done done”

Enables consistent velocity

Meet iteration commitments

Provides chance for extra refactoring

Reduces technical debt 

Increases team capacity

References

The Art of Agile Development by James Shore and Shane Warden

 

References

Thank you

:)

Slack

By mcmoe

Slack

Original slides for my talk at Murex Paris in 2016 on why the notion of slack is important in the organization and how to implement it to foster continuous learning and improvement

  • 4,040