“I think a good SPC has to be a coach, too … You have to use the language of the people who have to become agile because agile isn’t the goal. It’s using the agile things to become faster, to become better, to have better user feedback” - Niko Kaintantzis

Stephan Neck and Niko Kaintantzis join Mark Richards in the first ‘reprise’ episode. The initial iteration of SPC’s Unleashed delved into some critical dimensions in a theoretical manner. We felt the need to revisit these dimensions, infusing our unique perspectives and real-life experiences from the field. And what better place to start than with Lean Thinking People and Agile Teams from the Organizational Agility competency?

We kick off by sharing our practical experiences of teaching the SAFe courses to non-technical audiences. Niko enlightens us about ‘Greifin’ (touching or grabbing), and Stephan underscores the significance of linking the audience’s pain points to breathe life into the concepts in their own context.

There’s a natural progression from training to coaching, so the second topic we explore is coaching non-technical people. Stephan’s first ART was actually in HR, so he has some great stories to share. Niko stresses the importance of coaching skills and ‘using the language of the people’ to connect worlds.

Next, we reflect on how valuable the recent evolution of SAFe’s built-in quality article has been in supporting non-technical teams.

Our final topic was the Patterns for Agile Business and Technology. Questioning which of the five patterns was most popular revealed that we have tried making every ART a Business-Enabled ART for years. Niko and Stephan share some great insights about their experiences coaching Agile Executive Teams and Combined Portfolios.

Cast:

Mark Richards (Moderator)

Niko Kaintantzis

Stephan Neck

Links:

Marshmallow Challenge

Pair Drawing Activity

Organizational Agility Article

Built-in-Quality Article

“Not having good DevOps is a lot more expensive than having DevOps” - Mark Richards

In this enlightening podcast episode, Niko takes the reins as the host, guiding Ali, Stephan, and Mark through a rich discussion on the essence of DevOps and its implications for modern organizations.

Niko initiates the dialogue by delving into ownership and collaboration in DevOps. Ali highlights the importance of agreements and ownership within teams, highlighting how these agreements facilitate smooth collaboration between development, operations, and other domains. Stephan chimes in, emphasizing the significance of value stream mapping and its role in fostering a sense of ownership and responsibility within teams.

Mark redirects the conversation toward the early integration of DevOps principles in the development lifecycle. He underscores the misconception of DevOps as solely a production-focused endeavor, advocating instead for its integration right from the outset. Mark shares insights from his experience, emphasizing the importance of practicing DevOps principles during the development, testing, and pre-production stages.

As the discussion evolves, Niko steers the conversation toward the learning journey inherent in DevOps. Stephan articulates the three fundamental ways described in the DevOps handbook: establishing flow, establishing feedback mechanisms, and continual experimentation. Ali adds depth to the conversation by highlighting the importance of resilience and proactive approaches to disaster recovery and business continuity.

The dialogue extends to the cultural shift required for successful DevOps implementation. The panelists agree that DevOps is more than just a set of tools—it necessitates organizational cultural transformation. They emphasize the importance of embracing a people-centric approach, fostering a team-oriented mindset, and aligning goals and practices across the entire value stream.

The key takeaway is that DevOps is not merely about adopting tools with fancy names—it’s about fostering a culture of collaboration, continuous learning, and resilience within organizations. The panelists leave listeners with a call to action, urging them to rethink their approach to DevOps and embark on a journey toward organizational transformation.

Cast:
Niko Kaintantzis (Moderator)
Stephan Neck
Ali Hajou
Mark Richards

Book References:

• The DevOps Handbook - by Gene Kim, Jez Humble, Patrick Debois, & John Willis
• The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win - Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford

“Can you integrate, and do you do that very frequently on a cadence? Yes, then that generates learning, and so forth, and so forth! Und so weiter, und so weiter!” - Ali Hajou

Why is it important to Develop on Cadence and Release on Demand? How fast can you learn? Does it integrate? Does it work? Do your customers like it? In this episode, Ali, Stephan, Niko, and Mark continue in their quest to provide insight and inspiration to SPCs and other change agents by sharing their personal journeys and war stories from the field.

Stephan hosts and begins by asking Niko, Ali, and Mark how they help teams and ARTs establish a flow system. Ali emphasizes the importance of the flow of knowledge as described in the DevOps handbook. Niko reminds us to build our cadence around people, while Mark wants to minimize the batching impact of cadence.

Exploring the inherent variability of product development, Niko focuses on Continuous Exploration, and Ali empathizes with management and ‘real-world’ commitments. Mark balances the variability of estimates with the chance we’re building something that doesn’t meet customer needs.

The Measure and Grow debate is divided into two camps. Ali and Niko argue for the ART demonstrating an integrated solution in the System Demo". Stephan and Mark, however, stress the importance of the ART addressing bottlenecks in the value stream.

Cast:
Stephan Neck (Moderator)
Ali Hajou
Niko Kaintantzis
Mark Richards

Book References:

• The DevOps Handbook - by Gene Kim, Jez Humble, Patrick Debois, & John Willis