Movements of a Hypnotic Nature - Incubating innovative products using Agile methods

Brent Barton (Agile Alliance, Scrum Alliance, Solutions IQ), Bryan Stallings (Copresenter and Agile Consultant at SolutionsIQ)

Hands On · Innovation

Wednesday, 08:30, 9 hours | Meeting Room 16

Title: Movements of a Hypnotic Nature – Incubating innovative products using Agile methods Type: Hands-on (Full Day: 6 hours) Presenter: Brent Barton Abstract: Using a fictitious company, this hands-on exercise provides a holistic approach to running an Agile project from inception to closure. The sponsoring organization, “Movements of a Hypnotic Nature,” http://www.MovementsOfAHypnoticNature.com is funding a set-based development to produce several ideas and working prototypes for its next product line. An overview of the day will be given in the introduction. The room will be set up with big charts on the walls to guide and remind teams what they are supposed to do so learning is Just-in-time. New concepts will be introduced just before being needed. A supply store will be set up to allow the purchase of materials and a banker will handle the money. Exercise introduction 30 min Introduction Story: I need a new product for my unique company, “Movements of a Hypnotic Nature.” The new product must use the existing tools and raw materials available. You have been selected as participants because of your skill and past performance. I want each team to submit a design solution using the following information: • The design should be pleasing to the eye • The design must have some or all parts of it that move • The design’s movement should be able to be started intuitively • The design’s movement should stop gracefully on its own • The movement’s total travel should measure a minimum of 5 inches • The design must use much of the existing materials in other product lines to contain costs Note: Existing materials include: Play-doh, rubber bands, golf balls, golf tees and rulers. Exotic materials cost more and have more pizzazz to increase the trade-off discussions Exercises: After forming teams and establishing budgets, (fake) money is allotted to each team. Money is spent on raw materials from “the store.” Existing raw materials are less costly than more exotic materials. Money is also spent paying the teams’ salaries. 30 min Introducing story techniques will help us identify roles and initial product backlog items 60 min Prioritization and Estimating techniques help us prepare for iteration planning 60 min We will run an initial iteration and establish a velocity. (10 min planning, 15 min work, 5 min review = 30 min) 30 min The team will then conduct release planning using velocity measures. 60 min Each iteration (#2, 3, 4) will include re-planning, several stand ups and a review of the product (3 x 30 = 90 min) 90 min Final Release and product selection 30 min

Brent Barton, Agile Implementation Managing Consultant, Certified Scrum Trainer Brent’s background includes experience as a developer, development manager, project manager, and leading a PMO. Having successfully implemented Scrum at SolutionsIQ, reorganizing the Professional Services department using this methodology and doubling the revenue of Professional Services, Brent continues to work as both a consultant and a mentor on multiple projects internally and externally to SolutionsIQ. Brent tries to bring a pragmatic nature to Scrum, helping various organizations find the interpretation of Scrum that is most appropriate to them. “I shine best,” says Brent, “when I’m making ordered chaos out of just plain chaos.” Brent doesn’t believe Scrum is about solving chaos, but about controlling it just enough to get the job done; too much control defeats the natural entropy that allows for creativity in a constructed environment. In an effort to pass on this knowledge and experience, Brent is very active in the Scrum Alliance and the Agile Project Leadership Network. Graduating from San Jose State with a degree in Mathematics and a focus on Computer Science, Brent became certified in Scrum in 2004 and as a Scrum Trainer in 2005. Brent and colleagues recently had accepted two papers published into the IEEE library. “AgileEVM – Earned Value Management in Scrum Projects” offers a simple, lightweight method for integrating the benefits of traditional EVM metrics into your Agile software development process without causing "drag" on team productivity. The paper was presented and published at the Agile 2006 Conference. Another paper, “Implementing a Professional Services Organization Using Type C Scrum,” presented at the 40th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS), defines an organizational structure to promote business value to customers by increasing organizational agility. A combination of both technical and leadership roles have shaped Brent’s fifteen years of software development experience. Intel was the location where Brent first experimented with Agile; his first Agile-like project is still running, many years later. Brent has also done work for a wide range of clients from the National Basketball Association to Microsoft.