EN 
DE Learning from software development
Author: Dr. Anja Mentrup, Consultant: Judith Andresen
Contribution – Embedded Software Engineering Congress 2015
In software development, it has become clear that complex issues cannot be tackled with a comprehensive plan that is then implemented verbatim. We have learned to build software in such a way that new insights and changing requirements don't derail us. Complex IT projects are best mastered through an iterative, incremental, and learning approach. Organizations and potential organizational restructuring are also complex undertakings. Daily operations demand a flexible organizational culture. Communication, knowledge transfer, and the organic integration of IT into the organization are vital. This is complex! A comprehensive plan with a direct, one-to-one implementation simply won't work. Learning from software development means designing the restructuring iteratively, incrementally, and with continuous learning.
What does "digital transformation" mean for companies?
The opportunities presented by digital media and the internet are currently dramatically changing the business foundation of almost every company. Most companies have recognized that this external change necessitates internal transformation, but many struggle to implement this internal change. This is especially true for large corporations whose structures were established long before the digital age. The major challenge facing these companies is to break down old structures and create a new culture that allows them to adapt flexibly to changing market demands—a flexible organizational culture. Flexible with regard to customers, business relationships, and value chains.
To achieve this adaptability, it is important to understand that this is a complex task and cannot be approached with conventional methods. The Cynefin Framework is helpful in classifying organizational development as a complex task and in choosing the right methodology.
The Cynefine Framework
The Cynefin Framework was developed by David Snowden and Mary Boone[1]. Cynefin can be translated into German as "Lebensraum" or "Platz" (living space or space) and means that various factors in our environment, as well as our experiences, influence us in ways that we cannot understand or predict. This framework expands the existing perspective of management theory, which is primarily based on clear cause-and-effect relationships, to include the area without clear cause-and-effect relationships. Snowden and Boone categorize simple and complex tasks into the area of clear cause-and-effect relationships. This area can be addressed very effectively with conventional management methods because it exhibits a certain degree of predictability.
Beyond clear cause-and-effect relationships lie complex and chaotic tasks. Simple and complicated tasks aim to find the correct solution, while complex and chaotic tasks can only focus on finding a good one. Within the Cynefin framework, it quickly becomes clear that developing a learning organizational culture is a complex task. Predicting how an organization will react to a specific action is impossible. The reaction can only be observed and serve as the basis for further action. According to Snowden and Boone, complex tasks, unlike simple or complicated ones, require a learning approach.
Scrum as a learning approach in software development
Scrum originated in software development and is an iterative-incremental and learning approach to developing working software that meets the customer's real needs. The current Scrum Guide no longer refers specifically to software, but more generally to "complex products." [2, p. 3]
The goal of using the Scrum framework is to build exactly what the customer needs, without creating anything superfluous. This is achieved by a team that covers all the functions necessary to complete the tasks. Scrum is an iterative-incremental approach based on the PDCA cycle developed by William E. Deming. PDCA stands for Plan, Do, Check, Act.
Scrum uses sprints. Sprints are fixed-length units of time. In practice, sprints of two to four weeks have become standard. A planning meeting is held for the upcoming sprint to create a plan. This plan outlines which work packages will be completed. The work packages must be planned in such a way that a deliverable is achieved by the end of the sprint. In the case of software development, the deliverable is usable software. A work package consists of the task itself and acceptance criteria that further define what needs to be done.
The implementation phase of the sprint is accompanied by daily meetings, known as dailies. The goal of the dailies is to keep the team informed about the progress of their work and to identify obstacles early on.
The implementation phase concludes with a review meeting in which the work results are approved. This meeting gathers important insights for future steps, such as whether the developed solutions meet the customer's needs and whether the right priorities have been set.
The sprint cycle concludes with a retrospective, in which work processes are reviewed and adjusted if necessary. Following the retrospective, a new sprint begins with a planning session. The insights gained from both the review and the retrospective are incorporated into this next planning session.
Organizational development based on Scrum
The approach described above, which is very common in software development, is also suitable for developing a flexible organizational culture. A key characteristic of this Scrum-based approach is that the organizational structure is developed from within the company and not imposed from the outside. It is a transition.
First, a transition team is formed. This team must be staffed in such a way that it can implement all pending tasks. This means that all necessary hierarchical levels are represented; in particular, the top management level should be represented to truly effect change. Furthermore, all key departments must be represented to consider as many perspectives as possible.
The transition team should be small, with a maximum of eight members. When filling the team, it's important to ensure that it isn't based on company policy or proportional representation – the team should consist of individuals who communicate effectively and are eager to make a difference. The primary task of the transition team is to serve as a model for an iterative, incremental, and learning-oriented approach. The team's composition itself is the first step in this learning process.
The composition of the transition team may change during the transition process. The team members will develop an awareness of this and act accordingly. A sprint length of two or four weeks has also proven effective for the transition team.
In a planning session, the work packages for the transition team are planned. These work packages should be planned in such a way that deliverables are available at the end of the sprint cycle, which can be evaluated for their success or impact. For example, all employees should be informed about the existence and tasks of the transition team. Initially, the transition team will develop an organizational vision that everyone involved in the transition will work towards. This vision is not a fixed organizational structure, but rather a description of approaches that would be desirable for the company after an initial review.
The implementation phase of the transition team is also accompanied by daily stand-up meetings. These meetings cover who is working on what, what progress has been made, and what obstacles need to be removed.
During the review, the transition team checks whether the work packages have been successfully implemented according to the acceptance criteria. So-called "open reviews" are useful in this process. The transition team itself accepts the work packages, but other members of the organization are invited to participate and can provide input in the form of questions and suggestions after the formal acceptance. This ensures broad transparency regarding the organizational development process and increases acceptance by allowing all members of the organization to contribute.
The process concludes with a retrospective, in which the transition team members review the work processes and adjust them if necessary. The results from the review and retrospective are then incorporated into the next planning session.
Practical experience with iterative-incremental organizational development
In practice, it often turns out that this approach is easy to understand in principle, but its implementation requires a shift in thinking that cannot simply be mandated, but must develop organically. Most managers quickly become impatient when there is no fixed goal to be reached directly and detours are an inherent part of the method.
Practical experience also shows that companies using the approach described above can make rapid progress toward a flexible corporate culture. The transition team's influence as a role model is immense. The short sprints allow for the quick implementation of measures, observation of their impact, and subsequent action based on these observations. This makes it possible to restructure the organization step by step, without needing to know the exact target state a priori, but rather only a general organizational vision.
This approach doesn't eliminate resistance to change, but it helps mitigate it by involving all organizational members, represented by the transition team, and giving them the opportunity to contribute in open reviews. Furthermore, this approach quickly makes existing resistance to change transparent, thus creating the opportunity to actively address it.
Bibliography and list of sources
[1] David J. Snowden & Mary E. Boone: A Leader's Framework for Decision Making. In: Harvard Business Review. November 2007, pp. 69–76.
[2] https://www.scrumguides.org/docs/scrumguide/v1/Scrum-Guide-US.pdf
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