The document discusses 3 beliefs that can hold organizations back from embracing agile practices: 1) Believing in batch processing and maximizing resource efficiency. This overlooks the value of adaptability and early feedback. 2) Thinking people should be fully utilized on planned work and using specialists only for their specific tasks. This reduces flexibility and information sharing. 3) Thinking new processes can simply be rolled out through changes in structure. True change requires understanding and commitment from people. It argues these beliefs are hard to change because they are unconscious assumptions connected to other beliefs. The document proposes experiences, reflection, and real-world application can help replace beliefs by forming new connections in people's cognition, as was done with games

1. 3 beliefs we need to let go to
start our agile journey
Antti Kirjavainen @anttiki
Agile EE 2017 Kiev

2. The purpose of this talk
Give you ideas and concrete
practices to invite people and
organizations
let go of beliefs that
hold them back from embracing
the new paradigm of knowledge
work.

4. Our beliefs hold us back

5. 3 layers of culture
Practices,
processes, rules
Values (stated)
Assumptions, beliefs
(unconscious)
Source: Schein, Edgar (1992). Organizational Culture and Leadership: A

6. Why beliefs and assumptions are so
strong?
• Most things in a culture are built atop of our
beliefs and assumptions
• Lots of connections with other ideas,
assumptions etc.
• Usually unconscious
• Conflicting ideas and assumptions do not fit
with the ideas and assumptions that are based
on the old unconscious assumption
• The idea with less sticking points has less
change to prevail than the connceted (old) one

7. 10 years ago: Games for Learning

8. I used to develop and research games
for learning
• In collaboration with science teachers
• For primary school children
• ~12 years ago
• Agora Game Lab, University of Jyväskylä
• Problem: children’s misconceptions about
scientific phenomena

9. Why are there seasons?

11. Misconceptions about Science
• Hinder the children’s ability to learn about
scientific phenomena
• The earlier conception has stronger
connections in cognition
• Scientific knowledge is inter-connected, new
knowledge sticks if it fits with the existing
assumptions
• A couple of misguided assumptions can hinder
the child from learning most of related science
(e.g. astronomy and climate theories related to
model of seasonal changes)

12. BELIEFS ABOUT KNOWLEDGE WORK
THAT HOLD US BACK

13. Let’s do it like in stand-up shows: clap if
you’ve been there, seen that

14. BATCH THINKING AND FOCUS ON
RESOURCE EFFICIENCY

15. So stupid, right?

16. ”Delivering each batch of work has costs, so
it is most efficient to do it all in one big
batch”
Photo CC-2.0-BY-NC by Cameron Grant

17. Problems with batches or big projects
• Assumption: big batches save money (true,
but…)
• Unconscious tradeoffs:
• Losing the adaptibility to changes
• Risks are discovered and acted on late
• Testing of assumptions is done in the end
• Scope tends to get even bigger – scope creep
• Long time to market

18. Keeping people 100% utilized on
planned work is efficient
Photo by Walter Parenteau

19. Problems with 100% utilization
• No capability left to deal with surprises
• Results in low predictability if there is variability
(= surprises)
• Often leads to multitasking
• Task-switching reduces effectiveness

20. ”Using specialists’ time just for what they
are best at is most efficient”

21. Problems with specialisation
• Loss of information
• The need to ask something competes with the
fact that people are already on their next
assignment
• Leads to multitasking
• Task-switching reduces effectiveness
• Lots of unfinished work, which is potentially
waste

22. PROCESS ROLL-OUT POSITIVISM

23. New processes can be rolled out to
organizations and teams

24. Changes in an organization chart will lead to
similar changes in reality

25. Problems with rolling out new processes,
org charts
• People do not change anything in their
behaviour
• People do not understand the changed
process in the same way
• Lack of commitment towards change
• Hard to relate a modelled process to everyday
work

27. Rolling out agile structures and
processes is not helpful
• If you just mandate cross-funtional teams and
Scrum ceremonies, you are not doing much
differently than scientific management thinkers
• Cross-functional teams need to be more than
organizational structure
• The most important aspects of agile
frameworks are principles:
• People over processes and
• Continuous improvement.

28. Dividing the organization to thinkers and
doers is efficient

29. Problems with separating thinking and
doing
• People far away from work have hard time
seeing the real problems
• People with most insight on improvement
opportunities are left out of work design
• Lessens commitment on improvement on
”doers”
• Takes meaning out of ”doers” work

30. CARROT AND STICK
The best and only ways to keep people motivated and committed

31. But no-one really believes that
anymore, right?

32. Control by rules, incentives and status
reports is effective
Photo by Dneary

33. Why command and control is really
command and hope
• People will figure out ways to game any
system
• If you incentivize certains behaviours, people
will do anything to reproduce those behaviours,
even wrecking the company
• Intrinsically motivated people become
demotivated when they are directed to game
the system instead of working for the actual
wanted impacts

34. ”People are weak-willed, lazy and
will cheat if you let them”

35. The belief that people are lazy and
weak-willed: a self-fulfilling prophecy
• If you do not remove impediments from people
to work towards their intrinsic motivation, they
will become demotivated
• Demotivated people seem lazy and weak-
willed
• If you have lazy and weak-willed people, you
have either recruited them or they have
changed since they arrived in the organization

36. HOW TO GET RID OF THESE LEGACY
BELIEFS?
Photo CC-2.0-BY by wecometolearn

37. Problems with using logic to help get rid
of old beliefs
• The old belief has lots of connections with
other ideas, assumptions etc.
• The old belief is usually unconscious
• Conflicting ideas and assumptions do not fit
with the ideas and assumptions that are based
on the old unconscious assumption
• The idea with less sticking points has less
change to prevail than the connceted (old) one
• Arguments against the old belief have less
existing allies in the cognition

38. 1. Experience
Photo CC-2.0-BY by Jim Sneddon

39. Games for Learning: Experience
• Safe experience
• Distanced from subject matter
• Chance for the child to experiment different
strategies, theories
• Constructed so that strategies based on actual
scientific theories work better

40. 2. Reflection together
Photo CC-2.0-BY-NC by Juska Wendland

41. Games for Learning: Reflection Together
• Compare experiences from playing the game
• Form a collective opinion on what strategies
worked and why
• Confirmation on individual observations from
group
• Connect the experience to scientific theory (at
this point the experience has provided
connecting points to the children’s cognition)

42. 3. Application
Photo CC-2.0-BY-NC by Juska Wendland

43. Games for Learning: Application
• Application of ther newly learned theory to
another context
• To reinforce the newly formed theory
• I.e. Another exercise, project work etc.

44. SAME FOR KNOWLEDGE WORK?

45. Marshmallow Challenge
Tom Wujec, http://marshmallowchallenge.com/

46. Marshmallow Challenge
Experience
Reflection
Application

47. Multitasking Name Game
Image CC-3.0-BY-SA by Henrik Kniberg

49. Multitasking name game
Experience
Reflection
Application

50. Ball Flow Game
Karl Scotland, http://availagility.co.uk/ball-flow-game/

51. Experienc
e
Reflection
Applicatio

52. Motivation Storytelling

53. Motivation Storytelling
• Take turns of:
• Pick a motivator that is a strong one for you
• Tell a story about a recent event when that
motivator worked for you to learn or achieve
more
• Find similarities and differences in stories
• Discuss how you could amplify the positive
effects of the motivators described in the
stories

54. CONCLUSION

55. Assumptions and beliefs hold us back
Practices,
processes, rules
Values (stated)
Assumptions, beliefs
(unconscious)

56. How To Facilitate change in beliefs
1.Experience
2.Reflection together
3.Application in real
context - experiment

57. Links to experiences, games
• Marshmallow Challenge:
http://marshmallowchallenge.com/
• Multitasking name game:
https://www.crisp.se/gratis-material-och-
guider/multitasking-name-game
• Ball Flow Game:
http://availagility.co.uk/ball-flow-game/
• Motivation Storytelling: a blog post coming
up soon on http://www.flowa.fi/

58. THANK YOU!Antti Kirjavainen
http://www.flowa.fi/
@anttiki
antti@flowa.fi
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