Agile Management | NOOP.NL

Egocentric Leadership

I just finished reading The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and I didn’t like it. Yes, the message about team formation was quite good, and the model was interesting. But I hated the story. It describes a management team of immature managers, who all seem to be behaving like children. But behold… there is a new and wise CEO who is able to herd them all in the right direction, with a gentle but firm hand. Install a smart and experienced CEO, et voilá… Problem solved.

That’s management 2.0 all over.

It’s the same with Good to Great, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, The One Minute Manager, and many others. They all assume that the organization is a ship full of lemmings, who are all in desperate need to be led. And that leadership is to be executed by the top lemming, of course.

It’s no wonder such books sell like cupcakes among everyone who enjoys feeling superior to other workers. It satisfies their needs for status and power. Another name would be egocentric leadership.

Now, don’t get me wrong! There are plenty of good ideas and good intentions among the authors of these books. That’s why I call it management 2.0: Nice ideas, bad implementation.

I get the same allergic reaction when I see the suggestion that managers should “coach their subordinates”. (Some former sports athletes make a lot of money teaching “coaching leadership” to stadiums fool of drooling CEO’s. I’m sure they have some vendors selling branded sticks and carrots.)

Repeat after me: managers cannot coach employees!

Because most “superiors” have no idea how to do the jobs of their “subordinates”. Peter Drucker already wrote this ages ago:

Knowledge workers are not subordinates; they are “associates.” For, once beyond the apprentice stage, knowledge workers must know more about their job than their boss does—or else they are no good at all. In fact, that they know more about their job than anybody else in the organization is part of the definition of knowledge workers.

- Peter F. Drucker, Management

Management 3.0 is the understanding that an organization is a social complex system of knowledge workers. Taking care of the system is just another specialization, just like development, testing, and marketing. Someone has to do it. But nobody is anyone else’s superior. We’re all in it together.

Management 3.0 Is a Way of Work

Is it a method? Is it a framework?

No, it’s… what actually?

In two previous posts I claimed that Management 1.0 is doing the wrong thing, while Management 2.0 is doing the right thing wrong. Now you probably expect me to say, “Management 3.0 is doing the right thing”.

But what is the “right thing”?

A Way of Life

Some of my friends prefer organic food over factory food.

I respect their opinion that eating organic food is for them the right thing to do. Choosing organic food over mass-produced food is not a method. It’s not a framework. It’s not a religion. It’s a way of life. It’s what my friends believe is right.

Doing “the right thing” means acting in a way that is consistent with a core belief.

My core belief is that organizations are complex adaptive systems, and that managers must care for the system, instead of bossing people around. Others have phrased it differently:

Organizations are learning networks of diverse people creating value. […] The role of leaders includes stewardship of the living rather than management of the machine.

I cannot prove any of this. But I believe this to be true.

A Way of Work

This means I think…

1. Keeping workers happy is a main responsibility of managers, otherwise the organization fails to generate value.
2. Managers should manage the system so that it maximizes value across all stakeholders, otherwise the organization becomes dysfunctional.
3. Managers should continuously improve the system so that it keeps changing, or else death will surely follow.

There are many ways to do this.

Everyone can come up with useful practices that satisfy these criteria. Management 3.0 is not defined by practices, such as the delegation levels, moving motivators, or the change management questions. These models and exercises are just examples of things you can do to become a healthier organization. Just like drinking ecological coffee, and not eating junk food, are merely examples of becoming a more “organic-minded” person.

Eating organic food is not a framework, and not a method. It is a way of life.

Management 3.0 is not a framework, and not a method. It is a way of work.

And yes, I believe Management 3.0 is a “right thing” to do.

Management 2.0 Is the Right Thing Done Wrong

I’ve been complaining about management 1.0, a style of management that we still see all around us. It assumes that an organization can be managed like a machine, and that its people are interchangeable parts.

But what exactly is management 2.0?

In a management 2.0 organization the managers recognize that “people are their most valuable assets” and all managers have to become “servant leaders” while steering the organization from “good to great”.

They have some good ideas, but they’re using the wrong approach.

One-on-ones

The idea behind one-on-ones is not bad. I’m actually in favor of it. It acknowledges that people are the most important parts of the system, and management must find ways in which they can help people find their true calling and achieve great results together.

Unfortunately… many managers don’t realize they should manage the system, not the people. They use one-on-ones for individual goal-setting, and they follow-up later asking for status updates. They don’t understand that, in a complex system, this micro-management should be delegated to team.

360 Degree Evaluations

The idea behind 360 degree performance feedback is also quite good. The issue is that managers are not independent observers. They cannot objectively assess the performance of individual people, and therefore they should retrieve input from various sources.

Unfortunately… some people don’t understand that the method they use to evaluate performance will influence performance. And so they install 360 degree tools that ask people to give anonymous feedback about each other. Trust breaks down because the wrong metrics destroy good behaviors.

Balanced Scorecards

There’s also nothing wrong with the idea behind balanced scorecards. The problem with measurements is that one metric will lead to sub-optimization, and therefore you need multiple metrics to have a holistic view of the organization. It is useful to have multiple perspectives on complex problems.

Unfortunately… managers see the organization as a collection of parts. They try to optimize departments. But in a complex system the performance is in the relationships between the parts. And thus you need metrics that cover perspectives of multiple stakeholders, or “measure from-the-outside-in”.

And so on…

Is the glass half full or half empty?

Let’s try and see it from the positive side. Management 2.0 organizations are at least trying to do the right thing. But they do it in the wrong way. They’re stuck with the machine metaphor for organizations, while at the same time they want to improve. And so they adopt good ideas and force-fit them onto their bad architecture. They are typically the organizations that create plans for “implementing Agile”.

The good part is, with these organizations awareness and desire are already covered. They just need help with knowledge and ability.

They’re halfway on the road to Management 3.0.

Management 1.0 Is Still All Around Us

Some people told me that the advice I give in my courses is simply common sense management. I agree. Unfortunately, common sense managers are hard to find. And management 1.0 articles and advice are still everywhere.

Some examples I found this weekend…

Get Employees to Compete Against Each Other (Harvard Business Review)

Rank employees according to personal achievements and statistics, and let them compete against each other. Ignore those who say collaboration can lead to better results than competition. We’re not a bunch of tree-hugging learners, we’re ruthless job killers! Who needs teamwork when our aim is to fire the worst performers?

What Your Employees Do When You’re On Vacation (Inc.)

Employees have a tendency to slack off when the boss is on vacation. Therefore, the boss should return to the office at unexpected moments, to check who is really working and who is playing Angry Birds. Of course, nobody needs to check on us, the bosses. We never slack off. After all, we keep all the fun and motivating work for ourselves.

3 Tips for Legally and Ethically Monitoring Employees Online (Entrepreneur)

It would be so nice if we could run a business without employees. Unfortunately, we can’t. And thus, we should check continuously whether people are using the office tools for work, and not for Photoshopping baby pictures. The crucial and ethical part is to let them know that we’re monitoring everyone. It sends a clear signal of transparency and trust.

*sigh*

These articles make me sad…

But they also make me happy! Because clearly, there’s great need in the world for Management 3.0. The big question is, how do I get the ones who really need it to read the book or attend the course?

Maybe I should introduce some games and exercises to help them competing, checking, and monitoring. On each other.

(Please do me a favor, and add your reply to the articles mentioned above, here, here and here.)

Separation of Social Concerns

There was already a LinkedIn group about Management 3.0.

Now there is also a Facebook page.

And a Google+ page.

And a Twitter account.

     

On these separate streams I post valuable links that (in my opinion) relate specifically to Management 3.0 thinking and practices. For example, I have posted links to articles such as:

• How to Avoid Lame Morale Events (Scott Berkun)
• Leading vs. Managing in a Scrum Environment (Jeff Sutherland)
• If You Can't Have Stable Teams, Why Not Stable Study Groups?
  (Jason Yip)
• Stop B*tching About Local Optimizations (Matt Barcomb)
• The Agile Train is Heading for Radicalsville (Bob Marshall)

I will also invite other people (including the 18 licensed trainers) to do the same.

From now on I will dedicate my personal streams on LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ and Twitter to status updates about my own travels, courses, conference sessions, and book selections. And of course, my daily rants about crappy wi-fi, bad coffee, and criminal governments.

I hope this separation of concerns make it easier for you to choose how you’d like to stay up-to-date.

(Jurgen Appelo is author of Management 3.0 and How to Change the World.)

What Comes After Certified Scrum Master?

What comes after Certified Scrum Master (CSM)? Should it be Expert Scrum Master? Or is it User Story Tips and Tricks for you? Will you consider Combining Scrum and Kanban? Or maybe Certified Planning Poker?

Yes, there is value in all these suggestions. But the biggest challenges for Scrum Masters are Somewhere Else...

The major obstacles to Agile adoption are: organizational culture, resistance to change, competence development, and management support (see: VersionOne State of Agile 2010). These are all management & leadership issues.

Right after serving and coaching teams, Certified Scrum Masters should consider serving and coaching the leaders and managers in an organization.

Help them to become No-Impediment Managers!

Management 3.0

After 6 months of experimentation and adaption in 12 countries the Management 3.0 course has matured. It covers people skills, empowerment, goal setting, metrics, complexity thinking, organization design, change management and more.

The last course in Sao Paulo, Brazil achieved an average rating of 9.3 out of 10, from a combined group of Agile novices and experts. They played Delegation Poker, Meddlers, Change Agent, and several other games and exercises. No Certified Scrum Master will want to miss this!

Check out the training schedule and learn how to tackle the Biggest Impediment in the World… Traditional Management.

(Jurgen Appelo is author of Management 3.0, a best-selling management book for Agile developers. It has a picture of a monster in it.)

Co-Training the Management 3.0 Course

In my book I wrote that I don’t like pair programming and other activities that involve pairing up with other people to do creative things. I prefer results to be either mine or yours. I don’t seem to care about it if it’s somewhere in the middle. That’s just the way I am. And I don’t regret it. But it made Jürgen de Smet a bit nervous, because he was the first person ever to co-train my course with me.

Interestingly enough, I didn’t have a problem being a co-trainer with Jürgen in Mechelen this week. Maybe it’s because the materials had already been created, and training is more a social exercise to me than a creative effort.

The evaluations were just as good as they were when I do the course on my own. It appears Jurgen & Jürgen together did as well as Jurgen does by himself. This makes me feel confident that other trainers can take over and organize Management 3.0 classes with my materials.

Are you interested in becoming a licensed trainer too?
(Note: It’s not necessary for your name to be Jurgen.)

10 Questions about Management 3.0 (video)

Book Launch & Book Winners

The Management 3.0 book launch last Friday was a big success. There were more than 100 people attending the event at the Selexyz Donner book store in Rotterdam. A big thanks to all who were there, and in particular to Femke Cuijpers, Erik Gille, Laurens Bonnema, and Jeroen van Eck, who all helped me organize this event and made it a success.

Plenty of pictures were taken, and everyone seemed to appreciate the three little talks about social media, agile management, and the book. In particular the ending, when I actually launched the book into the audience, seemed to be the highlight of the evening. I’m glad this unique copy of the book was caught by Radu Davidesco, who had traveled all the way from Romania to attend the launch. You can see Radu’s (artistic) pictures here.

I will also use this space to announce the winners of the small contest I announced three weeks ago. Five signed copies of the Management 3.0 book were won by Samantha Laing (South Africa), John Bauer (USA), Roberto Bera (Italy), Marcin Novotni (Hungary), and Mahadevan L P (India). They all published their own interesting views of Martie the Management Model. (The jury of this contest consisted of Olaf Lewitz and Marcin Floryan. If you don’t agree with this outcome, shoot them, not me!)

Win a Signed Copy of Management 3.0

This week I will receive a big box of free copies of my book, which (I am happy to say) is right now the one of the bestselling Agile books on Amazon.

But I already read the bloody thing 20 times. So I’m glad those copies are not for me. They are for you!

If you want a chance to win a signed copy of the book, here’s what you have to do:

Publish your view on the role of managers in Agile organizations. You can choose any form you want… a blog post, tweet, Facebook status update, SlideShare presentation, podcast, YouTube video, photo on Flickr.com, anything... Even crop circles are allowed, if they’re pictured on Google Maps. The channel doesn’t matter, as long as your message is public and about Agile management.

There’s just one restriction!

Your contribution must, in some way or another, refer to Martie the management model. Again, it doesn’t matter how. Describe it, tear it apart, redraw it, rephrase it in your own words, argue against it, make love to it, whatever… The content doesn’t matter, but your message should somehow mention Martie the management model. (No need to refer to the book. Just Martie is enough.)

That’s all… Discuss Agile management, mention Martie, and notify me about your message.

I will select a jury of a few brilliant people and ask them to rate people’s contributions for value and originality, and to select the winners. The deadline for your contribution is January 31, and I intend to announce the winners before the official book launch on February 4.

The number of copies I give away will equal the number of contributions, divided by 2, with a maximum of 20. (In other words, if there are only few contributions you have a 50% chance of winning.) All copies will be signed, numbered, and supplemented with a Certificate of Ownership. I might even hug the books for a while before sending them off to you.

You have less than 2 weeks left. Start working!

(Oh, who wants to be in the jury?)