The Phoenix Project - some thoughts

Recently we ran a number of Phoenix Project simulations for an organisation who are in the process of developing product teams, which the CIO noted “...will be self-contained, self-managed and empowered to deliver services associated with critical business value streams”. Part of this transformation involved the IT department’s lead team experiencing The Phoenix Project simulation for themselves and then, having agreed on the benefit, running a further two, so far, for two of the new product teams.

Both groups who took part in the simulations included technical roles (Developers, Testers, Support, Monitoring, etc.) and representatives from the business teams for each product, including CIO and Directors. One of the teams was new; so new, that the day of the simulation was their very first day working together.

I’m not going to provide any spoilers about how the days went, other than to share some findings.

With a mix of IT and Business representatives taking part, we made sure that IT team members took the roles of Parts Unlimited business representatives (CFO, HR & Retail Operations) and those from the wider business, took IT roles. Within the IT representatives, we made sure that nobody had a role similar to their day job. That mix created some good talking points from the very start.

As round one was started some people dropped into their day job role and took control of certain aspects of the round. For one team, this worked really well and round one was a roaring success. For another group, less so. However, following the reflection and some advice provided on how improvements could be made, the team who didn’t do so well in round 1, listened and used their preparation time to improve their approach. The other team, who did well, didn’t prepare as much and struggled in the second round.

As the day progressed, it became apparent that those IT representatives in Business roles in the simulation were learning much about the value of planning, and they were sharing what they learned. All, eventually, understood the value of preparing along with a few other key things which I won’t share here. The Business representatives in IT roles for the day were able to see what was required from them in their usual roles and identified improvements they could make.

The days went well with both groups having many takeaways which would help them establish their new teams and drive collaboration and improvements based on the principles of DevOps. The team who were together for the first time, started as a room of individuals and left as a team, made up of IT and Business people. Both groups left as more cohesive and collaborative teams than when they started.

So what can you get from participating in The Phoenix Project?

• Your teams can learn how to use the DevOps principles and ideas to improve their way of working, whether they are currently involved in development or not. 
• Teams can bond over shared challenges, whether they are established teams, or brand new teams. 
• You don’t need to be involved in IT to get value from the day, or DevOps. DevOps, after all is enterprise wide, so anybody involved in the development or support of business value can benefit from this simulation. 
• Senior leaders in organisations can get hands-on high level experience of Lean, DevOps, Agile and Service Management principles. 
• Teams starting out on the DevOps journey can experience the essence of what it means and take away ideas to use the next day. 

If you are interested in running The Phoenix Project simulation at your organisation, get in touch.

Teamwork - a thought

A while ago I responded to a statement that millennials and Gen Y people expect to be able to use any device of their choosing at work. My response (and I can't remember where I had this hissy-fit) was along the lines of "Tough! Once we grow up, we have to toe the line, and sometimes that means using and doing stuff that seems daft". However, going through the VeriSM BoK and there is a statement

that goes

"the nature of teams is evolving, moving away from the traditional hierarchical structure, to empowered and collaborative work units. The workers of today and especially tomorrow (Gen Y & Gen Z) have been raised in the teamwork culture and organisations need to be prepared to offer that same work environment." (emphasis mine)

Now, as a dad, I know everything, right? Nope. My initial reaction to the above statement was along the lines of "Pish!", or to be less English and more Kiwi "Yeah, Nah!" but then I got thinking. When I was at school, we sat at individual desks, in columns and learnt. Science classes were the only ones where we sat and worked in small groups. My daughters at Intermediate School and College (high school) only seem to work in groups. It's what they know. Could they join the workforce and be expected to work individually? Yes. Would they excel in that format? Probably not.

So we do need to change the way that work environments are created, not just because they are "self-entitled" Gen Y people, but because we have created that environment in schooling.

Does you work environment allow for a culture of team working (not just "in a team" but actually part of a team)? Or do you expect people to be doing their own job while working in the Finance team, or the HR team, or the Asset Management team? And I'm not saying open plan offices are the answer.

When consulting with clients about DevOps, I reinforce the culture, collaboration & teams aspect, which of course if you are considering becoming part of the DevOps movement in your organisation, means changing the culture across the whole organisation, but this needs to work across all teams in all organisations whether DevOps is something being considered or not. I also always like to create self managing teams when helping organisations to identify and drive improvements of any kind, but this has just been a lightbulb.

Maybe I am late to the realisation party, but that one sentence has made me take stock of everything I have ignored about the way most organisations work. I don't have all the answers, but I'm thinking about it.

Are you the right kind of role model?

I recently wrote about the differences between leaders and managers, but since then I have been thinking more about the type of people we interact with, rather than the role itself.

Whether you are a member of a team, a manager, team leader or any other role in an organisation, is the way you act having a positive or negative influence on those around you? Over the years, I have been lucky enough to work with a variety of different people in many organisations across the globe, some huge companies of thousands of employees and some small local organisations with less than two dozen employees.  What stands out in all of them is how some people influence their colleagues positively and others manage to bring the mood down immediately.

Is that important? As Phineas from Phineas & Ferb would say, "Yes, Yes it is".  I have worked with some people, at varying levels of hierarchical influence, who have made people glad to be there because they always have a cheerful demeanour, they are happy to help anybody out with any task, and when they aren't around, they are missed by the teams.  Others start to moan about something as soon as they walk through the door, whether it is the traffic, politicians, how much they ache from the gym, their partner or anything else that pops into their heads.  We all have moments where something winds us up and we want to vent, but if it is all the time, it brings people down.

So what should you do to make sure you influences people positively? My personal recommendations are:

• Be aware. I'm not suggesting you take up yoga on a mountain top, but be aware of how you sound and come across. Are you complaining too much? Are you the negative one whenever there is a team meeting or announcement? Take a breath before opening your mouth; try to be more positive in your comments
• Be positive. If anybody is positive all of the time, suggest random drug tests at your place of work. It's not humanly possible without some kind of assistance. But you can try and find the opportunities in the challenges or difficult situations you discover. Focus on what you can do, not what you can't.
• Be empathetic. Try to understand what others might be feeling. Listen - really listen - to what they are saying and try to see things from their perspective. 
• Show humility. If you don't know something, say you don't. If you know who knows more, let others know. Encourage others to get involved and give them the credit. Don't be too senior to get your hands dirty and do tasks perceived to be menial. 
• Be professional. Small actions can make all the difference here. Get to meetings on time; dress appropriately. You don't need to wear a suit, but clothes that fit and are clean is a good start (brightly patterned and coloured lycra active-wear is probably not appropriate for any position other than spin class teacher!); communicate appropriately; be reliable and show integrity.

All of the above are key to creating a positive vibe in the workplace.  Whether your day is turning up, doing your job and going home, leading people through organisational change, running a company or looking after children at home, you need to display positive attributes to ensure that you are a good role model.  Empathy is, as I have hinted at previously, a key skill. However it seems to be lacking in many people. So can I ask that if ALL you take away from this post, is that you will focus on being more empathetic? That will help you become the right kind of role model that many people need. 

If you feel you or your colleagues would like assistance with anything mentioned, please do get in touch. I can help.

Manager or Leader?

I have been having a brief chat with someone about whether they should be hiring a leader
or manager and the discussion seemed worth sharing.

So, is a manager or a leader right for a role?

These two terms often get used interchangeably, or even by people who consider a leader to be less than a manager. After all, you progress form a Team Leader to a Manager, don't you? But what is the difference, if there is one?

There are a plethora of sites and articles out there defining the difference between the two types of role, but in the end it doesn't really matter what you are or have, as long as it is right for the position.

Manager
In very simple terms, because you will be able to find something on the internet that disagrees with me, a manager is one who ensures that things get done and focuses on tasks.  So if, for example, you have a position which needs to ensure that certain services or products are delivered in a set way by a set time, and the team just need to do that, you probably need a manager in that position.

Leader
Again, in simple terms, a leader understands and shares a vision and encourages or helps people to deliver it. Another example might be where a team needs to deliver certain services to a customer but it is not prescriptive in the way that the services is delivered, then a leader might be right in this situation. "We need to clean this house. Make sure that there are no dirty carpets, curtains, windows and the oven is clean". The vision has been set, and all get on to deliver that service. The leader might help to move furniture and do some of the tasks, but doesn't tell the team how to clean the carpets, unless they are struggling and need help.

Servant Leader
This is a relatively new term to many people. Within agile teams. Servant Leaders, such as Scrum Masters or Agile Service Managers, in that environment will lead the teams to become self-organising and remove any impediments that might slow down or stop delivery.  They are part of the team and not separate. As Robert K Greenleaf puts it

"The servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible."

So should you have, or be, a manager or a leader? Well, I am a consultant, so my response would have to be; it depends.

Managers will probably be more focussed on getting tasks delivered in an agreed way. e.g. Finance Manager or HR Manager.

Leaders will be focussed on helping a team to deliver against a vision. I believe that IT Operations Managers or Development Managers should be leaders more than managers.

Servant leaders will be focussed on helping the team become self-organising and enabling them to deliver with minimal hurdles. Think Scrum Master or even Service Desk Team Leaders.

There is no right or wrong role. It really needs to fit the position. A leader won't always fit in a management role, and a manager won't always fit in a leader role.  Work out what you need, and then find the right type of person to fit that need. And if you are a natural leader, understand that if you move into a management position, it just may not suit you and you might become frustrated.

To BCP or not

I recently shared an article written by +Mike Elgan about the fact that, in the US at least, laptops will not be allowed in cabin of aeroplanes and of the demand, whether current or future, for access to smartphones by border patrols.

While this is worrying for many people, businesses need to plan for this. Those organisations that have staff members travelling to and fro from the USA, and many other countries soon, need to be prepared.

The equipment mentioned is, for those travelling for work, likely to be owned by the organisation.  So what happens for that business traveller when the laptop is irreparably damaged in the checked-in luggage, or stolen? What happens to the data stored on it? What happens if border patrol demands access to the smart phone?  This isn't a case of "Call IT and get it replaced". This has a huge business impact.

Business Continuity Plans are (supposed to be) written by business units to document how to handle and recover from threats to an organisation or business unit. They are generally written as a response to major disasters, or issues that stop staff from attending offices (flood, fire, disease, etc). Most won't consider this as a large enough impact. They should.
 

Business continuity planning (or business continuity and resiliency planning) is the process of creating systems of prevention and recovery to deal with potential threats to a company.  Any event that could negatively impact operations is included in the plan........

Businesses cannot, nor should they, expect IT to be handling this for them alone. IT will be able to respond with an IT Service Continuity Plan, based on the Business Continuity Plan, but not second guess the impact to the wider business.

If you are a senior manager in an organisation where anybody travels overseas for business, you need to consider the impact, what your staff will do if they lose the laptop or smartphone, and what you will do if the data stored therein is compromised.

Should staff have company data on the laptop or phone?  If so, is IT aware of this and have you asked them to come up with a way of protecting that data?

This is no different to staff having laptops stolen out of cars, but it now needs to be front of your mind.  Don't expect IT to know what you want. IT are a part of the business and you need to work together to ensure that you have considered the impact, understood the risks and planned for it.

Prepare your plan and provide all travellers with a towel. Then, you can, as Douglas Adams advised in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Training, training or training?

Last year I wrote a blog discussing whether you should go for on-line or classroom training.  Since then, I have become a Registered Education Partner for the DevOps Institute & PeopleCert, offering on-site classroom training in DevOps Foundation, Certified Agile Service Manager and Certified Agile Process Owner.  I have also become a certified trainer and delivery partner of GamingWorks for The Phoenix Project.

So, which type of training should you go for?

Well the blog from last year still stands. On-line suits some people and classroom suits others. However the new kid on the block (from my point of view) is the business simulation game. As I mention here, there is a lot more to it than formal training and to get a good overview of DevOps, how it will work for you and how you can use the principles in your day to day job, the Phoenix Project business simulation game is worth considering.

Check out the different offerings we have, here, and get in touch to see how we can help you, your teams and your organisation.

Why attend The Phoenix Project business simulation game?

People are often sent on training courses to gain knowledge of particular subjects.  Usually, people are given the theory in traditional classroom courses or e-learning modules and are then left to gain the experience in a real life, often mission critical, environment, without guidance or support; then people complain that the best practice is no good, whereas a lot of the problems are associated with our inability to translate the theory into practice, and not understanding how to apply it.

A business simulation game is a form of experiential learning, or learning-by-doing. People learn, in a number of game rounds, to translate theory into practice. They learn how to use the theory to achieve measurable results.  

Does this mean that they need to have attended a training course first? No, not at all.  By attending a business simulation with no preconceptions of the theory of “how to do it”, people learn as much as those who have attended training.  Sometimes more.

Are business simulation games only for IT? Again, no. Business simulation workshops like The Phoenix Project, allow those from the wider business to experience what IT experiences and learn how to build a closer working relationship with IT in a “safe” environment where everyone can try and fail, or try and succeed, without a business impact.

To find out more about The Phoenix Project business simulation workshop visit www.gander.co.nz/services

Why do I need to think about DevOps when I don’t do Dev?

Some days it feels like everyone is talking about Devops. If you read industry blogs, follow groups such as Back2ITSM on Facebook, or talk to people in our industry, someone will start to mention DevOps fairly quickly. That’s fine if you work in an organisation that does software development, but surely it doesn’t matter to you if you don’t. Or does it?

A year or so ago, I was talking with Rob England about Devops and I couldn’t see how it would affect the types of organisations that I generally consult to; small, “traditional” IT shops with off the shelf software being used, with no development. We had a great discussion about it as part of an ITSM Crowd recording.

I now feel that I understand DevOps better, although there is still plenty more to know as DevOps evolves and more people get involved in it, but my understanding is still very much on the Ops side of DevOps.

So, if, like me, you have your heart in Operations, what does DevOps mean, why should you care and can it help you?

What does it mean?

According to DevOps.com:

"The first sentence on Wikipedia defines DevOps as “a software development method that stresses communication, collaboration and integration between software developers and information technology (IT) professionals.” Well, that’s a fairly dense definition, yet still pretty vague. I think DevOps can be explained simply as operations working together with engineers to get things done faster in an automated and repeatable way."

DevOps, at it’s core is all about bringing together Dev & Ops and the wider business and ensuring that the cadence of development delivery can be matched and managed at the same pace by Operations. DevOps also encourages the use of the goals of CALMS; Culture, Automation, Lean, Measurement and Sharing.

Very (and I mean very) simply, they mean:

Culture; The culture of collaboration is one of the key ones and guides the bringing together of Dev& Ops and the wider business. It’s not about them and us, but about us all working together to get things done better, quicker and cheaper. It doesn’t happen overnight though.
Automation; Wherever possible, automate tasks. Automate testing, deployment, integration, incident resolution, everything that can be.
Lean; Reduce waste. If it doesn’t need to be done, don’t do it. Move quickly and continuously learn and improve. If you try something and it fails, never mind, try something else quickly. You are allowed to fail in DevOps.
Measurement; Measure what you need to to ensure that you know that you are improving.
Sharing; Share responsibility & knowledge between Dev & Ops. It’s what it’s all about.

Why should you care? Well, the world is changing. While there are still many organisations out there who “only” do traditional IT and use the ITIL framework as the loose guide to handling calls and changes, we need to acknowledge that there are different and often better ways to do the job. So you need to be aware of what is happening and be open to changing the way you work. Do you want to be that person who says “We’ve always done it that way!” or “ That’s not how we do it here”?

Can DevOps help you? Yes. It can make you work together and remove some, if not all silos in IT. It can also help you work closer with the wider business so that everyone understands the drivers and priorities for the work that IT does. It can help you to trust each other more and move away from the blame culture that still persists in some organisations. It can allow you understand that it’s ok to try something and fail. It can make you think about automating stuff through scripts or pre-approved changes. It can encourage sharing.

There is a lot of good stuff in DevOps which can and should be adopted by those with no Dev.

So how do you start the thinking? 

There is training in DevOps, which provides you with an understanding of the principles and the language used, DevOps Foundation, which I can provide through on-line training or on-site classroom training.

There is also the Phoenix Project business simulation workshop which is based on the book by Gene Kim et al and takes you through the usual issues experienced by IT and guides you through applying DevOps principles.

Get in touch and see how we can help.

SIAM - what's it all about

SIAM, what is it?

According to Scopism: Service integration and management (SIAM®) is a management methodology that can be applied in an environment that includes services sourced from a number of service providers. SIAM has a different level of focus to traditional multi-sourced ecosystems with one customer and multiple suppliers. It provides governance, management, integration, assurance, and coordination to ensure that the customer organization gets maximum value from its service providers.


The SIAM ecosystem includes the following layers:

• Customer organization
• Service integrator
• Service providers, which can be internal or external

What does that mean?

Scopism, in the published body of knowledge, states that SIAM is an evolution of how to apply a framework for integrated service management across multiple service providers. It has developed as organizations have moved away from outsourced contracts with a single supplier to an environment with multiple service providers. SIAM has evolved from the challenges associated with these more complex operating models and supports cross-functional, cross-process, and cross-provider integration.

It creates an environment where all parties:

• Know their role, responsibilities and context in the ecosystem 
• Are empowered to deliver 
• Are held accountable for the outcomes they are required to deliver. 

SIAM introduces the concept of a service integrator, which is a single, logical entity held accountable for the end to end delivery of services and the business value that the customer receives.

As Kevin Holland says in An Example ITIL®-based Model for Effective Service Integration and Management Whitepaper,

Effective SIAM seeks to combine the benefits of best-of-breed based
multi-sourcing of services with the simplicity of single sourcing, minimising
the risks inherent in multi-sourced approaches and masking the supply
chain complexity from the consumers of the services. SIAM is therefore
appropriate for businesses that are moving to or already have a multi-
sourced environment. The benefits of a well-designed, planned and
executed SIAM model can be realized by businesses that use multiple
external suppliers, a mix of internal and external suppliers, or several
internal suppliers. SIAM is therefore appropriate for most of today’s
businesses. 

Copyright © AXELOS 2015. All rights reserved

So if you work in an environment where you use multiple service providers, or are a service provider, having a good understanding of SIAM will put you at the fore of your industry.

Currently the SIAM Foundation course and exam are only available as on-line training and we are the only reseller in New Zealand. 

For more information, check out the course details on our website or contact us by email or phone

It is OK to reach out.

Reaching out to others to ask for help is not a sign of weakness.  The need to consider this can be for various reasons, including:
Family violence / abuse
Depression
Workplace abuse
Personal Development
Business improvement

Family violence and abuse is addressed through the wonderful It's Not OK campaign.
Depression is addressed through Depression.org.nz
Workplace abuse is addressed in NZ through www.worksafe.govt.nz

Personal Development and Business Improvement are harder issues to tackle.

Personal Development can be handled through training (formal and on-the-job) and mentoring.
Business Improvement is often left to consultants to come in and drive change. However, that doesn't mean that the people in the jobs, don't know what they are doing. Quite often, they know best, but are either not listened to, or, more likely, don't have time.  That's where consultants can add value.  A good consultant should listen, understand where the pain points are, listen to those on the ground and then work with or lead the teams to plan and implement those improvements.

If you would like to discuss any of the above, please contact me for Personal Development and Business Improvement via www.gander.co.nz. 

If you are experiencing abuse or depression please contact one of the groups above, who are there for you.

Partnership with Talent Vault

Talent Vault and Gander Service Management partner to offer discounted online training to Talent Vault “contractors”.

Talent Vault are all about supporting talented people. When you want the best IT Contractor Specialists, talk to the New Zealand owned and operated recruitment Contractor specialists at Talent Vault.

Courses "Click Here" currently cover:

● ITIL (Foundation - Expert)
● DevOps Foundation
● Certified Agile Service Manager
● OBASHI
● COBIT5 Foundation 
● Business Relationship Management
● Other courses coming soon

Why train online?

Any Talent Vault contractors received a 10% discount of normal price.

● Lower cost – eliminate all travel/hotel expenses and reduce your time away from other priorities
● Any time, any place, any device online access – to all of your training resources and materials
● Focus is on learning – rather than cramming for an exam in a few days, online training focusses on the retention of knowledge
● Courses are guaranteed – no last minute cancellations or re-scheduling
● Content on demand – allows you to pick up where you left off at any time
● Core messages are always consistently delivered to you – regardless of time and location
● Control the pace of the action – you can read, watch, listen and learn as many times as you want during the licence period.
● Make the most your time – by skipping familiar sections that you have already covered and spend more time on re-focussing on other material
● Mixed media repeats the message to you in different formats to stimulate interest and aid retention.
All online courses are offered by IT Training Zone Ltd (ATO)

For more information about Talent Vault or to contact them about this offer please visit their site at http://www.talentvault.co.nz/ 

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Classroom training or on-line training?

As you may or may not know, Gander Service Management provides on-line training in many different subjects:

• ITIL (Foundation through to Expert)
• COBIT Foundation
• DevOps Foundation
• Certified Agile Service Manager
• OBASHI
• Business Relationship Management

These are all excellent courses (of course) but you can also get classroom training for most, if not all, in New Zealand.

So which should you choose?  I'll share my personal thoughts and would be grateful for your feedback to let me know if I have missed anything or you feel I am wrong. 

Classroom Training

This is excellent for 

• those working for organisations where several people need to be trained in the same subject, 
• training needs to be undertaken within a short time-frame or for
• those who learn best by being able to discuss subjects with others.

  

If your company decides that they want half a dozen team members trained up, for example in DevOps Foundation, then a classroom training session may be a better solution. If the whole department needs training in the subject, maybe you should engage a training organisation to come on site to perform training  tailored to your organisation.

However, classroom training does cost more to deliver, due to trainer costs, resources, classrooms, lunches, etc. Therefore the cost of classroom training is higher than on-line training.

On-line training

This is ideal for those

• who wish to invest in their own personal development, 
• organisations with a small training budget, 
• organisations away from the larger training centres or where training can be spread over several weeks.  On-line training is generally spread over 30 to 60 days for Foundation level courses, or 90 to 150 days for practitioner level courses.  There are also options to have training packages spread over a year, for example ITIL Expert, where you can take all intermediate training courses and exams for a fraction of the cost of individual courses. (More on that coming soon!)

On-line training also allows you to cover the same areas time and time again until you are comfortable that you understand it, rather than moving at the same pace as the rest of the class.

If you have a limited budget, an on-line course may be a quarter of the cost of a classroom based course due to reduced overheads.  This would allow several of your team to attend a course for the same price as one classroom course.

Of course, there is no wrong or right answer, it has to fit you.  If you learn better in a group, on-line training will not suit you. However, if you are happy learning on your own, you can achieve more training in a year for a fraction of the cost of classroom training.

Find out more about on-line training and costs at www.gander.co.nz/training