Have a Clear Vision, Stick to the Intention and Adjust the Implementation

No matter if you are a tech lead, Scrum Master, Product Owner, or a member of the team, if you want to make your idea a reality, here is a very simple (and of course very difficult to implement) advice:

Have a clear vision, stick to the intention and adjust the implementation

Have a Clear Vision

1) Have a Clear and Strong Imagination of the Target State

The first thing is that you yourself really have to believe in it. You need to imagine what it would be like for your team. How could the team split the work into smaller increments, and how could you verify if something is a good small increment? You need some kind of reference in your experience; then it is much easier to have such a clear vision. If you don’t, the only thing you can do is seek more inspiration (reading articles, books, listening to podcasts, watching conference talks, or taking part in a conference) and then suggest an experiment. You can use Disney strategy to gain more clarity.

1b) Try to Find as Many WHY Answers as Possible

First, try to answer the question WHY yourself. Why is it really worth the attention?

Why increments?

• Because it is easier to finish it in a short period of time.
• Because if you have many small pieces your overall estimations will be better.
• If the increments are very small, you may not need estimation at all.
• Increments (slices of functionality) improve your ability to complete done work.
• You need to improve the way you work to be able to work in increments.

Look for other resources—articles, books, blog posts, and so on. Seek other arguments, then confront these arguments (initially only in your mind) with your team. What would they answer? How does that match with things important to them?

Be Patient and Stick to Intention

2) Be Patient and Stick to Intention

No matter how good your arguments are, how well they match team needs, or how clear your vision is, others may not buy it. That’s okay. Be patient. You just haven’t found a good enough way to show the value.

Listen to the objections and look for the needs behind them.

Perhaps they don’t believe they can organize work in increments, don’t know how to do it, or don’t see it as effective. Find ways to demonstrate it. Measure and compare both types of approaches to items. Seek more inspiration. Stick to the intention but not the solution. If thinking about increments, your intention is to slice the work vertically so that it can be integrated and deployed; the exact solution like BDD, TDD, the best slicing method, are not so important. Be flexible with the implementation. Propose experiments, not final solutions.

Adjust the Implementation

3) Adjust the Implementation

If you manage to organize an experiment, conduct regular retrospectives (get feedback) and adjust the implementation. Maybe slicing one thing into 36 small items is not the best way. Let the team find (and decide) a balance in slicing.

No matter how the experiment is going, regularly ask what works, what doesn’t, and why. What can your team change to improve? Getting back to the intention and revising the implementation is your job. Local failures are just another step in the learning path. Failed? Figure out what you learned and make adjustments.

Reiteration

4) Have a Clear Vision, Stick to the Intention, and Adjust the Implementation

Yes, repetition is important. Repetition is the mother of skills. So, have a clear vision, stick to the intention, and adjust the implementation.

There is also a possibility that the vision you have and/or share with others might not be a good option, so don’t hesitate to validate it from time to time.

(Text translated and moved from original old blog automatically by AI. May contain inaccuracies.)