Scrum from a military pilot: The art of doing twice the work twice as fast
Jeff Sutherland, a military pilot (made more than 100 sorties in Vietnam), co-author of the Agile Manifesto and CEO Scrum.
Hello!
Today I want to talk about life, freedom and the search for happiness - the Great American Dream, which often remains unfulfilled. As the poet Robert Burns said: “Even the most carefully constructed plans go into failure both in mice and in people,” which cannot but cause inconvenience and psychological discomfort, instead of the expected satisfaction.
')
I first encountered this problem as a cadet of the US military academy. During our training, we had to go through fire, water and copper pipes, and in the year before graduation I was appointed officer of company L2, who needed to solve the drill problem, since they were to participate in a military parade. The company was considered something of an outsider, because for a hundred years they could not do anything about the already established reputation of complete mediocrity and laxity. Decades went on fruitless attempts to teach them something and make them train with great effort.
Therefore, I realized that I need to do something completely new. And this is what occurred to me: I will not tell them what to do, but I will post color notes on the bulletin board at night exactly in the order in which their performance would have looked on the parade ground, with precise indications of the shortcomings need to be fixed. For example, Charlie should stop, keeping his arms parallel to the floor, exactly in the middle of the march. The third platoon must turn around simultaneously, and its commander must pronounce commands clearly, firmly and strictly at a specified time.
To everyone's amazement, they were the best in the entire Cadet Corps in just three months. By that time, General MacArthur had passed away, who wished before his death that a group of cadets would carry his coffin to the grave. For this mission, they chose company L2.
For such hopelessly lagging escorts of the deceased general to the grave is a big step forward. After graduating from the Academy, I joined the Air Force. Even at the Academy, I learned a lot from its leaders, I lived in a room with a fireplace, on which the inscription was carved: "Dwight D. Eisenhower lived here," and, each time I read this inscription, I recalled his famous saying: " Plans are nothing, planning is everything. ”
So when I became a combat pilot, I went on reconnaissance. We are constantly engaged in planning. But one day, one of my colleagues was shot down by a rocket over Vietnam. I knew that he really planned everything well. But he flew right over the target. And it was a deadly mistake.
From that day I began to include in my plan one obligatory condition: to see my goal. And as soon as I was sent to North Vietnam, I learned the evasion maneuver, because I knew that every second I was under fire. And only at the last moment, in one single second, I left bullets, managing to take a photo.
And I survived. Half of those I flew with did not return from their missions. When I found myself in the USA again, it was a complete surprise for me. I have been close to death so many times. Here I felt that I had gained a new life. Every day was like a reward day, a day of freedom. What was I to do with all this?
So I asked the Air Force to send me back to the aviation academy so that I could teach there, or let me go back to school at Stanford. So I ended up at the Medical University of Colorado. I have been teaching there for 11 years. There I worked in the field of building super-computer models of the cell of the human body, which would show how it develops, divides, and what provokes the formation of cancers, how this process can be stopped and how we can cure cancer.
And while I was there, a large banking company that controls about 150 US banks turned to us: “You are well aware that you have the most experience in developing the technologies that we use in our banks. You have the knowledge, but no money. But we have money in banks. We offer you to work with us, which will mean a wonderful union of knowledge and money. ”
They made me an offer that my wife could not refuse - it was amazing for a poor university professor. And what did I see? I saw that they manage truly large projects, employing hundreds of workers, and all of these projects are carried out using the Gantt chart.
This is the technology that was introduced to the US Army in 1910. During the First World War, it did not bring high results. And all because each part of the project is developed in a certain period of time. If any of the employees does not participate in the work on the project in this segment, the deadlines for the delivery of the project are postponed. This, in turn, is reflected in the mood of customers and the complacency of managers, who then force their subordinates to work at night and on weekends. They work at a grueling pace, making incredible forced marches. It reminds me of the Roman galleys, which are driven by slaves on the oars, which all row and row, and in the end the ship is wrecked.
But the experience of combat piloting helped me understand the essence of the problem. These guys were not able to complete the project. We, the fighter pilots, were told that it was necessary to land the plane very carefully at the end of the runway. If this is not done and put the plane in the middle of the strip, then he can get off her and get right into the thickets of trees. With all these projects, the same thing happened - they slipped off the strip and got stuck in the trees.
I went to the executive director and said: “Your bank is absolutely unable to cope with the tasks set. If you give the most unfortunate project, I will definitely fix everything in it, just as I did in the case of company L2. ”
The director answered me: “God, if you need this headache, then please - you can proceed.”
I said, “Great. I will bring a report every month to you and the top management with the condition that nobody else should interfere in my work the rest of the time. We're going to create something like a small company in a company as a startup. ” Then we divided this company into small teams, sales, marketing and engineering departments, where everyone worked together, motivated by team spirit. We set weekly cycles. We began to create a list of necessary cases. And I taught them how to land a plane.
How can a pilot make a perfect landing? He must calculate the altitude, the speed of flight and descent, take into account the direction and strength of the wind and weather conditions, reconfigure every few seconds. Therefore, each week is a new attempt to land the plane at the end of the runway. Boom! Week after week they went to this, and, surprisingly, in six months they managed to get ahead of all the other teams. Their projects were considered the most unprofitable, but soon became the most profitable. The reason for this - each was responsible for their own functions. They were given the task to correct the task, and they did it, managing to divide the duties. The thing is, they were taught how to land a plane.
After this experience, I was invited to a number of other companies to solve a number of difficulties. I needed to figure out how to do this consistently and involve other people in the process. I could not be in the same place all the time and devote time to everyone. So, I had to think about it thoroughly. I ran a small French company in Cambridge, Massachusetts University of Technology. Five graduates of this university came to me and said: "We are opening a robot assembly company and would like to rent a room from you."
I replied: “Of course. We have a few extra rooms that you can use as laboratories. ”
They collected insect-like robots. And day after day, these robots crawled into my office, trying to track me down with sensors that respond to heat. The company’s co-founder was a senior professor at the Massachusetts University of Technology, who sometimes dropped in on Fridays to find out how things were going. Once I asked him a question: “Professor Brooks, how are these robots arranged?”
Here is what he said: “Jeff, first of all, you need to realize that over the past thirty years, we, at our university, have been struggling to create artificial intelligence. We suffered a complete failure. We tried to build a management system tied to powerful computers with huge databases. It did not help. All that we have achieved is an intellectual chess program. Therefore, we began to observe insects, and I got the idea to create something with distributed intelligence. For example, a chip located at the foot would control the foot. The chip in the spine would coordinate the movement of the legs. The neural network in the head would be responsible for the direction of movement.
He turned on the robot, whose legs cracked slightly, and the insect stumbled forward. It was like the first steps of a child, but after three minutes the robot ran freely around the room.
I was delighted: “Wow, this is great. I have some developers who wouldn't hurt to give speed. Perhaps we could teach them a few simple rules. And they will understand what it is like to join the team of super-intellectuals. How do you think it works? ”
And he agreed: "Why do not you do it?".
I had to postpone this question for a while. The company - a very successful company - hired me to prepare a new product. They were going to replace all the old products with new ones in the shortest possible time.
And I had to figure out how to do it. Our product was intended to be very large.
companies, and I had to show them the best way to apply it. We studied the special literature, and found a brilliant work in the Harvard Business Review, whose authors are Japanese professors Nonaka and Takeuchi, described three different management styles. Number one is the Gantt chart. But you already know what its use leads to. Number two is Fuji Xerox interim strategy. Number three is what they saw at the best factories in the world.
So, we stopped at number three, about which Nonaka and Takeuchi report that they are self-organized, independent teams. The management must make concessions, let them decide for themselves in which direction to go.
We implemented this method in 1993. By 1995, I teamed up with Ken Schwaber. We began to focus on industry. In 2001, we wrote Agile Manifesto. And from that moment on, it began to spread throughout the world, in all large software development companies that produce fighter planes, agricultural equipment, and space vehicles. In the picture you see the car company, the production process of the car in one week cycle. One car per week.
But the advanced manifesto is now in the schools of the USA and Europe. I recently visited a school in the Netherlands where children were taught to self-study. As soon as the bell rings, they run into the classroom. They are divided into groups of four, run to the wall, put their scrum boards on it. Now they have a short afternoon meeting where they discuss what they did yesterday, what they will do today, and what problems they need to solve. Run to the tables and get to work. The teachers just stand silently. They speak only when they are approached with requests for help.
In children, indescribable enthusiasm is seen. I stand here with the rest of the teachers. Children say that they learn faster and get more good grades. They have less working days. They are so much more fun. Everything that they do fits the definition of fun, and they are confident of their success. Children with disabilities are also involved in the learning process as team members. The problem of motivation disappears. There are no problems with discipline. Teamwork teaches self-discipline.
If they need some help from the teacher, they may ask, but, as a rule, they do not. This is the future of education. And if you look at the world in which most of us live, it is significantly different from this future. Studies show that many people dislike their jobs. The only thing that may be worse for them than work is to lie sick in bed.
Recently, I asked the developer-programmer of the Paris-based company BMW Software what he thinks about the Scrum Team method. He choked and then burst into tears: “I cannot convey to you the happiness that I experienced. It changed my whole life. ”
Everyone can experience this. You can regain your strength, regain your freedom and start a new life. This incredible feeling will give you happiness, and you will remember this all your life. That's what I want for every person in this room. You need to stop holding on to the old and grab onto the new to make it happen.
Thanks for attention.
And this is how Edison explains what agile is:
Publication support - the company Edison , which develops an alert for traders , as well as makes a system of energy accounting and water supply for the cottage village .
Hello!
Today I want to talk about life, freedom and the search for happiness - the Great American Dream, which often remains unfulfilled. As the poet Robert Burns said: “Even the most carefully constructed plans go into failure both in mice and in people,” which cannot but cause inconvenience and psychological discomfort, instead of the expected satisfaction.
')
I first encountered this problem as a cadet of the US military academy. During our training, we had to go through fire, water and copper pipes, and in the year before graduation I was appointed officer of company L2, who needed to solve the drill problem, since they were to participate in a military parade. The company was considered something of an outsider, because for a hundred years they could not do anything about the already established reputation of complete mediocrity and laxity. Decades went on fruitless attempts to teach them something and make them train with great effort.
Therefore, I realized that I need to do something completely new. And this is what occurred to me: I will not tell them what to do, but I will post color notes on the bulletin board at night exactly in the order in which their performance would have looked on the parade ground, with precise indications of the shortcomings need to be fixed. For example, Charlie should stop, keeping his arms parallel to the floor, exactly in the middle of the march. The third platoon must turn around simultaneously, and its commander must pronounce commands clearly, firmly and strictly at a specified time.
To everyone's amazement, they were the best in the entire Cadet Corps in just three months. By that time, General MacArthur had passed away, who wished before his death that a group of cadets would carry his coffin to the grave. For this mission, they chose company L2.
For such hopelessly lagging escorts of the deceased general to the grave is a big step forward. After graduating from the Academy, I joined the Air Force. Even at the Academy, I learned a lot from its leaders, I lived in a room with a fireplace, on which the inscription was carved: "Dwight D. Eisenhower lived here," and, each time I read this inscription, I recalled his famous saying: " Plans are nothing, planning is everything. ”
So when I became a combat pilot, I went on reconnaissance. We are constantly engaged in planning. But one day, one of my colleagues was shot down by a rocket over Vietnam. I knew that he really planned everything well. But he flew right over the target. And it was a deadly mistake.
From that day I began to include in my plan one obligatory condition: to see my goal. And as soon as I was sent to North Vietnam, I learned the evasion maneuver, because I knew that every second I was under fire. And only at the last moment, in one single second, I left bullets, managing to take a photo.
And I survived. Half of those I flew with did not return from their missions. When I found myself in the USA again, it was a complete surprise for me. I have been close to death so many times. Here I felt that I had gained a new life. Every day was like a reward day, a day of freedom. What was I to do with all this?
So I asked the Air Force to send me back to the aviation academy so that I could teach there, or let me go back to school at Stanford. So I ended up at the Medical University of Colorado. I have been teaching there for 11 years. There I worked in the field of building super-computer models of the cell of the human body, which would show how it develops, divides, and what provokes the formation of cancers, how this process can be stopped and how we can cure cancer.
And while I was there, a large banking company that controls about 150 US banks turned to us: “You are well aware that you have the most experience in developing the technologies that we use in our banks. You have the knowledge, but no money. But we have money in banks. We offer you to work with us, which will mean a wonderful union of knowledge and money. ”
They made me an offer that my wife could not refuse - it was amazing for a poor university professor. And what did I see? I saw that they manage truly large projects, employing hundreds of workers, and all of these projects are carried out using the Gantt chart.
This is the technology that was introduced to the US Army in 1910. During the First World War, it did not bring high results. And all because each part of the project is developed in a certain period of time. If any of the employees does not participate in the work on the project in this segment, the deadlines for the delivery of the project are postponed. This, in turn, is reflected in the mood of customers and the complacency of managers, who then force their subordinates to work at night and on weekends. They work at a grueling pace, making incredible forced marches. It reminds me of the Roman galleys, which are driven by slaves on the oars, which all row and row, and in the end the ship is wrecked.
But the experience of combat piloting helped me understand the essence of the problem. These guys were not able to complete the project. We, the fighter pilots, were told that it was necessary to land the plane very carefully at the end of the runway. If this is not done and put the plane in the middle of the strip, then he can get off her and get right into the thickets of trees. With all these projects, the same thing happened - they slipped off the strip and got stuck in the trees.
I went to the executive director and said: “Your bank is absolutely unable to cope with the tasks set. If you give the most unfortunate project, I will definitely fix everything in it, just as I did in the case of company L2. ”
The director answered me: “God, if you need this headache, then please - you can proceed.”
I said, “Great. I will bring a report every month to you and the top management with the condition that nobody else should interfere in my work the rest of the time. We're going to create something like a small company in a company as a startup. ” Then we divided this company into small teams, sales, marketing and engineering departments, where everyone worked together, motivated by team spirit. We set weekly cycles. We began to create a list of necessary cases. And I taught them how to land a plane.
How can a pilot make a perfect landing? He must calculate the altitude, the speed of flight and descent, take into account the direction and strength of the wind and weather conditions, reconfigure every few seconds. Therefore, each week is a new attempt to land the plane at the end of the runway. Boom! Week after week they went to this, and, surprisingly, in six months they managed to get ahead of all the other teams. Their projects were considered the most unprofitable, but soon became the most profitable. The reason for this - each was responsible for their own functions. They were given the task to correct the task, and they did it, managing to divide the duties. The thing is, they were taught how to land a plane.
After this experience, I was invited to a number of other companies to solve a number of difficulties. I needed to figure out how to do this consistently and involve other people in the process. I could not be in the same place all the time and devote time to everyone. So, I had to think about it thoroughly. I ran a small French company in Cambridge, Massachusetts University of Technology. Five graduates of this university came to me and said: "We are opening a robot assembly company and would like to rent a room from you."
I replied: “Of course. We have a few extra rooms that you can use as laboratories. ”
They collected insect-like robots. And day after day, these robots crawled into my office, trying to track me down with sensors that respond to heat. The company’s co-founder was a senior professor at the Massachusetts University of Technology, who sometimes dropped in on Fridays to find out how things were going. Once I asked him a question: “Professor Brooks, how are these robots arranged?”
Here is what he said: “Jeff, first of all, you need to realize that over the past thirty years, we, at our university, have been struggling to create artificial intelligence. We suffered a complete failure. We tried to build a management system tied to powerful computers with huge databases. It did not help. All that we have achieved is an intellectual chess program. Therefore, we began to observe insects, and I got the idea to create something with distributed intelligence. For example, a chip located at the foot would control the foot. The chip in the spine would coordinate the movement of the legs. The neural network in the head would be responsible for the direction of movement.
He turned on the robot, whose legs cracked slightly, and the insect stumbled forward. It was like the first steps of a child, but after three minutes the robot ran freely around the room.
I was delighted: “Wow, this is great. I have some developers who wouldn't hurt to give speed. Perhaps we could teach them a few simple rules. And they will understand what it is like to join the team of super-intellectuals. How do you think it works? ”
And he agreed: "Why do not you do it?".
I had to postpone this question for a while. The company - a very successful company - hired me to prepare a new product. They were going to replace all the old products with new ones in the shortest possible time.
And I had to figure out how to do it. Our product was intended to be very large.
companies, and I had to show them the best way to apply it. We studied the special literature, and found a brilliant work in the Harvard Business Review, whose authors are Japanese professors Nonaka and Takeuchi, described three different management styles. Number one is the Gantt chart. But you already know what its use leads to. Number two is Fuji Xerox interim strategy. Number three is what they saw at the best factories in the world.
So, we stopped at number three, about which Nonaka and Takeuchi report that they are self-organized, independent teams. The management must make concessions, let them decide for themselves in which direction to go.
We implemented this method in 1993. By 1995, I teamed up with Ken Schwaber. We began to focus on industry. In 2001, we wrote Agile Manifesto. And from that moment on, it began to spread throughout the world, in all large software development companies that produce fighter planes, agricultural equipment, and space vehicles. In the picture you see the car company, the production process of the car in one week cycle. One car per week.
But the advanced manifesto is now in the schools of the USA and Europe. I recently visited a school in the Netherlands where children were taught to self-study. As soon as the bell rings, they run into the classroom. They are divided into groups of four, run to the wall, put their scrum boards on it. Now they have a short afternoon meeting where they discuss what they did yesterday, what they will do today, and what problems they need to solve. Run to the tables and get to work. The teachers just stand silently. They speak only when they are approached with requests for help.
In children, indescribable enthusiasm is seen. I stand here with the rest of the teachers. Children say that they learn faster and get more good grades. They have less working days. They are so much more fun. Everything that they do fits the definition of fun, and they are confident of their success. Children with disabilities are also involved in the learning process as team members. The problem of motivation disappears. There are no problems with discipline. Teamwork teaches self-discipline.
If they need some help from the teacher, they may ask, but, as a rule, they do not. This is the future of education. And if you look at the world in which most of us live, it is significantly different from this future. Studies show that many people dislike their jobs. The only thing that may be worse for them than work is to lie sick in bed.
Recently, I asked the developer-programmer of the Paris-based company BMW Software what he thinks about the Scrum Team method. He choked and then burst into tears: “I cannot convey to you the happiness that I experienced. It changed my whole life. ”
Everyone can experience this. You can regain your strength, regain your freedom and start a new life. This incredible feeling will give you happiness, and you will remember this all your life. That's what I want for every person in this room. You need to stop holding on to the old and grab onto the new to make it happen.
Thanks for attention.
Read more
- How Scrum Was Created: The Job History of Jeff Sutherland
- Sentimental meeting: how 17 developers anarchists in 2001 Agile manifesto signed
- Once again about the seven main development methodologies
And this is how Edison explains what agile is:
Publication support - the company Edison , which develops an alert for traders , as well as makes a system of energy accounting and water supply for the cottage village .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/312680/
All Articles