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Change? What Change? Everything Always Goes to Plan

As software engineers, we are conditioned to brace for change. The very nature of our work requires that we be ready for it. Yet, at our cores, we don’t want there to be any changes. We don’t surrender to the inevitable changes that are going to be required after we submit content for a code review. Instead, we steel ourselves against it, and gear up for battle with a mindset of resistance. We don’t want our QA teams to find any bugs because we’ll then have to make changes to the code we’ve already written. 

The experience, however, is like the Grinch who does everything that he can to stop Christmas from coming. Of course, the holiday arrives anyway. Similarly, despite our best efforts to plan and design an agile effort which builds change in, we’re still not entirely prepared to embrace those changes when they do come. And they will. They always do.

Agile Value #4: responding to change over following a plan” speaks to this behavioral response. It’s all about our attitude. Are we prepared for change and willing to accept that there will be change (as there is for every software engineering project)? Or are we preparing for a fight that we are inevitably going to lose? 

Agile craftsmanship requires that we be nimble in our designs and in our approach. The code we write must stand up to meet the quality demands of the project and not interfere with other parts of the project, but it has to be nimble, too. Anyone at any time in the future may need to rework that code or replace it altogether. If it’s rigid and inflexible, the effort to update it (or replace it) will be that much more intense. Working sprint after sprint is already intense enough – we don’t need to add more stress to our day. In contrast, we need to take measured steps to reduce it.

One of the best ways to manage this stress and to reduce our anxiety is to prepare for change. Embracing a mindset of flexibility prepares us for the change that is coming. If our response is calm and collected, the changes requested will be received just like any new project instead of what may feel like a personal attack on our abilities.

Approaching any project with the expectation that it will likely end differently than it began requires proactively building a roadmap that is designed to be nimble and responsive by anticipating potential changes. Getting ahead of industry trends and predicted needs requires that we are constantly in the mode of collecting feedback from clients, tracking the market and soliciting input from other agile experts. Scenario planning is another way to help with preparedness. This is the only way that we can evolve as a trusted colleague and partner to the clients we collaborate with.

Christopher Okhravi, an authority on agile software development, offers an insightful perspective on the application of Agile Value #4. He reminds us that, “We should never forget that they [the clients] are the ones asking for the system. And they are the ones who will ultimately use it.” Another factor that we need to remember is that rigid planning and process are the antithesis of the freedom derived from an agile approach. As each project unfolds, we learn more about the needs of that project and gain new insights on how to best deliver the code needed to execute the project. However, as we do so, we tend to drift further from the original plan which no longer reflects our reality and this creates tension for everyone involved. 

So, what is the best way forward? Embrace Agile Value #4. We must plan for the worst but hope for the best because change is inevitable. We must be nimble – and stay that way. Change is a necessary element of what we do. We can design our product roadmaps to be responsive and proactive or we can choose to be reactive and struggle to keep up. Getting ahead of industry needs and trends helps us prepare for the changes that will come. Being open to continuous feedback from our clients, our managers, our peers and our colleagues helps us evolve into a trusted co-worker and business partner. 

“Change always comes bearing gifts.”  ~Price Pritchett

Robert Morrell

Practice Lead, Java Cloud

What We’re Reading Around the Web

Agile Manifesto 4/4 – Responding To Change Over Following A Plan by Christopher Okhravi
YouTube
“We should never forget that they [the clients] are the ones asking for the system. And they are the ones who will ultimately use it.”

Manage Stress
Healthfinder
“To be agile, you need to be able to ask, ‘Is this agile?’”

Applying Agile Management Value 4: Responding to Change Over Following a Plan
Dummies
“Unfortunately, traditional project management approaches attempt to wrestle the change monster to the ground and pin it down so it goes out for the count.”

Getting Started With Agile: Responding to Change Over Following a Plan
Pivotal Tracker
“As project execution unfolds, the team learns more about what needs that resulting product will fill as well as how that product can best be built. As this new reality emerges, the team struggles to keep their project aligned to the original plan, which likely no longer reflects the team’s new reality.”


Change Is The Only Constant

A true Agile Craftsman Mindset understand that change is the only Constant

As product developers, we take pride in the “big picture” of the function of the software that we are designing and implementing. Delivering a solution for our clients, and their customers, takes diligence, long hours and impeccable planning. However, even the best-made plans can go awry. How we deal with those plans differentiates the inflexible resistors from the agile craftsmen.

“Agile Value #4: responding to change over following a plan” speaks to this behavioral response. Optimists hope for the best but plan for the worst. Pessimists expect the worst but plan for the best. And flexible realists exhibit behaviors that are the best of both understanding that being nimble and prepared for change is the right mindset. Framing everything that you do with the strong possibility that things will likely change and be different that you planned for cues up your brain to be prepared for change. Hence, you enable yourself to successfully adapt to whatever the new situation is.


Beyond one’s mindset, a critical aspect of practicing Agile Value #4 relates to planning and design. Approaching any project with the expectation that it will likely end differently than it began requires proactively building a roadmap that is designed to be nimble and responsive by anticipating potential changes. Getting ahead of industry trends and predicted needs requires that we are constantly in the mode of collecting feedback from clients, tracking the market and soliciting input from other agile experts. Scenario planning is another way to help with preparedness. This is the only way that we can evolve as a trusted partner. As agile craftsmen, our clients expect us to be inherently nimble, ready for change, willing to adapt and to plan for adjustments so that we can still track to a set schedule and deliver the quality product we are contracted to produce.


Understanding that change is a natural aspect of a project is one thing. Being prepared for it with a thoughtful plan and design that anticipates where and when those changes are most likely to happen is quite another thing altogether. Here, experience can make all the difference. The client relationship is another factor, one that we’ve discussed in a previous newsletter, ”Customers are Much, Much More Than Signed Contracts”. When a client and vendor embark on a path towards partnership, versus a client-vendor relationship, both sides enter the agreement and project understanding that it’s best to expect the unexpected and be prepared to flex. Sometimes, the client may need to be flexible. Other times, the contracted agile partner may need to adjust as the situation changes for the client.
If change is the only constant, and Agile Value #4 requires that we plan for and accept change versus resist it, we need to each ask ourselves if we are agile and flexible. Or, are we rigid and linear?

Thanks and Keep Growing,

Gunjan Doshi

CEO, InRhythm

What We’re Reading Around the Web

Agile Manifesto 4/4 – Responding To Change Over Following A Plan by Christopher Okhravi
YouTube
“We should never forget that they [the clients] are the ones asking for the system. And they are the ones who will ultimately use it.”

Manage Stress
Healthfinder
“To be agile, you need to be able to ask, ‘Is this agile?’”

Applying Agile Management Value 4: Responding to Change Over Following a Plan
Dummies
“Unfortunately, traditional project management approaches attempt to wrestle the change monster to the ground and pin it down so it goes out for the count.”

Getting Started With Agile: Responding to Change Over Following a Plan
Pivotal Tracker
“As project execution unfolds, the team learns more about what needs that resulting product will fill as well as how that product can best be built. As this new reality emerges, the team struggles to keep their project aligned to the original plan, which likely no longer reflects the team’s new reality.”


Customers are Much, Much More Than Signed Contracts

December 3rd: Customer Collaboration Over Contract Negotiation

Like most things, how you see something is a matter of perspective. The lens that you look through is shaped by experience, environment, who you’re influenced by and the attitude you take towards life and the given topic in particular.

Applying a customer-centric lens to branding, product development and marketing seems like an obvious thing to do, however, it wasn’t until the 1960s when Lester Wunderman urged companies to do so. Moreover, it wasn’t until the turn of the last century when customers took control with their collective new ability to dictate a brand’s narrative via the internet and dawn of social media. So, this concept of customer-centricity, in practice, is actually a modern way of thinking.

“Agile Value #3: customer collaboration over contract negotiation” is an example of a customer-centric approach. However, the core component of the directive is essentially the same. It’s all about communication.

That doesn’t mean unilateral outreach where you as the brand are sending messages, postcards, coupons or holiday catalogues. What it does mean is creating a forum for open dialogue in the spirit of true communication where conversations are bilateral. Doing so ensures that pain points can be discussed until they are understood and then resolved.

As agile product developers, the responsibility of maintaining a health dialogue with our customers is up to us. All too often, I have heard software engineers citing that communication with a client is the responsibility of the sales and marketing team. Not so!

We’re the people who are typically onsite with the customer. It is up to us as the agile craftsmen to deliver our best work to our clients so that their light can shine brightly. Clients look to us as their trusted advisors who are there to help them meet their needs, deliver quality work on time and help ensure our client’s success with their customers. Losing sight of the value of wearing a customer-centric lens compromises our ability to deliver our best for our clients. As soon as we we make it about ourselves and not our clients, the work environment will become more challenging and potentially even toxic.

The concept of collaboration over contract negotiations delineates the difference of being regarded as a vendor versus as a partner. Here at InRhythm, we know which side we aim to be on. Approaching software engineering with agile methodology requires that we are constantly communicating with our clients, assessing their needs and anticipating their needs even before our clients realize that things have shifted.

This brings us back to perspective. If we communicate regularly, with transparency, and deliver quality work in a timely manner, our clients will view us with the lens of partnership. Conversely, if we view our clients with the lens of a signed contract and the dollars tied to it, our perspective will be tarnished. As software engineers, we will struggle to deliver our work with that passion and quality that is required to fulfill the demands of an agile effort.

Agile Value #3 is the reminder for all of us that the lens that we view our work with is critically important. Viewing our deliverables and efforts with a client-centric perspective will positively impact how they view us. And, it can make all the difference between doing business versus being out of business.

Thanks and Keep Growing,

Gunjan Doshi

CEO, InRhythm

What We’re Reading Around the Web

The Real ROI Of Being Customer-Centric
Entrepreneur
“No business will survive long without satisfying its customers. That much should be evident to any company whether it is established or just starting out.”

100 Of The Most Customer-Centric Companies
Forbes
“Customer-centric companies live and breathe their customers and are laser-focused on providing amazing experiences.”

Customer Centricity — Marketing as customer-centric corporate management
Medium
“[The] key to success: a more radical focus on humans. Genuine customer centricity requires to rethink all functions and levels.”

6 Ways to Build a Customer-Centric Culture
Harvard Business Review
“To successfully implement a customer-centric strategy and operating model, a company must have a culture that aligns with them — and leaders who deliberately cultivate the necessary mindset and values in their employees.”


We are the Living Lab: InRhythm’s Learning and Growth Newsletter

October 22nd: Agile Craftsman in a Living Lab

For more than 15 years, InRhythm has been in the business of practicing agile methodology, building high velocity teams and accelerating product development through a combination of staffing solutions, processes and tools. We’re agile craftsmen, constantly learning, testing new ideas and sharing what we’ve learned or developed with our partners. In essence, we are a living lab for agile best practices.

Going forward, our Learning & Growth newsletter and InRhythm blog will highlight agile values and principles through examples to demonstrate how we are putting each of the values and principles into action. As agile craftsmen, it is imperative that we assess every process and method with a lens designed to identify inefficiencies. When recognized, these opportunities for improvement must be raised and discussed as a team to uncover ways to address the inefficiencies.

Within our own walls at InRhythm, we analyze processes to learn why they work – and why they don’t. Learning by doing is often the best form of instruction. Agile craftsmen must recognize that there is the potential to fail and “feel the fear but do it anyway” in the words of Coach Jeffers. 

Our practice leads scrutinize each effort at each partner and bring back new ideas and best practices. Internally, we test these new concepts, practice implementing and executing them then review what we did with a lens on how to make it better. By first testing new ideas ourselves, we can assure our partners that we are bringing vetted concepts forward to make their high velocity teams even stronger. As a living lab of agile craftsmen, we cannot be afraid to pivot.

Inherent in our success is learning, learning through observation, application and implementation. What doesn’t work within our own walls is unlikely to work at a partner site. Recognizing the difference between an agile concept that has the potential to be beneficial once artfully defined and practiced versus a concept that is flawed in its conception and will never work despite excellent execution can only be done through trial and error. 

A hallmark of agile product development and of high velocity teams is failing fast. However, in order to fail, you first need to try. Wayne Gretzky, a hockey legend, masterfully articulated this his popularized quotation, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

Over the weeks and months ahead, we look forward to sharing some of our “experiments” as agile craftsmen practicing new concepts to make the available to you and our partners.

I’m interested to learn how have you been able to apply internal learnings to your business success, and create your own living lab? Share your thoughts with @GetInRhythm or on the InRhythmU blog.

Thanks and Keep Growing,

Gunjan Doshi

CEO, InRhythm

What We’re Reading Around the Web

What is Agile Testing?
Guru99
“Agile Testing can begin at the start of the project with continuous integration between development and testing.”

Engineering Higher Quality Through Agile Testing
Atlassian
“Project owners face an unwelcome choice: delay the release, or skimp on testing. (I’ll give you one guess as to which option wins 99% of the time.)”W

Agile Testing, Principles & Advantages
ReQtest
“Agile testing not only facilitates the early detection of defects but also reduces the cost of bugs by fixing them early.”

Agile Methodology: The Complete Guide to Understanding Agile Testing
RTricentis
“This frequency has forced testers to shift when they conduct testing, how they work with developers and BAs and even what tests they conduct, all while maintaining quality standards.”


Achieving High Performance Cultures: InRhythm’s Learning and Growth Newsletter

October 8th: How to Achieve High Performance Cultures

Everyone wants a high performance culture. Here’s why it matters. Research shows that high performance organizations have a 14% job turnover rate compared to 48% as seen in low performance organizations. 

Throughout nearly 20 years of management consulting, I’ve completed over 100 organizational assessments of companies ranging from startups like Yodel and Vimeo to great enterprises like Consumer Report and Amazon. These assessments revealed the reasons why companies struggle to attain high performance cultures. Additionally, these evaluations highlighted how investments in team culture enabled transformation into successful enterprises. 

The key message is that high performance cultures require what we refer to as “10x teams.” Success of 10x teams is not the result of a secret formula. Rather, it’s based on an approach that can be consistently repeated.

That said, one of the main roadblocks to developing 10x teams is the process itself. Furthermore, the obsession with process. There is a preconceived notion that adoption of a process, whether it be agile development, safe or lean mindset, or some other process, will solve every problem. Not so. 

Working with my clients has illustrated that it is the convergence of people, culture, process and business structure that spurs the magic. Ultimately, it is this convergence that creates 10x teams and high performance cultures. The adoption of key practices accelerates performance improvement. These practices include pulling group members together, propelling groups into action, encouraging groups to push boundaries as a team so that they can achieve an increasingly greater impact together over time.

Off-the-shelf processes for 10x team transformation simply do not exist. Bespoke processes must be developed based on your people, culture, org structure, geography and so on. Efforts to design a process in the absence of these factors typically have the reverse effect: your business will slow down and you typically will not achieve the desired outcome. Additionally, unintended consequences include expectations for a transformed culture which is unattainable with a vanilla approach. Confusion and dissatisfaction often result.

Without a doubt, based on my experience, adopting a generic process that does not factor in the aspects unique to your business is the number one reason teams are prevented from becoming 10x. Another important consideration is that team transformations are dynamic processes which are either cumulatively additive or negative. Given that the long-term goal is a sustainable culture, continuous adaptation is required to keep your teams and company moving in the right direction. 

I’m curious. How has process limited your organization from growing and what barriers have you come across along the way? Share your thoughts with @GetInRhythm or on the InRhythmU blog.

Thanks and Keep Growing,

Gunjan Doshi

CEO, InRhythm

What We’re Reading Around the Web

Why Some Rules are more likely to be Broken
Harvard Business Review 
“Our intuition was that rules that were high in either type of complexity would be harder to follow. Because organizations rely on routines for following rules, complex rules would require complex routines, which would be harder to execute reliably.”

5 Team Attributes that are Killing Your Creative Tension
WForbes
“Fear of failure can stifle the engagement, speaking up and risk taking that are hallmarks of creative thinking.”

Companies do Best when they Encourage this Kind of Culture
Forbes
“Businesses do best when they’re built around high-purpose cultures, which are equally focused on both employees and customers.”