Imagine a reunion in the pub between you, an agile coach, and some Ericsson managers. You met some years before and the seed of an idea was planted. Over a long evening you discussed what the world would look like after completing a large-scale agile transformation. Three years later, you catch up, and learn that the transformation has been a roaring success. Through the evening you share the ups and downs, the lessons learned, and the critical success factors that made the success. Three years ago Ericsson started on a long journey to agility - over 1000 people adopting an agile mindset after over 30 years of entrenched control gate processes. Back then, there was fear and uncertainty, a will to control and preserve what made the organization successful. Today there is a completely different culture. A culture that allows the organization to sustain and keep on evolving, that allows them to achieve significant results long after you, as the coach, left. Obviously, you want to learn what worked so well? Was it your coaching ability (of course!)? Was it the uniqueness of the organization (well, they are special, but unique? No!)? What made this such a persistent and sustainably successful transformation? This is an exciting tale. In just three short years, Ericsson has made monumental changes, including: - Significantly improved predictability, in particular in relation to customers and the business department. The product pipeline is solid and reliable, and managed through business value, not release content. - Significantly improved quality, allowing Ericsson to exceed expectations even of the most demanding customers, releasing newly developed functionality ahead of schedule and skipping previously critical integration and verification gates in the process. Though many organizations achieve this while being coached, Ericsson has built up an internal capability able to continually learn and improve. Reflecting on what went well, we have identified five keys to sustainable change. The first two, People and Practices, are well-understood. The last three, Perseverance, Protection and Patience, are more cultural characteristics. You will learn how these were introduced and encouraged, and how Ericsson was able to bring about widespread adoption of such deep skills in a very short time. If you are interested in knowing how an organization with a couple of thousand employees was able to learn how to continuously improve, and make that transformation to agility a successful long lasting journey, you can't miss this fly-on-the-wall view of the pub reunion. Join us, Andrea Tomasini, the executive agile coach, and Hendrik Esser, VP Portfolio Management, share their story in a relaxed atmosphere.
http://submit2012.agilealliance.org/files/session_pdfs/Ericsson_Success_Story_agile2012.pdf
