Agile Adoption in a non-western cultural context: Is it any different? Ali Zewail Raya

Transcription

1 Agile Adoption in a non-western cultural context: Is it any different? Ali Zewail Raya

2 Session Objective Agile*(3.14x³y²+2.55z²ab)=Culture*3.2z³c Agile*(3.14x³y²+2.55z²ab)=Culture*3.2z³c

3 Outline 2 Things to Note Culture Definition Hofstede Model A Methodology Bringing the Agile Manifesto and the Hofstede Model Together Our Experience

4 2 Pieces of Advice

5 What is Culture? Mental Social According to Tylor Patterns (1962), Organization culture is that complex whole that includes knowledge, beliefs, the arts, Manifest morals social and customs, as well as all the Symbolic capabilities behavior Elements patterns acquired by man as a member of society". Material Culture Culture Thoughts Organization

6 The Hofstede Model Based on global research, Geert Hofstede measures country/organization culture on 5 cultural dimensions Power Distance Index (PDI) Individualism (IDV) Masculinity (MAS) Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) Long-term Orientation (LTO)

7 A Few Country Comparisons (1) Guess Who?

8 A Few Country Comparisons (2) A bit more similar

9 A Few Country Comparisons (3) What about this?

10 A Few Country Comparisons (4) Identical Twins?

11 The Agile Manifesto and the Hofstede Model

12 The Agile Manifesto Individuals and Interactions Process and Tools Dimension Power Distance Index (PDI) Individualism (IDV) Masculinity (MAS) Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) Long-term Orientation (LTO) More congruent with Low Low and High High Low N/A

13 The Agile Manifesto Customer Collaboration Contract Negotiation Dimension Power Distance Index (PDI) Individualism (IDV) Masculinity (MAS) Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) Long-term Orientation (LTO) Relevance More congruent with High Low High Low High Low High Low High

14 The Agile Manifesto Responding to Change Following a Plan Dimension Power Distance Index (PDI) Individualism (IDV) Masculinity (MAS) Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) Long-term Orientation (LTO) Relevance More congruent with Medium Low Low N/A Medium N/A High Low Medium High

15 The Agile Manifesto Working Software Comprehensive Documentation Dimension Power Distance Index (PDI) Individualism (IDV) Masculinity (MAS) Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) Long-term Orientation (LTO) Relevance More congruent with None N/A None N/A None N/A Medium Low High Low

16 Cultural Model for Agile Step 1: Take an agile values cultural congruency table and compare it to the target country: Step 2: Identify incongruent items Step 3: Define, where possible, mitigation steps Dimension More congruent with India Power Distance Index (PDI) Low High Individuals & Interactions Individualism (IDV) Low and High Low Masculinity (MAS) High Medium Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) Low Low Long-term Orientation (LTO) Depends High

17 Raya Software Case Study

18 Are We different?

19 Hofstede Dimensions

20 Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools Dimension More congruent with Egypt Power Distance Index (PDI) Low High Individualism (IDV) Low and High Low Masculinity (MAS) High Medium Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) Low High Long-term Orientation (LTO) N/A Medium Interventions: Social, Team-Building Events (PDI ) Incentive Alignment (PDI, UAI ) Leadership Moments (across) Emphasize the collective benefits (emphasis) Communicate the risk decrease clearly (emphasis)

21 Customer Collaboration over Contract Negotiation Dimension More congruent with Egypt Power Distance Index (PDI) Low High Individualism (IDV) Low Low Masculinity (MAS) Low Medium Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) Low High Long-term Orientation (LTO) High Medium Interventions: Keep the Client in Power (PDI) Sell the enhanced change management (UAI ) Focus negotiation on the payment milestones (UAI ) Include the process in the contract (UAI ) Keep Tuning (across)

22 Responding to Change over Following a Plan Dimension More congruent with Egypt Power Distance Index (PDI) Low High Individualism (IDV) N/A Low Masculinity (MAS) N/A Medium Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) Low High Long-term Orientation (LTO) High Medium Interventions: Communicate the power (emphasis) Let the process drive (PDI, UAI) Emphasize the long-term benefits (LTO)

23 Working Software over Comprehensive Documentation Dimension More congruent with Egypt Power Distance Index (PDI) N/A High Individualism (IDV) N/A Low Masculinity (MAS) N/A Medium Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) Low High Long-term Orientation (LTO) Low Medium Interventions: Turn the weakness into a strength all about a mindset change (UAI ) Celebrate success (UAI ) Pilots Client Feedback

24 Last Words Role Modeling Social/Team-Building Piloting Aligning Hiring the right people Getting a culture-sensitive consultant Educating emphasize the cultural fit Changing mindsets be tough Respect and Reflect

25 Thank Business: Personal: