Ricardo Viana Vargas's Blog, page 7

Spotify Model for Engineering Culture - Part 2/3

This week, Ricardo presents part 2 of 3 about the engineering culture created by Spotify to manage and deliver projects. The Spotify model aims to shape a culture of self-organized, autonomous teams, where independence and alignment combined with a strong focus on people and motivation aim to bring agility at scale with fast decoupled releases and an incredible sense of mutual trust. For more info about the Spotify engineering culture check at https://engineering.atspotify.com/201...

Spotify Model for Engineering Culture - Part 1/3

This week, Ricardo kicks off a series of 3 episodes about the engineering culture created by Spotify to manage and deliver projects. The Spotify model aims to shape a culture of self-organized, autonomous teams, where independence and alignment combined with a strong focus on people and motivation aim to bring agility at scale with fast decoupled releases and an incredible sense of mutual trust. Part 1 of 3. For more info about the Spotify engineering culture check at https://engineering.atspotify.com/201...

The Project is Complex Enough: Simplify Management

In this episode, Ricardo addresses the problem of creating complex management systems to manage complex projects. This kind of mistake is very common. As things become more complex, you add more layers of controls, reporting, etc. That is where bureaucracy is born. This is when your project or initiative goes to the Intensive Care Unit… It becomes crucial to understand that simple and effective management is the best way to respond to complex challenges.

Using the 7R’s to Plan and Deliver Change

In this episode, Ricardo shows how to use the 7R process to plan and drive change. The 7R’s process was primarily focused on IT initiatives, mainly using ITIL Change Management Process. However, every single change initiative can benefit from it, regardless of area or sector. The 7R’s are (Raiser, Reason, Return, Risk, Responsible, Resources, and Relationships).

Why is it so Hard to Make Smart People Work Together?

In this episode, Ricardo reflects on five aspects that could explain why some intellectually gifted professionals have such a hard time working in teams. He discusses aspects related to confidence, education, ego, EQ, and IQ, among others, and their impact on a “smart” person’s desire and effectiveness to work together.

Why We Should Care about Psychological Safety

In this episode, Ricardo discusses the connection between our desire for adaptability, creativity, experimentation and innovation with common human feelings like fear and safety. Providing a psychologically safe environment is becoming a critical success factor in surviving and thriving in the current scenario.

Let’s be Mindful: What really is a Distinct Mindset?

In this episode, Ricardo comments on a recent LinkedIn post comparing “Project Management Thinking” with “Scrum Master Thinking”. The post clearly presents one side as a controller, authoritarian, centralizer, etc. and the other as a team player and an enabler. On a rare reply to posts, Ricardo mentioned that this is not the right comparison. This is a comparison between competent and incompetent professionals. There was an implicit desire to connect the method with a competence profile. Competence and leadership go above and beyond the tool or technique you use. Take a look at several capital projects failing despite utilizing the state of art project management plan. Note that 70% of all Digital transformation fail… Pretty much all of them using Agile methods. If the method were the solution, the COVID-19 crisis would not be a leadership crisis like we see today.

Understanding Scope Statement, Statement of Work and Requirements

In this episode, Ricardo explains the fundamental difference between the scope you define for the project, the procurement documents you may use to source products and services, and the requirements you identify to set the boundaries of the work you need to do. It is essential to highlight that Ricardo does not restrict these documents to waterfall project management. They are useful for any approach you may use, and they can be presented in extremely different ways with different names.

It is Possible to Innovate and Create Value Without Destroying What is Currently in Place

In this episode, Ricardo reflects on our innovation and creative process. Recently he reviewed some concepts related to the “Blue Ocean Strategy” created by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne from INSEAD, and one aspect raised his interest: nondestructive creation/innovation.

This podcast is his reflection on whether it is possible to innovate and create/deliver projects by expanding the market through new products and services and not necessarily by killing old products.

The MIT Sloan article Ricardo references can be read at https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/nondisruptive-creation-rethinking-innovation-and-growth/

Agility and Agile are Not Necessarily the Same Thing

In this episode, Ricardo discusses the organizational and individual behaviour that shapes the concept of agility: rapid decision making, flat structure, decision close to the execution, adaptation to change. He also discusses the Agile methods or approaches that intends to help organizations embed the concept of agility inside their organizations. However, the problem goes above and beyond a technique. If you do not incorporate the Agile mindset and behaviour in the whole organization, you will only have a speedy process in a very incompetent organization. This is why people are now talking about Business Agility.