Andrey Pyatakhin: Agile is cool, but sometimes Soviet Champagne is better than Cristal

Beeline Armenia CEO Andrey Pyatakhin has talked about the trial introduction of Agile methodology in the company.

Here are several excerpts from Pyatakhin’s Facebook post about the experiment.

The popular word

Agile must be the most popular word now, and if a company doesn’t have a special program just for introduction of Agile methodology, that is an “embarrassment”.

We joined the trend all together, the whole staff, and started studying Agile’s subtleties: we invited the instructors, read the books, drew on the walls… Overall, we did all the rituals and learned many new words such as Sprint, Kanban, Scrum…

Fulfill one task

After long discussions and disputes we selected one task and decided to create a real Scrum team to fulfill it. Different departments sent staffers to the team that was managed by me directly.

The task was to get rid of old tariff plans. Huge amounts of old tariffs pile up in any operator’s system. The marketing team makes a new tariff, but the old one remains and has clients. The more services the operator has, the more complicated the tables become. Thousands of tariffs accumulate over decades. When we make a change for the entire customer base (for instance, reduction of cost for the call from Burkina Faso to Burundi in roaming), we have to make changes in all tables.

We identified the goal, learned the methodology, gathered a team and started working. In the end, the task was solved and the number of tariffs was cut by ten times. It seems a good result, all is fine, but!

No one wanted to give a new project or task to our Scrum team! After I announced I would dissolve the team and send the staffers back to their departments if a good project didn’t come in, I found out that many managers did not want their employees back.

As a result, half of the Scrum team was fired and the other half is working in their old departments, by an old model.

Why it failed

I have analyzed the situation, and I believe there are several points that are most likely hindering the adoption of Agile in classic corporations.

1. The new team, which uses Agile methodologies, cannot work in vacuum. It operates within a corporation that has a different methodology and huge influence, and it resists the new, very bitterly at that.

2. Some members of the Scrum team obviously were not competent enough. When I asked the managers why they sent me employees that didn’t do well, I received a simple answer: “Andrey, I have so many important projects, everyone in my department is overstrained, and I can’t tear a really good employee from work.” Now I can see why half of my Scrum team was dismissed.

3. The task we fulfilled was useful for the company, but, to be honest, it was not a “wow”. The solution we found was not an example that Agile methodologies can make miracles, which would be impossible if you worked with tried, proven methods.

4. Some elements of the methodology, which we followed strictly, were excessive or needless. It annoyed the staff.

In retrospect

Looking back, I can say with certainty:

The transition of even a part – a small part – of a hierarchic, bureaucratic system-based company to Agile is impossible. The evolution must take several transitional periods, and it needs at least introduction of a “draft multifunctional” culture.

Installation of Agile requires additional high-quality resources, and it must not conflict with the work projects in motion.

The first task must be super cool, super wow – a task that the company has never fulfilled before.

The methodology must be adjusted to the circumstances. It can and must be adjusted to the company.

Agile methodology is really cool, but we have to keep in mind that Cristal does not fit at any party. The old Soviet Champagne is often more appropriate. If you see you can’t pull off Cristal, go ahead and buy the Soviet Champagne. Don’t fear commonplace solutions – they are time-tested!