AGILE

COMPANIES:
A PRACTICAL GUIDE
YSMAR VIANNA MAURÍCIO VIANNA ANA BANACH ARTHUR CASTRO
IZABEL SANTOS MURILO PEDROSO JULIANA YUE ISABELLA COSTA
AGILE
COMPANIES:
A PRACTICAL GUIDE
AGILE
COMPANIES:
A PRACTICAL GUIDE
YSMAR VIANNA MAURÍCIO VIANNA ANA BANACH ARTHUR CASTRO
IZABEL SANTOS MURILO PEDROSO JULIANA YUE ISABELLA COSTA
Copyright © 2022 MJV Tecnologia e Inovação Ltda.
All rights reserved.

Original title: Agilidade nas empresas: um guia prático

Unauthorized reproduction of this publication, in whole or in part,
constitutes a copyright infringement.

Editorial Production Translation

Thaís Garcez Batata Comunicações

Proofreading Graphic Project

Camila Dornas MJV Technology & Innovation

Cases Design
Carolina Soares Lis Vidal

Dados Internacionais de Catalogação na Publicação (CIP)

(Câmara Brasileira do Livro, SP, Brasil)

Agile companies [livro eletrônico] : a pratical guide / [tradução Eduardo Lasota]. --

Rio de Janeiro, RJ : MJV Tecnologia & Inovação,

2022. PDF

Vários autores.
Título original: Agilidade nas empresa.
ISBN 978-65-997518-1-3

1. Administração de empresas 2. Administração -

Metodologia 3. Gestão de negócios 4. Inovações
5. Objetivos organizacionais 6. Planejamento
estratégico 7. Sucesso nos negócios

22-136946 CDD-658.4012

Índices para catálogo sistemático:

1. Métodos ágeis : Planejamento estratégico :
Administração 658.4012

Eliete Marques da Silva - Bibliotecária - CRB-8/9380

PREFACE
Now that we are in the age of digital transformation, it has
become essential to rethink work models in order to generate
more value for customers and stand out from the competition.

In this context, Agile methodologies are the ideal option to

react to so many changes, as they break down complex activities
into various smaller tasks. Thus, it is possible to constantly
deliver functional portions of valuable items, reducing customer
waiting times.

Agile’s adaptability means it is suited to uncertain situations like

the present moment.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, it became clear that long-

term plans are no longer viable, as everything has been changing
so quickly. So, when plans are changed halfway through, Agility
helps to reorganize the route, prioritizing what really generates
value for customers and their new needs.

3
The concept of Agile methods arose in the IT area and
the vast majority of companies only recently started
to apply it in other sectors. However, MJV already has
extensive experience in doing this, having created Agile
projects for many areas, including sales, marketing and legal
departments, making us stand out in the market.

Fifteen years ago, we were already carrying out Agility

projects in Brazil. Back then, we were heavily involved in
the logistics processes for one of the country’s largest
e-commerce platforms.

We also integrated the main rental companies into a large

network; the movie and video game rental segment, making
MJV’s pioneering spirit clear in the application of Agile
methodologies.

We decided to write this book to share the experience we

have acquired in this period, during the development of
these and other large projects.

MJV is recognized for its work in the field of innovation and

for being a pioneer in Design Thinking. In 2011, it released
its first book, Design Thinking – Business Innovation, which
has been downloaded more than 300,000 times. This book
was a milestone for the company, boosting its new business
development. In 2019, we published Design Driven Data
Science, which reinforced the connection between the
potential of data and design at companies.
Agility connects very well with both Design Thinking and data
science. In fact, its scope for connection goes much farther and
Agile is a method that also adapts and relates well to other areas.

Based on our expertise, we can say that we understand the

main Agility-related practices in the market, we have a highly
qualified team and we have delivered multiple projects with
excellent results.

So, we decided to share all this knowledge through this book,

written by members of MJV's Agility team, who have this kind of
experience on a daily basis.

Whether or not your area of activity is technical, this book will

help you tackle new and old challenges. For example, has your
company adopted Kanban but you don’t know where to start?
We have a chapter dedicated to this topic, which will point you
in the right direction.

The book will also be a good reference source, answering

questions and guiding you regarding the needs and difficulties of
each moment.

In addition, we made sure to add a practical side to all the

concepts presented in the book, by presenting cases. This will
give you a vision of how the theory can be applied in practice.
The content is divided into three broad parts:

• Conception: This part explains what Agility is, what it is

for and the foundations to facilitate understanding the
concepts involved;

• Work models: This more practical part shows the tools used
on a daily basis that facilitate the application of Agility;

• For everyone: This part makes it clear how Agility fits

seamlessly into all areas of a business, including the legal,
marketing and sales areas.

We sincerely hope that this material will directly contribute to the

evolution of your learning regarding Agility concepts.

Enjoy!
Ysmar Vianna
7
8
CONTENTS
PART 1 > CONCEPTION

11 Agile Mindset - It’s more than about doing – it’s about how you think

23 Business Agility - Organizational strategy

47 Management 3.0 - Manage systems, not people

PART 2 > WORK MODELS

65 Scrum - The best-known Agile framework

101 Kanban - Start with what you do now

125 Scaled Agile - How to scale up while remaining Agile

145 Metrics - If you don’t measure it, you can’t track it

161 Design Thinking - The perfect match

PART 3 > FOR EVERYONE

183 Agile Marketing - Real-time marketing in the age of Agility

201 Agile HR - People over processes

213 Data Science - The importance of data for decision making

233 Agile Commercial - Through visibility and assertiveness, make

the sales area your commercial showcase

243 Agile Law - Legal design and innovation in law

9
PART 1
CONCEPTION

10
AGILE MINDSET
It’s about more than doing –
it’s about how you think

Agility arose from the need to have a model that adapts quickly
to change. It is worth mentioning, however, that Agility is not
related to speed and it does not mean being faster. Agility is
only found together with speed in response to change. And the
VUCA1 world needs this.

1 Acronym for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity.

11
Over the years, Agile work models have become fundamental
to organizations. However, due to lack of knowledge and the
desire to obtain immediate results, many companies have failed
to properly implement them. Before taking any action, you need
to transform your mindset. This needs to be the first step.

In 2020, the biggest pandemic of recent times began. All

companies had to adapt (quickly) to changes, regardless of
their sector or area of activity. For traditional organizations,
the rapid shift from offices to (often makeshift) home working
brought about digital acceleration.

In this moment of adaptation, it was no longer possible to

have full control or visibility of the entire team working.
Although Agile methods already existed before the pandemic,
they became crucial for the remote monitoring of projects
at this time.

To exemplify this adaptation to change, we can mention the

creation and evolution of software development projects
(after all, this model started off in IT). Planning a big project
takes a lot of time. Basically, you need to understand all the
business rules, then write out each requirement in minute
detail, prototype each screen, develop, test and finally deliver
the product. The complete cycle is called a “waterfall,” as each
phase is independent and progress flows in one direction. This
work model has now been functioning for many years.

12
However, in the middle of this path we have ideas, needs and
priorities. That is where the Agile model comes in. Furthermore,
today’s world requires that ideas be tested before implementation.
The Agile model also perfectly meets this demand.

X
WATERFALL

AGILE

Figure 1 - Difference between Waterfall and Agile Models

When it comes to Agility, we do not plan a project in its entirety.

We break it into small cycles, which in some frameworks are
called “sprints,” and we plan the execution of each small cycle.
In this way, we reduce complexity and effort. Short cycles
generate constant validations, meaning that at all times, the

13
customer has an idea of how the project will turn out. In turn,
feedback helps the team to be more assertive. Value is delivered
to the customer continuously.

VELOP
DE
MOD
EL
TEST

UNDERSTAND IMPLEMENT?

VELOP VELOP VELOP

DE DE DE
MO

MO

MO
DEL

DEL

DEL
TEST

TEST
TEST

UNDERSTAND IMPLEMENT? UNDERSTAND IMPLEMENT? UNDERSTAND IMPLEMENT?

Figure 2 - Continuous Improvement

14
A company’s biggest asset is its people. In Management 3.0
culture, which we will discuss later on, it is customary to say
that “people are the most valuable asset.” After all, they are
the ones who execute plans. In fact, for projects to succeed,
we need to create an environment of innovation in which
everyone feels they belong and are not mere executors. To
achieve this, organizational purpose must be clear and people
must trust one another.

Agility isn’t about Scrum, Kanban or whatnot. Nor does Agility

mean using paid or free tools to monitor activities or putting
up a set of stickers on a wall. None of this makes you or your
project Agile. Instead, Agility is about how you think. It is a
growth mindset.

Fixed and growth mindsets

Within psychology, mindset is understood as the way people

think in the face of change and how they deal with failure and
success. To understand this dynamic, it is essential to analyze
the situation, because we are in an environment that is changing
rapidly and we need to adapt to avoid stagnation. By analyzing
people, we have been able to identify two types of mindsets:
fixed and growth.

People with a fixed mindset often find it hard to change. If they

say they can’t change something, they often claim they were
born that way, and so on. In general, these people also find it

15
hard to see their own limitations, they do not believe that efforts
can generate change and they see problems as hopeless, with no
chance of potential solution.

Within organizations, this behavior is very common. When

we identify a person with this mindset on our team, it is very
important to work with them and help them develop. In addition,
we need to look at and evaluate ourselves to identify whether we
also behave in such a way, and, if so, look to change.

On the other hand, people who have a growth mindset believe in

the development of intelligence and skills, they tackle problems
enthusiastically, embrace challenges and view failures as
learning opportunities. These characteristics are very important
in the present moment, as more and more challenges appear in
our daily lives. We need to be willing and available to embrace
causes and follow through until the results are harvested. If they
are positive, that’s great, and if they are negative, we need to
improve and go forward again.

Characteristics of an Agile team

There are certain characteristics that Agile teams need to

have, regardless of their area of activity. Here are some of
the main ones:

16
1. Self-Management - Servant Leadership

This is perhaps the main characteristic of Agile teams. Instead

of a boss, there is a leader. According to dictionary definitions, a
boss means a person with decision-making power, while a leader
is someone with the “ability to motivate and inspire people.”

The main characteristic of Agile Leaders is that they serve their

team members. If we draw an organizational chart, they are not
above their team members, but below them.

Agile Leaders are great facilitators. They are the main ones
responsible for removing impediments, meaning everything
that hinders team development. They seek to understand
each team member’s individual motivations to help them work
better as a team.

Teams need to be focused on strategy and fulfilling the objective

of each sprint. Any impediment must be reported immediately to
the leader.

Figure 3 - Agile Leadership

17
2. Teamwork

Unlike in a sport like soccer, for example, in which a goal is

attributed to whoever kicked the ball into the net, the entire team
gets the credit for an Agile goal, meaning a successful delivery.
No one member is more valuable than another, regardless of rank
or seniority. Everyone has the same weight and responsibility.

There is no such thing as, “I delivered but you didn’t.” If the

delivery has not occurred by the end of the sprint, it is everyone’s
responsibility. Team members must help each other, together
with the leader, for the cycle to be successfully completed.

3. Communication

Certainly, communication failure is a recurring problem in all

areas. To alleviate this deficiency, we also work in “squads” in the
Agile model.

A squad simply means a multidisciplinary group, that is, one with

different skills, but with a common goal. As we always work in
short cycles, everyone involved in designing the project works
together. This facilitates communication and accelerates the
development of other skills among the team members.

The waterfall model is a bit like the “Telephone Game” (also

known as “Chinese Whispers”) played by children, whereby
a message is passed along in a chain. Each area receives

18
information and then passes it on to the next one. Every time
this information is passed on, some details are lost. At the end,
the delivery may be very different from the initial request.

As a result, the Agile model features a representation of the

customer within the squad, called the Product Owner (PO).
The Product Owner works with the team throughout the
project, ensuring that the information is always up to date,
reporting the business’ strategic guidelines to the team. All
the team members, with their different types of expertise,
work together toward a common goal, thereby reducing
communication losses.

4. Visibility

Visibility helps prevent problems, for both team members

and others involved in the project. If there is a bottleneck or
an impediment, for example, it is possible to act immediately,
with the help of specific tools and actions.

These tools, which facilitate the process, can be boards

(which display the activities being carried out) or daily
ceremonies (which must be brief and to the point). In this way,
necessary visibility and transparency are achieved, always
with a results focus.

19
Agile Manifesto

Created in February 2001 by a group of IT professionals,

the Agile Manifesto arose as a set of values underpinned by
trust and respect for one another. The goal: the promotion
of organizational models based on people, collaboration and
construction of the types of organizational communities in
which they would like to work.

1
Individuals and
interactions
over processes
and tools
2
Working software
over comprehensive
documentation

3
Responding to
change over
following a plan

Source: agilemanifesto.org
Customer collaboration
over contract
negotiation

4
20
Although there is value in the second items, we value the first
ones more.

In short, the first step is to understand that Agility is based on

adaptation. It is not necessary to adapt to a complete method.
Instead, you should decide what makes sense for your company
or team and implement it. The whole team should test and
validate what worked and what didn’t work, thereby measuring
and learning the new process as well.

The ideal scenario is to implement Agile tools and methods little

by little, as needed, and to persist in the process. There is no
failure when learning is sought. In addition, Agility should not be
considered a trend but a real necessity. After all, companies that
do not migrate to this model will lose competitive advantages in
relation to their competitors over time.

Finally, it is worth reaffirming that in order for the transition

from a traditional model to Agile to be effective, it is essential to
develop an Agile mindset throughout the company. Regardless
of the field or industry, understanding the processes and acting
in an Agile way starts with your way of thinking. Once this is
understood, all the work done changes positively.

21
22
BUSINESS AGILITY
Organizational strategy

For visionary leaders and business executives who are

constantly wondering how to make their company thrive, amid
all the volatility present in the digital age, Business Agility
presents itself as a growing movement. A movement capable
of capable of impacting organizational structures and reducing
the time to market, while analyzing the expectations
of customers and other business stakeholders, such as
partners and investors.

23
Looking at the evolving use of Agile techniques over time, we
can see how the word Agility is no longer applied solely to
teams. It is now used in scaled-up contexts in organizations, and
Agile best practices and tools are now widely employed in HR,
marketing, legal and other areas. The boards of directors of large
companies around the world also use these techniques, not just
to adapt their businesses, but also to create new market trends.
Therefore, we should now think about Agility in the context of
businesses, ensuring that organizations are truly flexible.

1970 1990 2001 2010-2018

Waterfall model Use of techniques Agile for development Scaled Agile

such as Scrum and XP teams (Agile Manifesto)

Figure 1 - The Evolution of Agile

“Simplicity – the art of maximizing the amount of work

not done – is essential.”
– 10 th Principle behind the Agile Manifesto

To deal with Business Agility, you have to consider Agile

principles and values. Therefore, in this case, we can
understand simplicity as the delivering of value. Accordingly,
businesses that want to be sustainable going forward must
ask the following two questions:

24
 1. What evidence is there, obtained from performance
indicators, that the company is actually delivering value?

2. Is the organization working collaboratively?

In 20111, an article in the Harvard Business Review stated

that building a culture of trust and innovation is based on
collaboration, and this is justified by the incremental delivery
of value through constant validation with customers. That is, if
business partners collaborate, the lead time will be reduced,
quality will tend to improve and the business will benefit
from better market perceptions. In 2020, 2 another paper in
the same publication looked at Agile thinking in top business
management. It argued that executives now view working
with Agility and innovation methodologies as a competitive
advantage rather than a mere toolkit in the technology area to
balance efficiency and innovation. This approach is therefore
now deeply rooted in businesses.

During the cycle of a traditional company, there are many

stubborn obstacles related to innovation. Adapting to this
transformation is a major bottleneck for companies born before
the digital era, as bureaucratization throughout organizations
or in specific departments often affects Agility and the
development time of products or services.

1
IBARRA, Heminia; HANSEN, Morten T. Are you a collaborative leader?
Harvard Business Review. Available at https://hbr.org/2011/07/are-you-a-
collaborativeleader Accessed in February 2022.

2 RIGBY, Darrell; ELK, Sarah; BEREZ, Steve. The Agile C-Suite: a new approach to
leadership for the team at the top. Harvard Business Review. Available at https://
hbr.org/2020/05/the-agile-c-suite. Accessed in February 2022. 25
Agile organizations can differ from traditional bureaucratic
organizations in many ways, such as fluidity of roles and lack of
long-term competitive advantage. Practices oriented toward the
quality of processes and deliveries have long been part of the
routines of many organizations, such as quality management in
companies with ISO 9001 certification, but many companies used
to view these practices as bureaucratic.

Business Agility introduces a new way of thinking about the

sustainable transformations of organizations, focusing on the
quality of processes and deliveries. It thereby observes how to
attract, develop, lead and motivate talent to drive results. In this
case, each organization needs to create its own model based on
strategy and enabling leaders.

Fast and responsible

deliveries
(delivery agility)

Organizational and Innovation and disruption

cultural adaptation (involving products,
(organizational internal processes, etc.)
adaptability)

Leadership through
complexity
(leadership effectiveness)
Figure 2 - Pillars That Permeate Business Agility

26
To provide for such changes, the following layers must
be considered:

• Governance;

• People;

• Culture;

• Leadership;

• Strategy.

VUCA World vs. BANI World

As we have already said, the world is constantly changing,

and analyzing the concept of Business Agility, as well as the
reasons for large companies to seek to implement it, permeates
understanding of the definitions of the VUCA world and its
evolution to a BANI one.

In 1987, during the Cold War, the VUCA concept emerged, based
on the theories of Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus. The term is an
acronym that explained the reality of the time and it remained in
use until the emergence of the BANI concept.

27
 VUCA means:

V
Volatility - This refers to the speed of change in an industry,
market or the world in general. The more volatile the world
is, the faster things change.

U
Uncertainty - This is associated with people’s inability to
understand what is happening. Uncertain environments
are those that do not allow for any predictions. The more
uncertain the world is, the harder it is to predict.

C
Complexity - This refers to the number of factors we need
to take into account to make more efficient decisions, their
variety and the relationships between them. The more
factors there are, the greater the variety and the more
interconnected and complex the environment is.

Ambiguity - This relates to a lack of clarity to interpret

A
something. It is not about analyzing the biggest quantity
of data, but rather undertaking an advanced analysis of
the right KPIs. For example, a situation is ambiguous when
information is incomplete, contradictory or too imprecise
to draw clear conclusions.

28
For a long time, the VUCA concept was used to guide
organizational development in situations of volatility,
uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. The term served mainly
to create meaning in the face of the uncertainties of an ever-
changing, increasingly interconnected digital world.

However, the pandemic gave rise to more complex issues

and the VUCA definition became insufficient in the new
circumstances. Thus, a new term emerged: the BANI world.
Coined by American anthropologist, author and futurist Jamais
Cascio, this term took into account the changes brought about
by the pandemic and others that may arise.

29
 BANI means:

B
Brittle - The idea is that we are susceptible to catastrophes
that can strike at any time and and that all businesses are
built on fragile foundations that can fall apart overnight.

A
Anxious - Anxiety is one of the most common symptoms
today and this is also reflected in the job market. We are
living on the edge and this creates a sense of urgency,
which guides many decisions.

Nonlinear - We are living in a world where events seem

N
disconnected and disproportionate. Without a well-defined
and standardized structure, it is not possible to build
structured organizations. Therefore, detailed and long-term
planning may no longer make sense.

Incomprehensible - The world is incomprehensible when

I
we try to find answers but the answers don’t make sense.
Certainties are shaken in the face of what we do not know.
Accordingly, we need to understand that we do not have
control over everything.

30
One fundamental point in an Agile organization that applies
Business Agility principles in a conscious and strategic way
is leadership. In fact, leadership style is one of the biggest
challenges faced when most companies adopt Business Agility.
Therefore, a leadership mindset based on Agility is sought, as
well as characteristics to engage, train, delegate, train, inspire
and enable.

Management models influence cultures, and cultures underlie

new behaviors inside and outside organizations.

Thus, the value of Business Agility must be explained to senior

managers as part of a transformation for which they are
initially responsible. This involves setting strategic objectives
and mapping structures in order to find gaps in operational
processes. This will then generate changes in projects, programs
and portfolios, while empowering people through training and
supporting business owners, product owners and Agile Coaches
to allow the company’s culture to become sustainable.

With Business Agility, growth should be exponential. Companies

must understand how to delight customers (through constant
value deliveries) and the market, expanding their participation
and presence in the ecosystem based on business acceleration
resulting in early returns on investment.

Leaders need to shift from a logic of centralization in a single

individual to team sharing. This change in perspective will
contribute to the implementation of a culture of collaboration
supported by communication and transparency between
individuals, teams, departments and branches or business units.

31
Through self-managing teams aligned with leaders’ goals,
decisions happen faster, leading to assertive deliveries and less
waste via constant process mapping.

Initial steps to a Business

Agility mindset

Considering the benefits gained by Agile organizations and

the importance of a visionary and viable management model in
light of systemic changes in the world, here are some tips when
taking your initial steps toward structuring a Business Agility
mindset within your company.

1 Adopting Agile methodologies is not enough

Merely adopting Agile methodologies is not enough for

a company to be considered adept at Business Agility.
Tools are just tools. For a company to have Business
Agility, its core business needs to be Agile. This means
having an end-to-end strategic process as well as
making fundamental changes across the enterprise.

32
2 Put people and innovation at the center

Within any Business Agility structure, innovation must

be at the center, without forgetting people, of course.
People make change happen. Therefore, it is important
to develop employees at the right time and in the right
way; to give them clear, concise and customer-centric
goals; and to promote self-organized communication
and collaboration between teams. With fluidity and
flexibility, employees and teams are able to move easily
between roles. After all, they need to be autonomous
and independent to be Agile. People execute strategies
and are responsible for organizational success. They
should work within an Agile framework that is continuous,
incremental and collaborative.

3 Show that change is a gift

All actors in the business structure need to recognize

that change is not a problem. On the contrary, with
the Business Agility framework working well, change
generates many opportunities (in terms of business,
profitability, growth for employees, and so on). Thus, it is
important for leaders to encourage disruptive ideas and
actions (by thinking outside the box), always underpinned
by the notion that no one should resist change.

33
 4 Develop user-centered products and services

It is also very important to keep in mind that Business

Agility can give companies a competitive edge. Using
this framework, organizations can learn, outperform their
competitors and attract passionate people who excel in
an empowered environment. You then have to work on
your ability to deliver and respond quickly, and that means
offering the best possible customer experience, getting
organized and learning with Agility. This is based on lean
execution, responding immediately to feedback without
sacrificing quality.

Another important facet of Business Agility is the ability to

break product development plans down from long term to
short term. As part of this, minimum viable products (MVPs)
must be created and carried out. Based on the results,
changes should be made, before distributing the complete
products. This helps the business stay relevant to the market
and get customer feedback at a very early stage.

5 Embrace technology

It is impossible to think about the Business Agility mindset

without bearing in mind that established companies and
industries are becoming commoditized or replaced through
digitization, advances in bioscience, and the innovative use of
new models and automation. Examples include developments
such as artificial intelligence (in particular machine learning),
the Internet of Things and robotics. Therefore, technology

34
urgently needs to be adopted as a fundamental axiom in
business. Now is the time to accelerate the digitization
and democratization of information. The growing volume,
transparency and distribution of information requires
organizations to quickly engage in multi-directional
communication and complex collaboration with customers,
partners and colleagues.

35
Lean thinking and Business Agility

When we think about innovation and business sustainability, we

cannot fail to mention the search for efficiency plus there is a need
to describe what value actually means to organizations and their
stakeholders. The process of identifying and mapping value begins
by creating a continuous workflow, establishing a pull production
system and enabling a mindset of continuous improvement.

Efficiency is linked to building in a lean way. To do this, we start with

experimentation and learning, or “Hansei” and “Kaizen” in the Lean
Manufacturing culture.

By Hansei, we mean “starting from where we are,” rectifying the

company’s mission, creating value for customers and putting them
first, and thus mapping processes to discover bottlenecks.

Kaizen, on the other hand, represents “continuous improvement,”

based on visual management, pull production and continuous flows,
and by reducing waste through constant process reviews.
Recognize the problem Recognize the problem
Recognize the problem

Recognize the problem

Accept responsibility
Recognize
Recognize thethe
problem for failures
problem Accept responsibility
Accept for failures
responsibility for failures
Accept responsibility for failures

Accept responsibility for failures Create an action plan for continuous improvement
Create
Create anan
Accept action
plan plan
responsibility
action for failures
for continuous
for continuous improvement
improvement Create an action plan for continuous improvement

Create an action plan for continuous improvement

Create an action plan for continuous improvement

Figure 3 - The Three Elements of Hansei

36
You won’t get different results if you keep doing the
same thing.

Lean methodology points out the following points as the keys to

guiding business management in terms of reducing waste and
enhancing value creation for customers and other stakeholders.
The idea is to better align organizational reality with customers’
needs and guide results to generate greater profitability and
adapt to market trends:

1. Overproduction;

2. Inventory;

3. Transport;

4. Processing;

5. Motion;

6. Waiting;

7. Defects;

8. Ideas.

37
Organizational Design:
Identifying dysfunctional aspects of workflows

Organizational Design is a methodology that identifies

dysfunctional aspects of workflows, procedures, structures and
systems. You need to align them to fit current business realities/
goals and then develop plans to implement the new changes.

The process focuses on improving both the technical and people

sides of the business leading to a more effective organizational
design. It also significantly improves results (profitability, customer
service and internal operations) and guides employees regarding
training and commitment to the business.

The hallmark of the Organizational Design process is a

comprehensive and holistic approach to improvement that affects
all aspects of the organization, including:

Customer service Reduced

excellence operating costs

Enhanced efficiency
Higher profitability
and shorter cycle time

A clear strategy for

A culture of committed managing and expanding
and engaged employees the business

Figure 4 - Elements of Organizational Design

38
 By design, we are talking about integrating people with key
business processes, technologies and systems.

A well-designed organization ensures that its form matches its

purpose or strategy, meets the challenges posed by business
realities, and significantly increases the likelihood that collective
efforts will succeed.

As companies grow and challenges in the external environment

become more complex, business processes, structures and
systems that used to function well become barriers to efficiency,
customer service, employee morale and financial profitability.

Stages of Organizational Design

While adaptable to the size, complexity and needs of any

organization, the Organizational Design process generally
consists of the following stages:

1 Design process charter

Leaders come together to discuss current business results,

organizational health, environmental demands and the need to
embark on potential new processes. You then establish a “charter”
that includes a “case for change,” desired outcomes, scope,
allocation of resources, deadlines, participation, communications
strategy and other parameters that will guide the project.

39
 2 Assess the current state of the business

Using diagnostic techniques, you perform a comprehensive

assessment of your organization to understand how it
functions, its strengths and weaknesses, to align it with
your core ideology and business strategy.

3 Design the new organization

The senior team (and/or others who have been invited

to participate in the process) looks ahead and develops
a complete set of design recommendations for the
“ideal future.”

4 Implement the design

Finally, it is time to design a new organization. People are

organized into work groups that receive training in the
new design and team skills, such as startup team building.
New work roles are incorporated and new relationships
inside and outside the unit are established. Equipment and
facilities are rearranged. Reward systems, performance
systems, information sharing, decision making and
management systems are changed and adjusted.

40
Integration of roles in
Business Agility

When starting a Business Agility process, it is also necessary to

visualize the roles inserted in this new reality so that change is
systemic and impacts the different layers of the structure, whether
they involve products, processes, people or business level.

According to Luiz Parzianello, the founder of the Agile Business

Owner Academy, management for Business Agility is based on the
following enabling profiles:

Business Owner: A business-oriented profile, responsible

for growing, enchanting and evolving. Pays attention to
results, customers and the market.

Product Owner: This profile, linked to projects, seeks to

innovate, learn and experiment. Focuses on technologies,
problems and users.

Agile Talents: An autonomous team united by a purpose and

the mastery of knowledge. Its value lies in attracting new
talent, developing and collaborating with one another.

Agile Coaches: Focus on the organization’s processes,

paying attention to existing flows and capabilities, while
aiming for team excellence.

41
Regardless of the name attached to these functions, the
important thing is to realize the change in mindset required
for Business Agility to actually represent value delivery for the
company. This movement should gradually become intrinsic
to everyone. Start with what you have, measure your changes
and continually improve.

Measuring Business Agility mindset

The Business Agility Institute has come up with a practical

way to appraise an organization’s Business Agility mindset.

To do this, it used a "learning" factor as its core principle.

According to institute’s specialists, learning is a key indicator
of Business Agility. Look at the chart below to identify your
organization’s Business Agility mindset stage:

42
 Business Agility
Learning
Mindset Stage
We have an organizational
expectation of learning
and experimentation.
Failure is seen as an
opportunity to learn.
Crawling
We provide an environment
where it is “safe to fail.” We
encourage people (especially
leaders) to speak up and
share their failures as learning
Walking opportunities.
We regularly (but safely) push
leaders and teams outside
their comfort zones to
provide opportunities for
personal growth.
Running
Learning is no longer just
“safe,” but expected. We
have an organization that
requires (and funds)
people to experiment,
Flying learn and fail.
Table 1 - Business Agility Stages
Relentless Improvement
Feedback loops (“inspect
and adapt”) and associated
practices (such as
retrospectives) are in place
at team level. Teams focus
on improving what they do
and how they do it.
Across the organization,
process improvement is
generally triggered by an
internal drive to improve and
be more customer centric.
A learning culture with
feedback loops and
associated practices has
taken root throughout the
organization. Teams, divisions
and the entire organization
focus on improving both what
they do and how they do it.
We have built a culture of
excellence through learning
and experimentation. It is a
critical part of who we are.
43
Working toward a Business Agility mindset designed for
collaboration, Agile organizations employ networks of
autonomous teams. This requires an underlying mindset and
management-by-agreement partnership. These companies
strive to explore ideas, skills and strengths through freedom,
trust, responsibility and feedback – a very important tool,
which can come from different sources (customers, colleagues
or partners). Regardless of its origin, the ability to listen and
use it is critical to an Agile organization.

Conclusion

Thus, we conclude that Business Agility offers tools to

dynamize companies and ensure that they remain aligned with
the needs of customers and the market. It is not enough to
change the way methodologies, technologies, services and
product creation are executed if people are not influenced to
change their mindset.

This way of thinking must cut across the entire organizational

structure so that the value of Business Agility is effectively
harnessed and not restricted to practices and mindsets tied to
technology teams. Making this shift is never that simple, but it
is extremely necessary.

This is the decisive step that will bring your company closer to
lean processes, in order to transform challenging moments and
invest in increasingly assertive strategies and decision making.

44
Therefore, improving the time to market, making processes
more efficient, focusing more on customers, providing constant
training, retaining talents and building an Agile management
culture require an enabling leadership, which understands all the
benefits linked to a culture of exponential growth.

Finally, it is important to have a deep understanding of your

business when changing from a traditional mindset to an Agile
mindset in business and management. This kind of change does
not happen overnight, so you should start off with small steps:
experiment, assess your evolution, create maturity models and
measure indicators.

45
46
MANAGEMENT 3.0
Manage systems, not people

The need to organize teams for the development of processes

has always existed. However, management methods have
changed and improved over time. In order to perform the same
service more efficiently, valuing not only the results but the
human component, new management models were created,
until we arrived at Management 3.0.

47
At the beginning of the 20 th century, companies used
a command-and-control style of leadership. Managers
determined the work needed to be done and employees
executed it in a highly mechanical way. Furthermore,
employees were closely supervised by their superiors. This
was the top-down or Management 1.0 model, in which team
members’ functions consisted merely of following orders.

As time went by, some companies identified the need for

change to achieve better results. They understood that
the idea of vertical management, in which professionals
only perform tasks assigned by their superiors, acting like
cogs in a large machine, was not truly efficient. Therefore,
Management 2.0, a transition model between 1.0 and 3.0,
began to be implemented.

Although employees gained more visibility and appreciation

in this new management model, 2.0 was still not ideal, as the
concept of hierarchy was still heavily present. In addition,
people believed in the idea of linear processes, in which all
variables could be predicted and avoided. However, little
by little, companies and managers came to understand that
certain events cannot be predicted, especially in the long
term. In an extremely unpredictable world – just look at the
consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic – this kind of
thinking became unfeasible.

48
Another factor that does not follow a linear course is human
behavior. Realizing that a work environment includes many types
of professionals with their own characteristics, making processes
even more complex, it was concluded a new management model
was necessary. Management 3.0, which focuses on managing
systems rather than people, then arose.

The advent of Management 3.0

A new project management model became necessary over time.

Agreeing with this need, IT manager Jurgen Appelo created
the concept of Management 3.0. It was no longer a framework,
but a mindset, in which everyone would be responsible for the
company’s success, with leaders in charge of managing the
progress of this process.

Thus, employees stopped receiving and executing orders

automatically and started to actively participate in decision
making, by suggesting ideas and making improvements. In this
way, employees go beyond their scope of work, contribute
their expertise, learn new skills and receive feedback from the
entire team. By putting this new model into practice, employees
become more motivated and projects are carried out more
efficiently, as everyone feels responsible for the final outcome.

49
One of the factors shaping Management 3.0 is complexity
thinking. This means that teams and managers are ready for
unexpected changes and know how to adapt to them. The
COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on standard work routines is
a good example of the need to understand companies as
complex adaptive systems.

Complexity thinking has the following guidelines:

• Address complexity as complexity;

• Use a diversity of perspectives;

• Assume subjectivity and coevolution;

• Copy and tweak;

• Expect dependence on context;

• Anticipate, explore, adapt;

• Shorten the feedback cycle;

• Keep your options open.

Based on these guidelines, Appelo created six organizational

views of Management 3.0, expressed by a character called
Martie. Now that organizational processes are no longer
vertical but horizontal and there is an orientation toward
self-management and employee empowerment, a new way of
understanding the system.

50
 Align
constraints

Empower Develop
teams competence

Improve
everything
Grow the
Energize structure
people

Figure 1 - Six Organizational Views of Management 3.0,

Expressed by “Martie”

The six organizational views

1. Energize people

Motivated people produce more with better results.

Understanding this fact, Jurgen Appelo created the first
organizational view: energize people. Giving employees an
understanding of their importance to the team and project,
thereby making them grow and become increasingly capable,
is one of the main points of this type of management.

51
Accordingly, leaders have the role of keeping people active and
also rewarding them for their performance and effort.

These rewards are fundamental to the process. In Management

3.0, they are divided into intrinsic and extrinsic types. Intrinsic
rewards come from employees themselves. They identify their
importance in the development of the project and motivate
themselves to be more productive. Extrinsic rewards, on the other
hand, go from the outside to the inside, that is, from the manager
or team to the employee. This kind of reward can take many forms.

However, it is important to emphasize that rewards cannot

be synonymous with productivity. A team that obtains many
rewards does not always achieve good results. Therefore, using
statistical data is not always the best way to determine someone’s
worthiness. It is worth evaluating performance based on other
indicators, such as the quality of work, participation in the
project and effort.

To optimize the use of rewards, the following rules

are recommended:

• Don’t promise rewards in advance;

• Keep anticipated rewards small;

• Reward continuously, not just once;

• Reward publicly, not privately;

• Reward behaviors, not only outcomes;

• Reward peers, not only subordinates.

52
Furthermore, you should give people time to express gratitude
for their recognition and boost team interaction.

In Management 3.0, it is understood that a happy work

environment contributes to greater engagement and
consequently productivity. With this in mind, we present
some gamified techniques below to promote interaction and
communication in order to make teams increasingly Agile.

1.1 Reward systems

The practice of giving rewards in Management 3.0 aims to

motivate and empower employees. However, how can this be
done efficiently? There are many methods that can be applied,
but we will mention just three.

Merit Money

This is a collaborative reward system in which a virtual

currency is created that employees can give each other as a
reward. The value of this currency can be set by each leader
and it can be converted into credits, prizes or cash bonuses.
It is up to leaders to assess the most appropriate way of
converting rewards.

53
 +10 Project completed

+30 Exceeded expectations

+05 Supported me in presentation

Figure 2 - Example of Merit Money

Kudo cards

Motivation doesn’t have to come only from credits and prizes.

Praise and recognition are also essential in this process. Kudo
cards work for exactly that purpose: sharing gratitude between
employees. They are themed cards (thank you, congratulations,
recognition, support, and so on). Here team members can write
what they feel about the work of another team member. These
cards can be deposited in a box and then handed out at a certain
time or displayed on a wall in real time.

Figure 3 - Example of Kudo Cards. Source: https://management30.com

54
This handover of cards also serves as a gauge to evaluate the
performance of each employee, allowing managers to perceive
team dynamics and employees to evaluate themselves. If
someone does not receive any reward, for example, it could be
a sign that something is wrong. Kudo cards have become very
popular in companies, as they are a virtually cost-free technique
that engages everyone. Feedback should not only come from
above, but from all sides. Many organizations have created their
own kudo cards by adjusting the layout to company colors or
even adding characters from cartoons or TV series.

Moving Motivator Cards

This is a reward system that helps show what motivates each

team member. The cards present words such as targets,
freedom, curiosity, power and status. Every person ranks
the cards in order of importance. In this way, it is possible to
collectively analyze each employee’s priorities and best adapt
their roles within the team.

Figure 4 - Moving Motivator Cards. Source: https://management30.com

55
Many companies use this technique in selection processes
to understand if candidates’ motivations are aligned with the
objectives of the challenge. Leaders, along with their teams, can
also understand the motivators of each project and those of each
team member. This initiative makes it clear what needs to be
adjusted to aid team improvement.

2. Empower teams

By following the principle of horizontal management, in which

everyone participates in organizing and executing projects,
the second organizational view of Management 3.0 emerges:
empower teams. According to Jurgen Appelo, giving employees
autonomy and delegating power to them is essential for team
dynamics. However, it is necessary for this empowerment to be
done clearly and leaders must indicate team members’ decision-
making limits.

Figure 5 - Delegation Cards

Source: https://management30.com/

56
Leaders’ consent makes self-organization more efficient. In this
way, confidence is created that the work will be done without the
need for frequent demands or constant inspection. In addition,
empowered teams are more resilient and agile, as they know
how to adapt to unexpected situations more efficiently. After
all, they have the autonomy to solve problems and conduct
processes, so power is no longer centralized. If they need to deal
with something that goes beyond the determined constraints,
dialogue with the leader will always be open.

To further facilitate this relationship, teams can use a delegation

board. This displays the seven levels of authority between
management and team members on cards: say, sell, consult,
agree, advise, ask and delegate. For each topic that comes up,
such as work routines or salaries, the team presents its cards
and discusses the best way to carry out and delegate functions.

3. Align constraints

The next step in the pursuit of a self-organizing and efficient

team is the need to align constraints. In this organizational view,
the main idea is to incorporate concepts that drive the company
– its mission, values and purpose – into self-organization. These
concepts need to be clear and internalized by everyone. It
needs to be clear that it’s not just about having a pretty board
on the wall at the company. All team members need to look at
these principles and check whether their work is contributing to
achieving the company’s goals every day.

57
To this end, teams need to understand this information, apply it
and embed it in their routines, so that it impacts decision making.

Protecting people, sharing resources and ensuring a clear

purpose are steps that leaders must take to help team members
be proud of their role in the company and nurture a great internal
culture. This culture corresponds to the behaviors and practices
of team members, which must be based on the organization’s
values and principles. Thus, it is understood that in a work
environment, practices need to be aligned with management
methods. A team led in an empowered way may not be suitable
for a company with a more traditional management model.
Everyone needs to be aligned with the same cultural practices.

4. Develop competence

If the need to empower teams is important, some of this

work should also happen by creating a space for continuous
learning. Many companies don’t know this, but they are also
great education institutions. That is, they develop employees’
skills so that teams fully achieve their goals. After all, when
the competence of a team is exercised, the organization also
develops. The main points that Jurgen Appelo describes as
important to this vision are as follows:

58
 • Listen and pay attention – Be attentive to the team’s demands;

• Have non-violent communication – Ask questions and listen

in a clear and welcoming way;

• Address powerful questions – Present questions that

generate reflection and develop new visions and responses;

• Shorten distances – Develop means of interaction between

team members;

• Document relevant results – Keep records of the team’s

achievements;

• Establish rituals – Agile ceremonies are fundamental to a

steady flow of objective and results-oriented meetings.

Another relevant factor in this organizational view is observation

of skills, to identify people on teams who are better than others at
certain activities. To carry out this kind of ranking, Jurgen Appelo
used the terms apprentice, journeyman and master. However, it is
worth mentioning that although some people are more skilled than
others, everyone will be trained during the process.

A competency framework identifies the skills of each team

member and the best way to create a capable team for the project
in question. Apprentices (who know little), journeymen (who are
aware of the task) and masters (who have expertise in the subject)
will be assigned to the functions required to execute the project.
Everyone will work together, training one another, with the aim of
reaching the defined goal.

59
 Team Members

Levels of
competency Name Name Name
Competencies required

1
Technology
4

0
Accounting 5

2
Barista
1

5
Hardware
0

1
Cooking
1

Legend: Apprentice Journeyman Master

Figure 6 - Competency Matrix Model

5. Grow the structure

In this organizational view, balance is the watchword. It is

necessary to achieve a kind of ambidexterity between hierarchy
and networks, meaning a healthy coexistence between
specialization, centralization, exploitation and efficiency on the
one hand, and generalization, decentralization, investigation and
effectiveness on the other hand. Appelo says that a company is
like a city in which some parts emerge organically while others
are designed from the top down.

For this exercise to work well, the following points are proposed:

60
 • People with technical skills on the team – generalists and
also specialists;

• Value delivery – team members who deliver valuable results;

• Small teams – few but efficient people;

• Semi-unstable teams – members can be allocated to new

projects after a certain time;

• Remove emphasis from job titles – people are not attached

to traditional titles and refer to themselves in line with their
everyday functions;

• Communities of practice – create networks within the

organization to pursue a certain objective;

• Open allocation – people can go to whichever area

they want;

• Dual linking – create groups featuring representatives of

various teams to discuss issues and seek solutions;

• Multi-project and multi-function teams – workers can divide

their time between a main project and other professional
interests and projects;

• Local rules – be free to set internal working rules for

your project.

In this way, the idea of transforming the company into a “city” in

which balance is practiced becomes easier.

61
6. Improve everything

The last organizational view in Management 3.0 stresses the

importance of constantly improving everything, but without fearing
moments of failure. Making mistakes is part of the process and it
indicates that the organization is always innovating, looking for
new ways to achieve its goals.

Furthermore, when a team makes a mistake, it can extract

knowledge and lessons from that situation. Failures need to be
faced naturally and the organization, in turn, must create a safe
environment for them to occur. This way, further experiments are
encouraged without a culture of finger-pointing or fear of failure.

“Create a trust-oriented work environment before a

results-oriented work environment.”
– Jurgen Appelo

To make the process even more efficient, feedback is essential.

Management needs to return information to teams to contribute
to the execution of work. Having the habit of giving feedback is
also key to creating an environment of trust. To guide this practice
and boost motivation, there is a technique called Feedback Wrap,
which has the following five steps:

1 Describe your context

Sharing your current situation provides a sense of

empathy and honesty. That includes your physical and
also emotional context.

62
2 List your observations

Present your perceptions, whether positive or negative.

It is important to indicate the level of priority.

3 Express your emotions

Describe the impact of your observations and how you

feel in relation to them.

4 Sort by value

It is important for everyone to be aware of the value

of everything. Nobody should merely execute actions.
Instead, people need to understand the underlying
reasons for initiatives. This stimulates everyone.

5 End with suggestions

Offer suggested improvements, recommendations

and encouragement.

This work can have numerous benefits for teams.

After all, feedback is like a fertilizer that nurtures the
development of a team’s skills. Thus, it contributes
to both the continuous improvement of work and the
organization as a whole.

63
PART 2
WORK MODELS

64
SCRUM
The best-known Agile framework

Scrum is by far the most popular framework used by

organizations to work on Agile and digital transformation.
However, it is often used inappropriately and reduced to mere
ceremonies. We need to understand that Scrum is much deeper
and more complex than what we often see in use.

65
As well as being a simple and intentionally incomplete framework
– as mentioned in the Scrum Guide1 – Scrum is also complex.
After all, teams have to change their culture and understanding
before they start to use it. Thus, we need to understand that
using this framework entails knowledge management rather than
mechanized activities.

Daily
Scrum Scrum
Master
24H

Product Development
Owner Team SPRINT
1-4 weeks

Product Sprint Planning Sprint Work Review +

Backlog Meeting Backlog Completed Retrospective

Figure 1 - Scrum Model

Unlike an automated production line, on which it is possible to

have an idea of the behavior and predictability of the machines
and thereby know how much they will produce per minute, this
doesn’t apply to people. This fact affects the development
and consequently the deliveries of teams. On a Scrum Team,

1
The Scrum Guide is a document that presents definitions of Scrum. It is
available on the internet for free, in many languages. You can download it
here: https://scrumguides.org/

66
everyone is responsible for the deliveries, so it is fundamental
to understand the present context of each team member. This
is one of the great challenges in implementing and using this
framework, making it complex.

That being said, it is necessary to invest time in people

development. For those who already use Scrum on a daily
basis, it is worth noting the concepts described and presented
in the practical way below. The goal is to enable a new look at
the framework and appraise what is being done through the
use of checklists.

Lean Thinking

Lean Thinking is a philosophy that seeks maximum efficiency

using the minimum quantity of available resources. It has
five principles:

1. Value

It is necessary to understand what customers consider to be

valuable in the delivery of a product or service. The best way
to find this out is to ask them directly. Making assumptions
can cause serious problems down the road, because if you
incorrectly identify what your customers value, your product
could fail.

67
Checklist:

We are constantly talking to our customers to identify the

value they place on each product or service;

We have defined who our persona is and we update it

whenever necessary.

2. Value flow

Here, it is necessary to list the work steps in your flow to

identify where there are opportunities to enhance steps or
eliminate unnecessary ones. The goal is to focus on what really
delivers value.

Checklist:

We have a defined workflow, containing all the necessary

steps to deliver value to customers;

We are always working to enhance or eliminate steps in the

work process.

68
3. Continuous flow

Creating a continuous and increasingly efficient workflow

prevents people from being idle (which generates costs) and
reduces queues (which normally consume a large portion of an
activity’s total period).

Checklist:

We constantly analyze our workflow to identify bottlenecks

and queues.

4. Pull production

Pull production suggests that new work items should only be

started once previously defined work items have been delivered.
In this way, items don’t stand still and unnecessary inventories
are not generated.

Checklist:

During each sprint, we pull new items to be developed;

We only pull new items into the sprint after the items
that were agreed upon in the planning meeting have
been delivered;

An item from the previous stage is only pulled when the

current stage is able to start another item.

69
5. Continuous improvement

If teams do not strive for perfection, it cannot be said that they

have a Lean mindset. It is very important to be constantly analyzing
processes to incrementally improve them.

Checklist:

In retrospect, we always identify areas for improvement

in processes;

We constantly implement improvements to work processes,

having clearly defined the implementation steps, what the
expected results are and how we will measure whether the
results have been achieved.

Empiricism

According to the Oxford Dictionary, empiricism means the “doctrine

according to which all knowledge comes solely from experience,
limiting itself to what can be grasped from the external world, by the
senses, or from the subjective world, by introspection; the revealed
and transcendent truths of mysticism, or aprioristic and innate
truths of rationalism, are generally discarded.” Making a link to how
Scrum works, we can say that a Scrum Team evolves and learns as it
gains experience.

70
With each passing day, the team understands more about the
business, technology, people and products. For example, the
team’s estimates will be based on its experience. As a result,
predictions about the progress and completion of an activity will
not be the same after a certain time period. After all, this work
involves knowledge management, which has many variables.

The Scrum framework has three empirical pillars:

SCRUM
Transparency

Adaptation
Inspection

Figure 2 - The 3 Pillars of Scrum

71
1. Transparency

The first pillar deals with the importance of having transparency

in work order. That is, every activity that is being done within a
project needs to be easily identified by the entire team and also
by the people who are indirectly tracking it. Therefore, the team
must have a form or tool to present the stories and activities it
is working on. The goal is not to micromanage, but to allow the
team to inspect itself and identify how it is doing and what it
needs to do to successfully complete the delivery.

A lack of transparency within a team can be caused by lack of

trust between the members, the choice of inappropriate tools
and also a lack of discipline in launching activities. However,
attention is needed to ensure that this practice does not become
a means to micromanage the activities of each member with the
sole objective of controlling people. It is worth remembering
that teams must self-manage and self-organize around their
demands, and any point that deviates from the plan must be
raised and discussed with everyone in order to decide on the
best way forward.

The issue of transparency has to go beyond what is being

done within a sprint. It must extend to the product roadmap,
prioritization of the product backlog, the goals and objectives
that the team has to deliver, and its mission. It is no use for a
company to want to implement Scrum and then leave this issue
to a specific team. It needs to work on transparency in all areas.

72
Checklist:

Our workflow, stories and tasks are visible so that anyone,

inside or outside the team, can understand what is going on;

Our team updates this information daily and any point that
deviates from the plan is discussed with an action plan being
drawn up;

The team knows the objective and goal regarding the

product it is working on;

Impediments and difficulties are communicated to everyone

before they impact the sprint.

2. Inspection

Work in progress must be constantly inspected in order to

guarantee its quality, not only at the end of delivery, but
throughout the process, in order to avoid surprises.

Checklist:

We have a Definition of Ready (DoR) and Definition of Done

(DoD), clearly defined and constantly analyzed and updated;

We hold a Daily Scrum;

We hold reviews;

73
 The team always looks at the sprint goal it has to achieve;

When customers’ requirements change, the team adapts,

using this as an opportunity to collaborate with them.

3. Adaptation

When any point that is hindering the delivery of value to customers

is identified, the team must carry out an analysis, adapt and
minimize the identified impacts. For example, it may be seen that
the market to which the product belongs has changed and that if
the company does not adapt, it may be left behind. In this case,
the backlog must be altered.

Checklist:

The Product Owner is constantly striving to understand

the market and identify new opportunities and needs to
reprioritize the backlog;

We use reviews to reprioritize the backlog when necessary;

We sometimes share stories within the sprint when we identify

greater opportunities for feedback;

The team always focuses on improving processes/flows rather

than highlighting specific people;

The Scrum Master always finds opportunities to improve the

work process/flow.

74
Values

Scrum Values are ideas that underpin attitudes, behaviors and

the pursuit of results while the framework is used. In other
words, they are the methodology’s DNA, giving life to the pillars
mentioned above (transparency, inspection and adaptation).
Scrum has five values, which teams need to absorb and practice
on a daily basis:

COURAGE

FOCUS

COMMITMENT
Scrum Values

RESPECT

OPENNESS

Figure 3 - Scrum Values

75
1. Courage

As technology has advanced, companies have increasingly

sought to develop sophisticated products that meet the needs of
their customers. Consequently, teams must have the courage to
work on difficult problems and do the right thing.

This courage to do the right thing is required in a variety of

situations, from tackling a task or project whose modus operandi
is completely unknown to the team, to deciding and informing
a customer that it will not be possible to make a delivery in the
requested time. By the way, this positioning is the responsibility
of the entire team.

Checklist:

The team faces new challenges despite knowing that it does

not have all the necessary information or knowledge;

The team has the courage to speak up whenever a request is

made to add a new demand mid-sprint;

The team has the courage to speak up when a deadline is

not feasible;

The team has the courage to perform a critical analysis of

the solutions that are required and communicate the results
when necessary.

76
2. Focus

At the beginning of each sprint cycle, the team defines a goal/

objective to be achieved and also what activities must be done
in order to reach the goal. Having defined the objective, it is
essential to remain focused on achieving it and delivering what
was requested, without getting distracted by other activities that
were not planned. If any external demand arises, the team can
discuss it and assess whether or not it is worth meeting.

Not all sprint activities can be aligned with the goal/objective.

Consequently, the team must first focus on doing what will
achieve the goal, before turning to other issues.

Checklist:

We have one defined goal/objective for each sprint;

In our planning meeting, we defined which activities will be

done in the sprint. If other demands arise, we talk about this
and decide whether or not the activity will be carried out;

No activities are performed and discovered (apart from on

review/retrospective days);

We have a board that shows us which activities are the focus

of the sprint.

77
3. Commitment

The third value reflects the importance of team members

committing to one another. Together they can achieve their goals
and make the necessary deliveries.

On many teams, there are people who are committed only to

themselves and not to the whole team. For example, if a team is
unable to deliver all the items agreed upon in the sprint but the
developer did not make the effort to find out about the progress of
activities during the process and says: “I did what I was supposed to
but we were let down by the quality assurance manager,” it is clear
that they were not committed to the team, only to themselves. It is
worth remembering that a divided team tends to fail.

This is the most common situation found within teams, so it is

necessary to develop a culture of commitment. There is no point
just one person delivering one part of the job and the team not
delivering the full product, because people will ultimately look at
whether or not the team completed the entire job.

Checklist:

Each member is committed to achieving the team’s goals;

Each member seeks to understand how they can help the team
achieve its goals when there is a risk of not delivering.

78
4. Respect

If this value does not exist on a team, all the other values will
be undermined. If there is no respect, there will be no unity
and destructive conflicts will constantly arise. Respecting
someone is much more than respecting their position. It means
understanding that people are capable of doing what they are
asked to do and that they are also independent.

This value does not require close relationships or friendship.

It must exist regardless of anything else and it must extend to
everyone, including those who have some difficulties or are not
on the same level as others.

Checklist:

Our conflicts are always constructive, with the objective

of delivering the best and improving our processes, not
attacking people.

5. Openness

The team and the people surrounding it must be open to talking

about the whole project, its challenges and the necessary
changes. We often see teams that close themselves off and do
not want to hear when someone comes by to comment on some
aspect of a project.

79
However, it is necessary to work on this behavior internally,
as everyone needs to listen in order to also be heard.
Above all, we should remember that deliveries are made
through cooperation.

Checklist:

The team is open to receiving new ideas, changes and

criticisms regarding the product;

Stakeholders feel the team is receptive if they have

something to present.

Scrum Team

A Scrum Team is made up of a Product Owner, Scrum Master

and development team. They are also small, cross-functional
and self-managing teams. They aim to achieve the product
goal by delivering small increments at the end of each sprint.
Their responsibilities include conversations with stakeholders
and the development, production and maintenance of the
product in question.

80
To Do Doing Done

Development Scrum Product

Team Master Owner

Figure 4 - Scrum Team Formation Model

There is no boss on this team. All team members have their

own responsibilities and they need to do their work so that the
activities can progress and be successful. After all, the whole
team is responsible for deliveries and not just the developers.

Checklist:

Our team has all the necessary skills to deliver the product
we are working on;

All team members have a clear understanding of their role

and responsibilities.

81
1. Development Team

Development teams are responsible for creating an increment

at the end of each sprint and they have the other skills needed
to deliver the product. They also self-organize to delegate
functions to team members and guide which activities should
be carried out in the sprint and how.

In addition, they guarantee the quality of the product, which

must meet the requirements of the Definition of Done (DoD).
However, they are not responsible for prioritizing the product
backlog or changing its priorities.

Checklist:

The development team has the necessary skills to

deliver the product;

It is responsible for the sprint backlog;

It adapts its plan each day toward the sprint goal;

It self-organizes around demands to see who will be

responsible for what;

It cares about deliveries from the beginning to their

arrival in production.

82
2. Product Owner

Product Owners are responsible for identifying what can be

improved in the product and thereby carrying out the most
appropriate prioritization to achieve the defined goal. They are
also tasked with developing a roadmap aimed at the future of the
product and measuring if it is generating a return.

Role of Product Owner:

83
 Role of Product Owner
IS
VISIONARY
Has the ability to envision what the
product will become in the future and
convey this to the team.
GOOD NEGOTIATOR
Knows how to negotiate demands,
with both the business area and
development team, with the aim of
maximizing the value of the product
delivered as quickly as possible.
ATTENTIVE TO METRICS
Tracks and uses business and product
metrics to prioritize the backlog.
COMMUNICATIVE
Knows how to communicate with the
business area, customer and development
team, to keep everyone aligned.
DOES
DEFINE PRODUCT STRATEGY
Works to understand and define the best
strategy for the product to evolve. This
includes creating a product roadmap and
determining the best way to divulge it.
PRIORITIZE BACKLOG
Seeks to understand how to prioritize
the backlog in order to achieve the
product goal.
TRACK BUSINESS AND
PRODUCT METRICS
Uses business and product metrics
to understand where there are
opportunities to improve things for the
business or for customers.
MAP AND UNDERSTAND
CUSTOMERS’ EXPERIENCE
Is in constant contact with customers,
understanding the entire user journey and
trying out the product.
IS NOT
PROJECT MANAGER
Urges the team to stick to the timetable
and sees whether it is behind schedule,
among other things.
TEAM OWNER
Believes they can do things as they please,
that they have the power to fire anyone
or override the methodology, because
“it’s my team.”
APPROVER
Tests everything the development team
does, as they want to be in control.
CUSTOMER
The Product Owner should set
the team to work on issues raised
by customers themselves and not
whatever they merely believe to be
customers’ desires.
DOES NOT
MONITOR WORK ACTIVITIES
Keeps track of who is or isn’t doing
something during the sprint and
demands timesheets.
PRIORITEZES WITHOUT METRICS
Thinks that the metrics do not make sense
and do not provide the information needed
to make decisions.
Table 1 - Functions
LOOK FOR CULPRITS and Characteristics
Always looks for a culprit on the team
of Product Owner
and forgets team spirit when there is a
problem during the sprint or when the
product goes into production and there
is a problem.
ONLY DISCOVER WHAT WAS NOT
DELIVERED IN THE REVIEW
Does not interact with the team during the
sprint to see if there is anything at risk of
not being delivered and is then taken by
surprise in the review.
Checklist:

Use prioritization techniques to set up the backlog;

Constant contact with customers;

Develop a product roadmap;

Refine and break down product backlog activities;

Track and use business and product metrics.

3. Scrum Master

The Scrum Master is responsible for disseminating the culture

and helping the company work within the framework, from the
team to corporate level. Therefore, they must be the leader when
it comes to the Scrum methodology.

Over time, unfortunately, due to a lack of understanding of the

role of Scrum Masters within organizations, this position has
lost its leadership on teams with regard to Agility. Instead,
Scrum Masters have turned into secretaries and people who
merely hold ceremonies.

This is also due to their own stance and behavior, as they often
forget that they have great responsibilities. As well as helping
teams understand and use Scrum and facilitating ceremonies,
Scrum Masters are responsible for helping teams become more
mature, self-organizing and self-managing, and helping Product
Owners prioritize backlogs.

Role of Scrum Master:

85
 Role of Scrum Master
IS
FACILITATOR
Aims to facilitate activities so that the
team can progress well and solve its
own problems.
CHANGE AGENT
Works to promote changes that will
help the team improve its workflows.
SERVANT LEADER
Aims to remove any problem that could
prevent the team from reaching the
objective. The leader is below the team,
working to lift it up.
SCRUM SPECIALIST
Has deep knowledge of the framework.
DOES
HELPS THE PRODUCT OWNER
PRIORITIZE BACKLOG
Helps the Product Owner through
prioritization techniques, as well as
breaking down stories and epics.
HELPS THE TEAM DEAL WITH
IMPEDIMENTS
Guides the team on how to proceed
and who to look for to resolve
impediments. Also monitors and
develops the team so that it can deal
with its own impediments.
PROMOTES THE TEAM’S MATURITY
Helps the team become increasingly
mature in Scrum, more self-organizing
and self-managing.
FACILITATES CEREMONIES
Assists the team during ceremonies, so
that it can successfully achieve its goal.
IS NOT
SECRETARY
Schedules all internal and external
meetings for the team and orders
office supplies.
PRODUCT OWNER
Does not prioritize product backlog.
TEAM LEADER
Does not say what everyone has
to do or how to do it, nor tracks
hours worked.
INTERMEDIARY BETWEEN TEAM
AND PRODUCT OWNER
Whenever the Product Owner needs to
deal with the team, he or she talks to
the Scrum Master, who passes the
information on to the team.
DOES NOT
SAY HOW TO DO ACTIVITIES
When the team is at the planning
stage, the Scrum Master wants to
say how to handle the technical
aspects of activities.
ENFORCE TEAM DEADLINES
Enforces when items will be
delivered within the sprint or asks Table 2 - Functions
the team for a timeline. and Characteristics
of Scrum Master
UPDATE THE BOARD
Only the Scrum Master updates
the board.
LOOK AFTER THE FINANCIAL ASPECT
Responsible for monitoring return on
investment, capital expenditure and
operating expenditure.
Checklist:

Facilitates ceremonies;

Tracks efficiency metrics;

Implements workflow;

Helps the Product Owner prioritize the backlog;

Develops the team to become self-organized and

self-managing.

Scrum events

Scrum events are moments that allow the team to look at

transparency and inspect and adapt its artifacts. This will help
the team ensure regularity and standardization, as scrum events
must always be carried out at the same time and place.

1. Sprint

The sprint is a Scrum event that encompasses other activities,

such as the planning meeting, Daily Scrums, reviews and
retrospectives. It allows the team to program itself to deliver
value. A fixed-duration event should not last more than four
weeks, making the team’s activities more predictable.

87
You should pay close attention to the sprint’s duration. You
need to consider the team’s characteristics and workflow
when setting this time. Some sprints may last one or two
weeks, while others may need three or four. Therefore,
comparisons should not be made. Also, just because a
team has a four-week sprint, this does not mean it will only
deliver value or put something into production at the end
of the four weeks. This is a mistake.

Each team knows the amount of time it needs to complete

its work. If the customer asks to reduce the period, for
example, the sprint may fail and the team will take the
blame. To prevent this from happening, it is important to
rely on metrics in order to demonstrate the necessary time
to the customer.

Something that many people do not know is that it is

possible to cancel a sprint if the goal no longer makes
sense. Only the Product Owner has the power to do this.
This usually happens if all the items in a sprint are changed
and the goal becomes obsolete.

Checklist:

The sprint has a fixed duration;

The sprint size is appropriate for our flow and context.

88
2. Planning meeting

The planning meeting is the event that officially kicks off a sprint.
The Scrum Team defines the work that will be delivered. The
planning meeting’s maximum duration is eight hours for a four-
week sprint, and proportionately less time for smaller sprints.

At the planning meeting, the Product Owner presents the items

that are prioritized in the product backlog and ensures that the
team understands what is being ordered. It is very important
for everyone to constantly refine the backlog, to ensure that
no activities are ignored at the planning stage due to a lack of
clarity, thus impacting the organization’s delivery planning.

At this moment, the Scrum Master participates as a facilitator,

ensuring that everything goes well at the planning meeting.
Subsequently, the team will determine the items to be performed
in the sprint, according to its capacity and based on the delivery
history of previous sprints. To identify what fits or does not fit
within the sprint, you can use some techniques, such as story
points or hours. It is worth mentioning that estimating an item
is very complex, as there are many factors that can affect the
progress of deliveries on a daily basis.

To end the planning meeting, the team that will develop the
selected stories, and only this team, must say how this will be
done and whether or not they will fit within the sprint. It is worth
remembering that after defining the sprint backlog, the delivery
is the responsibility of the entire team, including the Product
Owner and Scrum Master.

89
Checklist:

We defined the sprint goal in the planning meeting;

We defined the sprint backlog and how it will be

performed in the planning meeting;

We constantly refine the product backlog.

3. Daily Scrum

The Daily Scrum is an event within Scrum that aims to

analyze whether the team has moved in the right direction
in relation to the sprint goal. In this way, transparency
is provided when inspecting the items contained in the
sprint, so that if any deviations are found, the team can
adapt and therefore be able to make the deliveries by the
end of the sprint.

The Daily Scrum lasts 15 minutes. During this meeting,

the development team inspects itself to see how it is
doing in terms of the sprint goal. If a problem is identified,
it must be dealt with afterward by the respective
professionals. There is no single ideal template for all
teams. Instead, the development team should identify the
best techniques and format to use in its Daily Scrum.

90
The Scrum Master is responsible for facilitating the Daily Scrum,
but it is important for the team to know that it should not
depend on him or her for the event to happen. In addition, the
Product Owner must be present as a listener. This is essential,
so that they are aware of the evolution of activities and do not
needlessly ask for a progress report later in the day.

Checklist:

Our Daily Scrum is focused on activities that were selected

in the planning meeting;

Difficulties and impediments are brought up in the

Daily Scrum;

The whole development team takes part in the Daily Scrum.

4. Review

The review is the penultimate moment, when the Scrum Team

presents what was done in the sprint, in line with the Definition
of Done (DoD). Teams usually consider this meeting to be very
important, as it is when they can proudly and enthusiastically
show stakeholders everything they did in the sprint.

It is also the moment when team members see what has

not been delivered. However, if there are any delayed tasks,
this can be a sign that something is wrong with the project’s
progress, as the Product Owner ought to be tracking everything
during the sprint.

91
Everything that will not be delivered needs to be communicated
in advance by the Product Owner, so that the team can draw up
a plan setting out what will be done to achieve the delivery.

In the review, it is advisable to only show items that are 100%

completed. The review should show the software program
running, rather than having a PowerPoint presentation
describing what was done. Therefore, there must be no bugs
or attempts to hide incomplete items. Transparency is key. In
addition, any team member may talk, from the developers to the
Product Owner. Everyone is responsible for the delivery.

Checklist:

The whole team took part in the review;

We only presented the items that complied 100% with the

Definition of Done (DoD);

We showed the software operating;

Based on the review, we adjusted the product backlog.

5. Retrospective

The last event in a sprint is the retrospective – a ceremony in

which the entire Scrum Team, including the Product Owner,
comes together to identify what needs to be improved in terms
of quality and effectiveness. Of all the ceremonies, this is the
one that is most often discarded, given that teams usually think

92
there is nothing to improve or add value. However, retrospectives
are very important, because continuous improvement is
significant for teams.

In turn, it is up to the Scrum Master to show the value of this

ceremony and ensure that it is well used and moreover that it
generates action plans that are executed and appraised.

There is no standard way of holding a retrospective, but here are

some ways of ensuring it is effective:

• Revise the Definition of Done (DoD) and Definition of

Ready (DoR);

• Describe the last sprint’s deliveries;

• Present efficiency metrics;

• Have a discussion to identify strengths and areas

for improvement. Action plans should then be created
and implemented.

During the discussion, the team should determine the issues

that need to be worked on by it. The most common kind of
discussion involves identifying strengths, weaknesses and areas
for improvement, but there are other types of broader or more
focused discussions.

In order for this ceremony to add value, the team members must
have a safe environment in which to speak. It is very important
for the Scrum Master to ensure that all members feel comfortable
expressing themselves and also gain a systemic view, always
looking at the process instead of finger-pointing at people.

93
When the team identifies points to be improved, the next step
is to prioritize the items to be worked on in the next sprint and
define who is responsible for executing the action plan. This
role is assigned to the team and not the Scrum Master, although
many teams do not do this. This is dysfunctional and needs to
be corrected. After a point has been identified and prioritized,
and a person responsible for it has been chosen, it is necessary
to determine what the success criteria will be and also how the
action plan items will be measured, to know whether what is
worked on will really add value to the team.

At the next retrospective, the items that were prioritized for

the next sprint should be revisited, to see whether or not it was
possible to accomplish them. It is also necessary to review the
other points and add new ones.

Checklist:

We revisited the Definition of Ready (DoR);

We revisited the Definition of Done (DoD);

We analyzed the metrics and identified areas for

improvement based on them;

The whole team took part in the retrospective;

We defined and prioritized each point in the action plans and

determined success criteria and metrics for them.

94
Artifacts

Product
Backlog

Sprint
Backlog

Increment

1. Product backlog

The product backlog is a list of prioritized items for the product

being developed. It is aimed at maximizing the product’s value.
The Product Owner is largely responsible for maintaining
this prioritized list and adding new items, using prioritization
techniques to identify which items will create the most value
for both the customer and the company.

95
In general, when we talk about product backlogs, we tend to pay
more attention to what is important to the customer and what
is actually relevant. However, it is worth remembering that it is
also necessary to provide internal feedback to the managers
themselves. A lack of feedback for the organization during the
process could harm business continuity in future.

In order to have an effective and well-prioritized product backlog,

it is necessary to have clear and well-defined criteria. There
are some techniques to do this, such as the RACI matrix, GUT
matrix and value versus effort. Alternatively, you can use internal
prioritization criteria, in line with the objectives and goals of the
product being developed.

Each item in the team’s product backlog should bring the team
closer and closer to its goals and objectives. The Product Owner
needs to be constantly up to date and in contact with the customer.
This is very important, as time can pass by without the team’s
deliveries actually creating any real value, but merely making the
product more attractive.

Finally, it is necessary to define a product goal that shows what the

product will be like in the future, to help choose which path to take.

Checklist:

We have a product goal;

We have a product backlog, which is constantly revised

and prioritized;

Our product backlog has well-defined prioritization criteria.

96
2. Sprint backlog

The sprint backlog contains the following items:

1. Sprint goal

This explains why we are doing the work.

2. Activities selected for product backlog

Items that the development team deemed possible to deliver in

the sprint, in line with whatever was prioritized by the Product
Owner, representing what will be done.

3. Tasks

What exactly will be done to deliver each of the sprint’s activities.

The sprint backlog may grow during the sprint. In this case,
the development team can identify more tasks to be done as things
proceed. The tasks must direct the team so that the sprint goal
is reached.

The sprint backlog’s items should be prioritized according to the

Product Owner’s prioritization. However, the Scrum Master has a
very important role in this process – to demonstrate how the team
should work on the items. For example, if a sprint backlog has
three activities and the third is the easiest while the first is the
most important, it is up to him or her to guide the team to respect

97
the order, regardless of the degree of difficulty. Otherwise, the
team may deliver the third and easiest activity initially but fail
to deliver the first one, which is the most important.

Checklist:

Our sprint backlog contains the sprint goal;

Our tasks were selected by the development team and

they are prioritized in alignment with the Product Owner;

The team described the activities that will be needed to

deliver the selected task.

3. Increment

An increment is the sum of all product backlog items that

were 100% completed, in accordance with the sprint’s
Definition of Done (DoD). The development team is responsible
for creating increments.

Checklist:

At the end of each sprint, we create an increment showing

the current sprint’s items plus those of previous sprints;

Our increment has gone through all necessary stages and

validations, including the Definition of Done (DoD) criteria.

98
CASE

One of the largest banks in Brazil realized it had a lot of business

potential involving debtors. So, with MJV’s expertise, it decided
to create a fintech to set up a platform for debt renegotiation.

Faced with this challenge, MJV applied Design Thinking to

identify the client’s real pains and needs, and then deemed that
the best framework to use in this project would be Scrum. In it,
the roles and functionalities are very clear: the Product Owner is
in charge of understanding the business involved in the project;
the Scrum Master serves as the squad’s facilitator, removing
necessary impediments; and the Agile Coach advises on Agility
throughout the process. Another advantage of Scrum is the fact
that in each sprint it is possible to deliver value to the customer,
so it is possible to analyze in a timely manner whether there is a
need to change the scope or reprioritize any stage.

At first, the fintech’s objective was just to renegotiate the debts

of the bank’s own customers. However, in view of what MJV
presented, during the project the company realized that it would
be much more interesting and profitable to buy other debt
portfolios as well. Using the Scrum methodology, we were able to
change the plan’s course without any losses.

The result was extremely positive. All the company’s squads in

different areas were aligned with the methodology and they used
it correctly, and the startup signed 1.2 million contracts in the
first year alone.

99
100
KANBAN
Start with what you do now

Kanban is a method created by David Anderson. The aim is to

coordinate services related to knowledge management, that is,
projects carried out by people who provide creative services. It
can also help improve workflow performance by introducing the
concept of working with a “pull system”, in which a new item is
only started when another is ended.

101
Kanban has a set of values, principles and practices, which
will be described in this chapter. It is a method that uses an
evolutionary change approach, in which we gradually change the
workflow, so there isn’t as much resistance.

One of the benefits of Kanban is that it introduces us to some

quick-to-execute practices that can be implemented as soon
as you read about them, which over time generate visible
improvements. In addition, it does not require specific roles and
it always starts from what you currently have.

Values

Transparency

Balance

Collaboration

Customer Focus

Workflow

Leadership

Understanding

Agreement

Respect

VA L U E S
Figure 1 - The Kanban Values

102
1. Transparency

To make it easier to create value for a customer when

delivering a product or service, everything must be made clear,
problems must be shown, customers’ information must be
passed on objectively and this information must be accessible
to everyone. We mustn’t be afraid to pass on information
between areas or people, as we must understand that we are all
working together for the customer.

2. Balance

Assuming that everyone has their own professional experience

and way of thinking, it is necessary to find a balance between
relationships on the team to execute a project. If some team
members have optimistic views about a demand and others
are more pessimistic, for example, we need to understand the
perspectives of each person in order to do the work.

3. Collaboration

A company is made up of people working together toward a

previously defined objective. In this context, it is very important
for everyone to work collaboratively, with professionals from
different areas focused on making more and more deliveries.
After all, the success or failure of a project will be the entire
team’s responsibility.

103
It is often observed that many team members are only concerned
with their own demands and they neglect the workflow’s
upstream and downstream stages. However, if in the end the
team does not deliver the service or product, people’s individual
work will have been in vain. Therefore, if it is possible to help
other people in their activities, contributing to the final delivery,
the value of collaboration will have been achieved.

One example of this – and this happens a lot when we use

the Scrum methodology – is when, at the end of a sprint,
the developers have no more activities to do, but the person
responsible for testing is very busy. Instead of helping the
tester, the developers tend to pull new activities from the
product backlog, delaying the agreed-upon delivery. It is worth
remembering that non-completion of tests by the responsible
professional is equivalent to non-delivery of the work by the
entire team.

4. Customer Focus

We must design and plan our workflow from the point of view
of customers, meaning their understanding of what represents
value in the delivery of that service, and not only from the team’s
perspective. Customers may be inside or outside the company.
For example, compliance areas normally perform deliveries for
other internal departments.

104
5. Workflow

We must understand that there is always a workflow, whether

in delivering a service or a product. Team members do not
work in isolation. The different stages of the process need to
communicate so that the customer’s needs can be met.

Mapping this workflow is very important and one of the essential

aspects of using Kanban, as it enables improvements to the flow.

For example, if we have a recruitment flow with “to do,” “doing”

and “done” stages, we cannot have much information and
transparency about where we really are at each stage of the
flow. However, if we go through the stages of “hunting,” “initial
interview,” “technical interview,” “proposal preparation” and
“onboarding,” it becomes much easier to identify where
each activity is and where we can make improvements in a
specific way.

6. Leadership

Leadership goes beyond the organizational hierarchy and

Kanban brings us to the thought that we need to have leadership
at all levels. Informal leadership within organizations is essential
and it needs to be cultivated, as it helps empower, engage and
motivate people.

105
7. Understanding

The value of understanding extends from self-knowledge

to understanding the work to be done. We need to
understand ourselves and our organization so that we can
evolve and improve. In order to understand a workflow,
service or product, we should ask questions.

8. Agreement

Not everyone will make the same decision at certain times

and regarding certain issues, but it is very important to
understand opposing opinions and reach a consensus.
Furthermore, to advance it is necessary for everyone to
move forward, even if not everyone is 100% in favor of a
certain decision. The important thing is for the decision
made to be supported by everyone.

9. Respect

Respect is the act of having and showing consideration for

another person, even if at times we do not agree with their
decisions or attitudes. Without respect, all other values will
be impacted.

106
Kanban Agendas

Sustainability Plan

You need to balance the amount of work within the flow to avoid
overload and negative impacts on service quality. It is worth
mentioning that sustainability is linked to the vast majority of the
values mentioned above.

Service Orientation Plan

Every organization must understand that it is essential to

extrapolate the barriers between departments and focus on
service-oriented work, from the customer’s perspective. It’s no use
looking at a department in isolation if the customer understands
that the entire organization is providing a single service.

Survivability Plan

We know that companies always need to be attentive to the

market as a necessary means of survival. To this end, they
need to be quick at identifying areas for improvement and
adapting to customers’ needs, whether creating new services
or improving their skills.

107
Principles
Change Management Principles

1. Start with what you do now

When we talk about making a change, we can approach it in

two ways: evolutionary or revolutionary. The revolutionary
way is characterized by inconsistency in the work method –
one day you work a certain way and the next day you work
a completely different way. However, this can cause great
stress on the team, as members may doubt their capacity.
Using Kanban, these day-to-day changes do not occur, as
changes are created from the elements that you have, both
technical and intellectual.

2. Agree to pursue incremental,

evolutionary change

When it comes to evolutionary change, improvements must be

sought gradually. Changes must come from the environment
rather than being imposed. This movement must take place in
consensus with the entire team in order to reduce resistance
to change.

108
3. Encourage acts of leadership at all levels

For a change to occur effectively within an organization, we need

to seek it, and acts of leadership must be encouraged internally.
In other words, a person identifies an opportunity and starts
to lead others to work on this improvement, regardless of their
position in the company’s hierarchy. (Changes can take place in
all kinds of spaces within the organization.)

Service delivery principles

1. Understand and focus on your customers’

needs and expectations

It is very important to understand that even if we work with a

product, in the end we are delivering a service to the customer,
and this requires looking at the entire flow from the user’s point
of view. It is necessary to understand the needs that users
have and that have not yet been met, so that we can then meet
them. Today, many companies lose customers because they fall
short of expectations.

2. Manage the work and let people self-organize

around it

The organization’s focus must be on how the work is being

carried out, how the flow is developing and what the bottlenecks
and waiting points are, rather than who will handle item X

109
or Y. Opportunities need to be delegated so people can work
collaboratively. In this way, they will show their skills, which are often
overlooked when working in silos.

3. Develop policies to improve results

In order for deliveries to get steadily better and to achieve great

results, it is important to define policies on how items will work within
the flow. What needs to happen, for example, to move from the pre-
sale stage to the sale stage.

If we have policies to guide us, everything becomes clearer and more

certain, and mistakes are unlikely to happen. Policies can change
according to the maturity of the process and new policies can be
added to maximize results, as you will always be in a continuous
improvement flow.

General Practices

Visualize

Limit work in progress (WIP)

Manage workflow

Make policies explicit

Feedback loops

Improve and evolve

Figure 2 - The Kanban Practices
PRACTICES

110
1. Visualize

The workflow and all its activities need to be visible to

everyone. That entails presenting the policies in each of the
stages as well as the amount of work in progress (WIP) so that
everything is very clear to everyone involved in the flow.

A failure to visualize the workflow or other points will have an

impact on the transparency of activities. It will also hamper the
process of pursuing continuous improvement, since it will not
be possible to extract information or visualize the points that
require improvement. People’s opinions regarding areas for
improvement are very important, but it is also essential for the
workflow to show where action is needed.

The Kanban board is a very useful tool for making workflow

items visible. Team members can fill in the cards on the board
– which can be mounted on a wall – with information from each
step and then compile the data. However, it is worth mentioning
that the lack of a framework should not hinder the visualization
of work progress.

There is no template board with standard flows, so it is

necessary to carry out mapping and understand that the
flows may be different across different development teams,
for example.

111
2. Limit work in progress (WIP)

People often say that we should stop starting and start

finishing. This is very important and care must be taken,
as it is useless to start many activities and not carry them
through to the end.

The more works in progress there are, the longer they will
take to complete. After all, someone can only perform one
task at a time. It is also not advisable for professionals to
devote 100% of their time to a particular job. Furthermore,
the activities will be in a queue, which is wasteful. To
prevent these problems from happening, it is very important
to limit the amount of work that goes through the flow,
whether by stage of flow or across the system as a whole.

The focus should be on finishing what is closest to being

finished. For example, if there is an activity that is waiting
for production and it is only up to a developer to deliver
it, instead of pulling a new activity from the backlog, they
should focus on putting what is missing into production
before moving on to the next activity. They could also talk
to the testing team and see how they can help. If there is
nothing to do, they can perform pair programming, given
that the work in progress in the development stage has
been completed.

112
 3. Manage workflow

You must constantly and jointly carry out analyzes and

manage the workflow, as this is where opportunities to achieve
continuous improvement lie, increasing the delivery of value.
Within the workflow, there is also the opportunity to reduce the
waiting time of activities.

Kanban Board

2 3 2 1
Backlog Prioritized In progress Testing Deploy Done

Explicit Only the Any Card is Test cases Validated

policies Product available completed must be by Product
Owner developer only when docu- Owner
can place can pull code mented
cards here review is before
complete testing
begins

In progress Done In progress Done

F G
A
H C B
I D E

Work items Intangible Defect Fixed date

Figure 3 - Illustrative Model of Kanban Board

The objective is to analyze the entire flow and analyze each step,
its bottlenecks and/or impediments. As an example, imagine the
following scenario.

113
A team composed of two developers, a tester, the Product Owner
and the Scrum Master talks to the company’s CTO, as it realizes
that it has not been able to meet all its demands because the
tester has technical limitations and so is unable to handle all the
requested activities. The team has been hindered by this and
it needs one more tester. The CTO finds this very strange and
asks if they are sure the problem lies with the person and not the
workflow. So, they should ask about the quality of the stories,
whether the developers and the tester aligned their activities at
the beginning of the development stage so that the tester could
prepare in advance and whether the acceptance criteria was
properly described, among other factors.

The CTO then pointed out some parts of the workflow that could
be improved and identified that the problem did not involve the
people, but the system around them. Based on this information,
the team resumed its work, made some adjustments and did not
need to take on another tester.

4. Make policies explicit

Policies are “rules” that tell us how each step of the work should
be done so that we can move on to the next step in the flow.
Having too many or too few policies is a frequent problem.
Therefore, it is worth evaluating the real need for each phase by
creating clear policies for each one.

114
 5. Feedback loops

Like Scrum, Kanban also has feedback loops, which are called
cadences. Based on continuous improvement, these cycles
are fundamental to ongoing projects. Each cadence has a time
interval, which is defined according to the needs of each context.

Cadences with a focus on strategy

Info Operations Info

Review
Change Change

Strategy Risk

Change
Monthly
Info
Review Review

Info Service Delivery Info

Change
Review Change

Quarterly Bi-weekly Monthly

Change
Change

Change
Info

Info
Info

Replenishment Info Standup Info

Planning
Meeting Meeting and Delivery
Change Change Meeting

Weekly Daily Per delivery Cadence

Cadences with a focus on service delivery

Figure 4 - Feedback Loops (Cadences) in Kanban

115
Types of cadences:

Replenishment meeting

The aim of this meeting is to replenish the team’s pipeline with

new activities from the commitment point. During this cadence,
we check for any new developments since the last meeting,
ensure that activities are prioritized and select the activities to be
worked on next, in line with the team’s capacity.

Kanban meeting

This meeting is designed to observe and understand how

activities are progressing, not people! Therefore, there is no
requirement or need for all team members to speak. In addition,
the meeting should focus on presenting the activities that are
about to be delivered. The workflow and potential impediments
should also be addressed in this cadence. It tends to be a short
meeting and complex issues are handled separately.

Delivery planning meeting

Everything that is done needs to be delivered to the customer

at some point. Therefore, the delivery planning meeting aims
to develop a plan for the end user. Teams will usually not have
frequent access to the customer to provide feedback on each
stage, so it is important to hold a planning meeting to present the
delivery schedule.

116
Strategy review

In this cadence, team members meet to analyze the business

strategy and identify whether there is any need to change the
strategy involving the services provided.

Operations review

In this feedback cycle, the entire system involved in the service

is reviewed, in order to identify areas for improvement and
deliver ever more value to the customer. Capacity, dependencies
and bottlenecks are also verified.

Service delivery review

The team meets to verify that the demands are being delivered
as requested and the customers are satisfied with the quality.

Risk review

The aim is to review the Kanban system’s risks so that we can

work to mitigate them or take other action regarding these
risks, which could impact the system’s deliveries. Unfortunately,
teams often ignore risk management or expose themselves to all
possible risks, when they could work to mitigate them and not
simply accept that they will impact the workflow.

117
6. Improve and evolve

There will always be room to improve and evolve a system.

Although these opportunities arise frequently, teams are not
always able to identify them. Currently, organizations often
fail to pursue continuous improvement. Consequently, after a
while, they realize that they are far behind with their workflows,
in terms of the needs or expectations of their customers. This
means having to spend a lot of money in a short time to improve
their flows, whereas they could have made many improvements
over time without having to invest a lot at once.

How to get started with Kanban

Systems Thinking Approach to Introducing Kanban (STATIK)

1. Identify services

It is essential to look within the organization, identify the

services that are offered to customers and decide which ones
to start with. Prioritizing services is one of the most effective
ways to get started with Kanban. For example, if the company
works with different types of checking accounts, such as basic,
premium and luxury accounts, the types of promotions offered
should also be different.

118
 2. Understand the customer’s purpose

You must identify who the customer is, the value of the
service delivered and what is being offered from the customer’s
point of view.

3. Understand sources of dissatisfaction with

the current system

In this stage, you should look at the current system/flow and

identify the negative points. Then evaluate not how it ought to
be, but how it is and what parts are causing dissatisfaction.

4. Analyze demand

The team needs to identify the demands that pass through the
workflow and ask a member to explain the steps in that activity,
the frequency and who requests them.

5. Analyze capacity

A system capacity analysis must be carried out to ascertain the

work capacity within the flow. This information can be obtained
through metrics, such as a CFD.1 In this way, it will be possible
to understand a little about how much work the current system
can cope with. Remember that the ideal thing is always to seek a
sustainable pace of work.

¹ A cumulative flow diagram (CFD) is a graph that cumulatively records

the number of demands that pass through each step of the workflow. 119
6. Model workflow

Based on the identified demands, it is advisable to map the flow

that each one follows and its priority among the other demands.

7. Discover classes of service

Classes of service are the policies that have been established

regarding how each demand should go through the stages of the
flow, in line with its characteristics. To date, there are four types
of classes:

• Standard - day-to-day demands;

• Fixed date - demands with a final delivery deadline, which if
not met would lose all value (such as a Christmas campaign);

• Expedite - urgent items that need to be delivered as soon as

possible, otherwise they could generate losses (such as a bug
that is causing an error in calculating employees’ pay);

• Intangible - demands whose financial return or impact

(including after delivery) is not known for sure.

120
8. Design the Kanban system

This is the moment when the team gathers everything that

has been done and models a workflow for the service.
However, it is better to adjust the current flow than to throw
it away and create a new one from scratch. That way, the
team will be able to identify the points that still need to be
improved and maintain continuous improvement.

Remember: Work with evolutionary change, not

revolutionary change.

9. Socialize the system and board design

Finally, you need to make the Kanban board visible to

everyone and get the system running. It is very important
for those involved and who are dependent on the prioritized
service to have access and know how the work is progressing.

121
CASE

A company focused on the business development area

realized that it needed its sales flow to be more visible. It was
necessary to increase transparency so that anyone involved
in the area could understand the status of a commercial
proposal, for example.

To do this, MJV opted to combine the best practices of two

frameworks: Kanban and Scrum. A Scrum backlog was used
to record all sales proposals from the commercial area, while
the Kanban method was used to allow the entire team to see
the flow of proposals. It became easier to access information,
such as each proposal’s current stage (prospecting,
negotiation, adjustments, etc.)

One curious thing about this case is that there was no direct
leader. The account director himself, who understood the
business, acted as a facilitator. In this way, in addition to
making the process much more transparent, it was possible to
extract metrics that made it possible to understand the main
bottlenecks in the sales flow and act to resolve them.

122
123
124
SCALED AGILE
How to scale up while
remaining Agile

In the last few decades, much has been said about Agility, and
methodologies such as Scrum and Kanban have been widely
used in various organizations and market sectors, reducing time
to market, boosting productivity, encouraging team engagement
and generating value for the end user. The benefits and ways
of implementing these approaches, in relation to an Agile
team, have become well known and they have been widely
explored. However, the path to scaling up Agility to all levels and
departments of an organization, and why or when to do this, is
often not so easy.

125
Many tools and methodologies have emerged to try to consolidate,
in a clear and organized way, the step-by-step process required to
achieve the long-expected Business Agility. The most popular one at
the moment is SAFe, but there are also Scrum@Scale, LeSS, Nexus,
Disciplined Agile and several others.

However, why scale up Agility? And when? Well, in today’s world,

often called the VUCA world,1 in which businesses and technologies
are evolving and transforming at an incredible speed, products and
solutions have become increasingly complex and they need to be
delivered much faster.

As a result, it is often necessary for more than one Agile team to

get involved in the same value chain to create and develop related
products and solutions. Thus, Agile principles, practices and values
need to be coordinated and promoted not only in terms of the team,
but across the entire organization, working toward a single purpose.

BUSINESS AGILITY

To really understand what Agility at scale is, why to scale up and

how to do so, we need to relate this to the concept of Business
Agility. Basically, this is about an organization’s ability to remain
competitive and respond quickly to market changes, continually
delivering innovative and high-quality solutions to meet its
customers’ needs before and better than its competitors.

1
Concept explained in the chapter called Business Agility – Organizational Strategy.

126
To reach a high level of maturity in Business Agility, it is essential
for all links in the organization that are involved in devising, creating
and delivering solutions to be committed to a customer-centric
approach. Scaling Agility is a crucial step toward achieving this goal.

CULTURAL TRANSFORMATION

The exercise of deploying Agile at scale can be seen mainly as a

cultural transformation. After all, it has much more to do with the
way teams connect with each other and are engaged and committed
to the common goal than with the number of teams and their
members, for example.

How to scale up

When we think about how to scale Agile, techniques and

methodologies that have emerged in the market over the years
inevitably come to mind. In this chapter, we will briefly present the
main ones and their key aspects. If you are keen to learn more on
this, you will need to look for more specific sources of information.

As mentioned earlier, when we have a team of teams and we need

to coordinate activities to achieve a common goal, a scale model
is born. The first mechanism that emerged from scaling Agile was
Scrum of Scrums (also called SoS). This entails meetings between

127
representatives of each Agile team, at which each one reports
on its progress and impediments in relation to the common goal.
See the figure below.

SCRUM OF SCRUMS

A B C

Team A Team B Team C

Figure 1 - Scrum of Scrums

Although SoS was first mentioned by Jeff Sutherland and Ken

Schwaber, the creators of Scrum, and incorporated into Scrum@
Scale, it has become popular and it is also present in other
scaled Agile frameworks.

128
 1. Scrum@Scale

Scrum@Scale (S@S) is an extension of Scrum and it was created by

Jeff Sutherland. S@S emerged from the challenge of coordinating
business units, each with more than one product, and synchronizing
individual teams. Its main purpose is to enable a common set of aligned
and shared objectives.

In Scrum@Scale, everyone is part of an interchangeable Scrum Team, and

depending on the goals, networks of teams may come together to form an
ecosystem. S@S features two distinct but overlapping cycles: the Scrum
Master Cycle and the Product Owner Cycle. The aim here is to keep the
“what” – product discovery and definition – and the “how” – product
delivery – separate. The teams are managed and coordinated by Scrum
Masters and a MetaScrum, composed of product owners, mainly through
Scrums of Scrums.

Team
Continuous Improvement & Process Strategic Vision
Impediment Removal

Backlog
Priorizitization
LE

PR
MASTER CYC

OD
Cross-Team

UCT
Coordination

OWNER C
UM

Executive Metrics & Executive

YC
R

Action Team Transparency MetaScrum

SC

LE

“The How” Backlog “The How”

Decomposition
& Refinement
Product &
Release
Delivery Feedback Release
Planning

Product
Increment 129
An important concept here is the fractal scale, which came from
mathematics and means a complex geometric structure whose
properties are generally repeated at any scale. The idea is that
regardless of scale, the Scrum framework repeats itself and has more
or less the same characteristics. S@S helps organizations tackle the
following issues: efficient prioritization in light of limited resources;
provision of high-quality functionality in a specific timebox; software
refactoring; and quick adaptation to changes.

Another important concept in this framework is the application

of minimum viable bureaucracy, which consists of having minimal
processes that stimulate creativity while maintaining efficiency and
consistency at scale. Therefore, S@S tends to be most successful
when teams have technology skills, product-centric values and
minimal bureaucracy, and when the executive team is committed to
removing obstacles and the practical adoption of Scrum.

2. Nexus

The Nexus framework was created by Ken Schwaber and launched in

2015 on Scrum.org. Not surprisingly, it is also based on Scrum. Nexus
extends Scrum minimally, only when you need to enable more than
one team – ideally three to nine Scrum Teams – to work on the same
product backlog to build an integrated increment. Other than that, it
tries to stay as close as possible to Scrum principles, guiding teams
to deliver complex products in short development cycles, reducing
dependencies between teams, and encouraging self-management
and transparency.

130
 Nexus Sprint
Cross-Team Retrospective
Refinement
Daily
Scrums

Nexus
Integration Nexus
Team Daily
Scrum

Nexus Nexus
Sprint Integrated Sprint
Planning Work Review

Backlog Backlog Integrated

Increment
3- s
9S
c r u m Te a m

As it is a scalable framework, Nexus naturally requires special

attention to dependencies and synchronization of the teams
involved. The Nexus structure consists of individual Scrum
Teams and a Nexus Integration Team, consisting of the Product
Owner, one Scrum Master, and one or more Nexus Integration
Team members.

The events are the same as in Scrum: Planning Meeting, Review,

Retrospective and Daily Scrum. However, Nexus breaks them
into parts to achieve the specified goals. In addition, this
framework more strongly recommends the refinement activity,
which entails investing around 10% of the sprint for this purpose.
Supporters of Scrum often use Nexus to scale Agility across the
enterprise if their teams already successfully use Scrum.

131
3. LeSS

Large-Scale Scrum or LeSS, created by Craig Larman and Bas

Vodde in 2005, is also largely based on Scrum, but applied
to large-scale development. It stands out for its minimalist
approach, arguing that success is driven by fewer rules,
functions and artifacts. There are only two configurations:
LeSS for two to eight teams, and LeSS Huge for more than
eight teams, with potentially more than a thousand people
developing a single product.

t
duc
Pro log
c k
Ba
Poten
De tially
Produ liverable
t ct Inc
duc reme
Pro er nt
Own

Scrum Master
& Feature Team

SM

Sprint Planning Sprint Review

Previous Meeting 1 Next
SM Retrospective
Sprint Sprint Planning General Sprint
Meeting 2 Coordination Daily Scrum Retrospective
Sprint Refining of
Backlog Product
Backlog

Experimentation is strongly recommended in this tool.

According to its creators, there are no best practices, but
rather practices that are good within a given context. They
advocate the Shu-Ha-Ri model of learning, which consists of:

132
Shu Follow the rules to learn the basics;

Ha Break the rules and discover the context;

Ri Achieve mastery and find your own path.

This is an approach focused on organizational remodeling

and systems thinking. First and foremost, it values good
communication. It is especially suitable for the information
technology area, as it has a very technical bias and is focused
on systems architecture.

Like Scrum, LeSS is known as a light and simple-to-understand

tool, but hard to master due to its high degree of complexity.

Three principles are seen as crucial for the adoption of LeSS by

an organization:

• It is better to apply LeSS very well in one product than in

several superficially;

• Support must be both top-down and bottom-up. There is no

need for any dichotomy;

133
 • Have volunteers. This is a powerful way to get engagement.

LeSS is generally successful when teams have mastered Scrum,

product and done definitions are well aligned, leaders are willing
to restructure and experiment, and the company wants to leave
behind, once and for all, the paradigm of project management.

4. SAFe

Launched in 2011 by Dean Leffingwell and Drew Jemilo, the

Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) consists of a set of behaviors,
principles and values that guide the implementation of Agile
practices at enterprise scale. It is a robust model, organized into
three governance levels: Agile team, program and portfolio. In
addition, it has four configurations to accommodate various levels
of scale: Essential SAFe, Large Solution SAFe, Portfolio SAFe and
Full SAFe. It is worth noting that Scaled Agile, Inc. offers a SAFe
implementation roadmap that contains specific steps on how to
start and prepare your company for its implementation.

134
Strategy Portfolio
Strategic Themes

Enterprise Archictecture Iteration

Business
Epics & Enable Outcome

Large Solution Solution Intent

Solution Context
Economic Framework
Iteration

Capabilities & Enablers Solution

Program Agile Release Train

Continuous Delivery
Architecture Runway
Iteration DevOps

Features & Enablers Release

Team Agile Development

Continuous Delivery
Iteration
Stories & Working
Enablers Increment Result

SAFe foresees a considerable number of roles and special attention

must be paid to this so that, during an Agile transformation, people
are not allocated to certain roles and functions merely out of
convenience, hindering efficiency at scale.

This approach, which is based on three areas of knowledge – Agile,

Lean and systems thinking – has been widely used and it has been
proven to improve productivity and quality, as well as enhancing
employee engagement and reducing the time to market.

135
SAFe tries to get a broader view of the products and timelines.
It ideally allows some flexibility, with an approximate roadmap of
the next eight to 12 weeks. This long period of time is known as a
Product Increment (PI) and it typically begins with a major multi-
team planning session. In this PI planning session, dependencies
between teams are identified and minimized, allowing them to
work independently as much as possible.

The framework also maximizes the concept of organizing work

based on value creation. Thus, teams are organized by value
streams, and the set of people who perform these work demands
by value chain are referred to as the Agile Release Train (ART).
For SAFe to be successfully deployed, employees usually
require a foundation in Scrum, a strong purpose for change and
executive-level support/sponsorship.

5. Disciplined Agile

Disciplined Agile (DA) is considered a more flexible and easier

method to scale up. It was created in 2009 by Scott Ambler
and Mark Lines at IBM. Later, in 2019, it was purchased by
PMI. DA is commonly referred to as a toolkit and it consists of
a hybrid approach, using Lean practices and Agile methods.
It also incorporates strategies from DevOps, Scrum, Extreme
Programming, SAFe, PMBOK Guide, Spotify, Kanban, Agile
Modeling, Agile Data and DSDM, among other methods. This
approach is focused on decisions that need to be made and
options available for each situation to optimize processes.

136
 Scrum XP Lean

Unified Software
Development PMBOK Kanban
Process

Traditional
Scaled Agile Software More...
Frameworks Development

DA guides teams and companies on how to optimize their way of

working (WoW). It has primary roles, which exist in all teams, and
secondary roles, which are present in the scale teams and only for
a certain period. One of the strengths of this method is that it is
not prescriptive and it reflects the conditions of different teams.
An example of this feature is the fact that it supports six different
life cycle types:

1. Agile life cycle: A Scrum-based life cycle;

2. Continuous delivery-Agile: An Agile-based life cycle;
3. Lean life cycle: A Kanban-based life cycle;
4. Continuous delivery-Lean: A Lean-based life cycle;
5. Exploratory life cycle;
6. Program life cycle for coordinating multiple teams.

137
Deciding which life cycle to adopt will depend on each
company’s context.

According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), true

business agility comes from freedom, not structures. DA helps
you learn about options and guides you as you take one step
at a time. It is a toolkit that uses hundreds of Agile practices
to guide you on the best way to work and deliver value. 2 Thus,
implementing the DA framework is recommended when a
company wants to remain flexible, preserve its freedom of
choice of processes/structures and choose its own paths to
Agility scalability.

Regardless of the framework, the objective is basically

the same: to bring Agility to the entire organization and to
integrate and manage dependencies between teams. Some
aspects are shared by more than one of the presented
models, including Scrum Teams, collaborative planning
and backlogs shared by teams. There are also the general
principles with which any Agile team should be familiar,
such as self-organization.

2
Project Management Institute (PMI). Introduction to Disciplined Agile®
(DA™). Available at https://www.pmi.org/disciplined-agile/introduction-to-
disciplined-agile Accessed in December 2021.

138
The way ceremonies are organized and conducted may vary
from framework to framework, but it is worth emphasizing that
the challenge is to integrate teams. Therefore, teams perform
their ceremonies normally, while the scaled-up system performs
ceremonies involving all teams. For example, each team has
iteration planning meetings, but at some point, they all come
together to do full-scale integrated planning. The same goes for
the other ceremonies.

The roles and responsibilities of the Scrum Master, Product

Owner and product management are defined and prescribed
in virtually all frameworks. That also applies to the use of Agile
practices and demonstrations of what has been developed.
Some elements are strongly indicated in practically all
models but merely recommended in Disciplined Agile, as it
is more flexible, as mentioned before. These elements are
retrospectives, which implement long-term integrated planning
and customer focus. On the other hand, risk management is
only prescribed in SAFe, despite being recommended in
other frameworks.

The ideal thing is to get to know each of the frameworks and

apply what is most appropriate to your context. It doesn’t
matter whether your team of teams is going to be called an
Agile Release Train (ART), as in SAFe; an area, as in LeSS; or a
tribe, as in the Spotify model. The important thing is to use best
practices to scale Agility in your organization and assess what
works for you. An Agile Coach can be very helpful in supporting
this decision making.

139
Challenges

There is no magic formula for scaling Agility, but there

are structures and practices to help attain the desired
results. Continual experimentation and improvements
are needed until the gears fall into place perfectly and,
working together, get the system working efficiently to
reach its full potential.

The big scalability challenge is to identify and remove

dependencies created as complexity increases. It is
important to keep in mind that the ultimate goal is not to
adopt methodology X or Y, but to execute the strategy
effectively. So, whether you are going to use a specific
framework, combine more than one or just use a few
practices and principles, the important thing is to achieve
the end goal. Empiricism is the rule here. There is no need
to be afraid to test, adjust and evolve. Companies will
not scale Agility overnight, as this is a journey. Maturity
comes with time.

140
Scaling Agility also means investing in Agile engineering
practices. Building high-quality, fast software requires
effective automation of the build process, testing and full
automation of the delivery pipeline, as well as a decoupled
architecture and version control practices.

As mentioned earlier, one major challenge is to define roles

and structural changes in the company. Therefore, it is worth
remembering that a good Agile transformation above all
requires transparency and alignment with everyone involved.
Training and development are crucial to achieving success on
this journey. In addition, acceptance must be both top-down
and bottom-up. In other words, teams must be as committed to
the transformation as are the C-level executives. Teamwork is
essential to success.

141
CASE

MJV facilitated the successful adoption of Scaled Agile at a

large financial company. The challenge was to adapt to market
changes with a focus on delivering value to customers while
maintaining standards of excellence and quality.

The Agile transformation journey began in 2019 and today the

methodology is present in all the organization’s business units,
through new work models and the reorganization of pipelines in
multidisciplinary value chains.

By adopting Scaled Agile using the SAFe framework, the

company strengthened its connection between strategy and
operations, and employees became more engaged, purposeful
and autonomous, without waste. Products are now developed
in a continuous learning cycle, resulting in higher quality and
meeting market needs faster.

The company currently has eight project pipelines, representing

its different business lines, and six of them work with Agile
methodologies. Each pipeline has different value chains that
deliver products and services to customers. In all, there are
approximately 15 value chains and more than 70 squads.

142
Organizing professionals into multidisciplinary and self-
organizing teams allowed greater collaboration, a smooth
cadence and enhanced efficiency.

It is worth mentioning that this is an evolutionary journey aimed

at continuous improvement, flow optimization and cultural
change. Therefore, on this trajectory, many improvements,
evolutions and adaptations will be necessary over time and in
specific contexts.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic and the need for remote

work, changes in working methods had to be implemented.
For example, Product Increment Planning Events, which used
to be held in person – and in which the challenges were often
related to logistical issues, such as accommodations and food
– started to be carried out remotely, and the dynamics became
very different. The challenges became mainly technological,
such as stable connections, correct use of tools and employee
engagement despite physical distance.

However, this is the essence of being Agile – knowing how to

adapt and learn from challenges.

143
144
METRICS
If you don’t measure it,
you can’t track it
One of the characteristics found in Agile teams is a continuous
drive to improve work processes, always aiming to deliver a
higher-quality, higher-value product to customers.

145
Making improvements is a process that requires inspection,
adaptation and transparency throughout the development
of a product. Looking specifically at the inspection pillar,
how can we implement this in practice? Through Agile and
flow metrics.

Using these metrics, insights into the team’s productivity

will be generated throughout the software development life
cycle. Metrics build a vision of how the work is being done
and how it is possible to evolve going forward. They are
analyzed so that the team itself can progress. The key here
is to not just be accountable to a leader, or be subservient
to ineffective goals.

Some mistakes are commonly made when metrics are

applied in this process, such as comparing them between
teams, establishing metrics as goals and generating
numbers that are irrelevant to a project or do not generate a
strategy for it (“vanity metrics”).

Metrics should not be compared to determine whether

one team is better than another. Each team has a specific
context in terms of team maturity, level of technical debt,
depth of knowledge about the project underway, number of
bugs, size of items being worked on, existence or otherwise
of workflow bottlenecks, and so on. These are some
aspects that need to be analyzed individually to understand
the health of the team.

146
We are not seeking to control metrics. Their purpose is to show
the pace of project development and reduce the system’s
variability. Metrics are not goals, so it makes no sense, for
example, to set a goal for a team’s number of deliveries per
sprint. The objective is to understand a team’s healthy delivery
pace and thereby establish an acceptable margin. When this
margin is extrapolated, the problem is not the metric itself. It is
merely showing that something is not healthy and it needs to be
investigated to identify the problem to be solved.

A team that seeks continuous improvement needs to use data to

identify scenarios that will generate business actions. However,
when it comes to “vanity metrics,” we are referring to a scenario
contrary to the desired one, in which data, analyzed individually,
out of context, indicates a positive but unreliable result. For
example, just because an app has been downloaded many times,
this does not guarantee that it is a success.

The app may have been downloaded many times but it may
not have been what users expected and they may have then
uninstalled it and given it a poor rating. In this situation, if we
look only at the number of downloads, we may believe we have a
successful product, but this is not the case.

147
Metrics are used to guide the team, promote a healthy environment
and enhance results. To ensure this situation and start building
metrics, it is worth answering the following questions:

• What questions can I answer with metrics?

• What problems is the team experiencing and do I need evidence?

• What are we looking to improve?

• What do I want this metric for?

A good metric is the result of extensive data collection, whatever the

duration of each activity or the team’s workflow, so it takes time to be
implemented. The second step is analysis, which must be careful. Once
problems are identified, action plans should be created and executed,
which brings us back to the cycle of continuous improvement.

In relation to Agile teams, we seek to analyze result and performance

metrics. Below are some of the main metrics used.

Types of metrics

1. Burndown/Burnup

These are visual tools widely used in Scrum. Burndown and

burnup help measure the productivity and performance of a team,
considering the delivery period and deadline.

148
Burndown assists in tracking the work remaining within a sprint,
while a burnup chart assists in tracking the work completed in the
sprint. The two graphs help answer the question: are we on track
to complete the tasks we planned by the sprint end date?

16

14

12

10

0
Start Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10

Actual Development Planned Development

Graph 1 - Sprint Burndown

In Graph 1, the indicated raw data represents the list of demands

that still need to be delivered. The horizontal axis shows the days
left in the sprint to complete the demands and the vertical axis
indicates the work to be done. Remaining work is calculated as
the sum of a specific field of unfinished activities, which can be

149
customized, such as story points, or by counting a type of work
item, such as user stories. You can also produce a burndown or
burnup chart of bugs or any other work items that exist in the
sprint workflow in order to track the completion of a set of items
on a given date.

Burndown charts usually contain an “ideal trend line.” The aim is

to show the ideal daily delivery scenario for the team to follow
until the sprint is over. This line goes between the sprint’s start
point and end point.

Through daily burndown monitoring, it is possible to answer

questions such as:

• How much work is left in the sprint?

• When will the team complete all the work it agreed to

deliver in the sprint?

• How much work in the sprint is in progress?

2. Lead Time

Lead time can be used in both Scrum and Kanban. It is a metric

that contributes to monitoring of the period of time that a
demand takes to be completed from the moment it is created.
This measure helps the team plan, identify variations in its
efficiency and detect possible problems in the process.

150
 1 item

25

20 Date: 11/14/2021
19 Cycle time: 16 days 95%

16 84%
15

13 70%

10
8 50%

0
10/01/2021 11/01/2021 11/14/2021 12/01/2021

Work items

Graph 2 - Lead Time

On the horizontal axis, the points in Graph 2 indicate the day a

work item was completed. The vertical axis represents the lead
time that the work item took to complete, from the moment it
was created to its completion. In addition, tools that provide this
metric often include a trend line indicating the team’s moving
average (on this graph, the moving average is represented by the
black line) and a shaded area either side of it showing the team’s
standard deviation.

As we can see in Graph 2, lead time is a metric that can be used

to monitor any work item that makes sense for the team at the

151
time (such as story, bug, impediment or task). Lead time
can also be calculated manually, without using any project
management tool.

Lead time is calculated by dividing the number of work-in-

progress items by the number of units completed per unit of
time or throughput.

Average lead time can be used to predict when a product

will be delivered to the customer, as it maps development
time from the moment the item is created until the moment of
delivery to the client.

3. Cycle Time

Cycle time is a metric that measures the time a team takes to

complete work items after starting them. It is different from
lead time, which starts measuring time at the moment an item
is created (before the work even starts). So, we only analyze
development time, without computing the period in which the
demand was stalled, created but waiting to begin.

These two metrics, lead time and cycle time, provide numbers
in hours (or converted into days), indicating the completion
time of each demand. For the customer, what matters is lead
time, but the team can focus more on cycle time, as this
measures the team’s effective development time.

There is a well-defined correlation between cycle time / lead

time and work in progress (WIP).

152
 The more WIP items you have, the longer your cycle time will be,
and that will also make your lead time longer. The opposite is
also true – the fewer WIP items you have, the shorter your cycle
time and consequently lead time. So, when a development team
focuses on fewer items, it cuts its cycle and lead times, and that
is something we aim for on Agile teams.

1 item

Date: 12/10/2021
25
Cycle time: 22 days

22 92%
20 85%

15

10
9 70%

6 50%
5

0
11/01/2021 12/01/2021 12/10/2021 01/01/2022

Work items

Graph 3 - Cycle Time

153
As with lead time, the points on the horizontal axis in Graph 3
indicate the day a work item was completed. The vertical axis
represents the cycle time a work item took to complete from the
time it was started to the time it was finished. Cycle time can
also be calculated manually, without using project management
tools. The formula is: Cycle Time = Production Time (time spent
during development in hours) / Number of Units Produced
(number of items delivered, expressed in units/time).

4. Throughput

Throughput measures the rate at which items (such as

user stories) move through the production process and are
delivered by the end of a sprint. It is a metric that tracks a
team’s ability to deliver in a stipulated time cycle.

In general, analyzing throughput helps us answer questions

such as:

• How many work items does the team deliver per sprint/
week/month?

• Is the team creating a growing delivery trend?

• How is my team’s delivery rhythm going? Can we

increase the number of deliveries without harming the
quality of work?

• Has any factor been hindering the team’s ability to deliver?

154
 The throughput metric indicates the pace of delivery and thus
allows you to generate insights on predictability.

10 9
Number of items delivered

8 7
6
6 5
4 4
4 3
2
0
0
-11 8 5 1 -8 5 2 1
n7 4-1 1-2 eb b4 1-1 8-2 ar
Ja n1 n2 8-F Fe b1 b1 5-M
Ja Ja n 2 Fe Fe b 2
Ja Fe

Week

Graph 4 - Throughput

Analyzing this throughput chart, we can see significant variations

in the first three weeks, followed by greater stability in the
following periods. This more regular cadence allows the team
to predict and plan its work item deliveries more assertively.
Likewise, lead time also varied more at the beginning, before
stabilizing, generating more inputs to ascertain the predictability
of product delivery.

One important observation regarding throughput is that this

metric differs from the “velocity” indicator (the number of story
points delivered per iteration or sprint) used in Scrum.

155
5. Velocity

The Velocity metric presents the amount of work that a team has
completed during a given period of time, but it is also used for
forecasting deliveries.

Defining velocity also involves the team’s context: technology,

people’s profile, experience, how long they have been working
together, how much they know about the product, etc. Any
change in this context can cause significant variations in velocity,
undermining this metric.

There are various units of measurement to define a team’s velocity,

including hours, points, T-shirt sizes and item count. You should
choose a unit that makes sense for your context and test it for
at least three sprints. Agile methods are empirical, so in order to

400

200

0
Sprint 4 Sprint 5 Sprint 6 Sprint 7 Sprint 8

Planned Completed Completed late Incomplete

Graph 5 - Velocity per Sprint

156
define and use this metric, we need to try out the alignments
made for the team’s context, while making few significant
changes for a considerable time.

In Graph 5, the dark red bars represent demands that were

planned, the light red bars represent planned demands that
were completed in the sprint, the pink bars represent incomplete
demands, and the gray bars are demands that came from
another sprint but were completed in the current one.

Finally, all the other metrics exist for the purpose of encouraging
the entire team to reflect. Whenever there is any change in the
analysis of metrics, it is important to present it to the team.
For example, at a retrospective ceremony, it is interesting to
discuss identified issues so that everyone can think, reflect and
understand areas for improvement and build action plans in
accordance with them, adapting the continuous improvement
that an Agile team seeks.

157
CASE

A loan company realized that some of its projects were not achieving
the expected results. After talking to the Scrum Master, it found that
there were three major problems:

• Deliveries per sprint were well below the calculated capacity for the
Agility team. Thus, projects were being delivered late;

• Frequent unresolved impediments;

• Lack of transparency during the process. The people involved

in the projects did not have a clear vision of how much the team
was delivering.

After identifying the projects’ bottlenecks, the Scrum Master understood

that the best way to change the situation would be to create metrics for
all the impediments, thereby making them clear to both the squad and
the customer.

PROBLEM A METRIC: Sprint velocity, presenting the number of

planned points, planned points delivered, unplanned points delivered
and total points delivered per sprint.

PROBLEM B METRIC: Impediment chart presenting the number of

hours per impediment in each sprint, and another graph showing
accumulated impediments by type of impediment.

158
 PROBLEM C METRIC: Throughput chart presenting the
number of items delivered per day.

Having defined the metrics, the analysis of each of them began.

Once bottlenecks had been identified, the squad and all other
areas involved in the delivery process structured actions to
eliminate these impediments. For example, regarding the problem
of non-delivery, it was observed that during a sprint, the Product
Owner had asked to add some processes not agreed upon in the
planning meeting. Once this bottleneck had been identified, a
better prioritization of the entire backlog was aligned, generating
satisfactory and timely deliveries.

As a result, through proper monitoring and analysis of the

metrics, the workflow was adjusted and, five months later, the
indicators were satisfactory for both the customer and the team.

159
160
DESIGN THINKING
The perfect match

In 2010, the IBM Institute for Business Value carried out a survey
of 1,500 CEOs. The objective was to understand what was most
strategically important for the health of their businesses, given
all the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity that exist.
The answer was: make employees more creative.

161
In 2021, 11 years later, the same survey was replicated to
understand the new perspectives of the post-pandemic world
and its weaknesses, anxieties and non-linearities. The conclusion
was that the central question for the new era would be: “What
do we need to become essential – for our customers, employees,
community and investors?”

Despite the 11-year interval between them, both surveys upheld

Design Thinking (DT) as an instrument capable of enhancing
not just products and services, but also organizational cultures
and systemic problems existing in the current world. These
improvements range from logistics chains and automation
in retail to the development of systems based on artificial
intelligence, child malnutrition and women’s health care in
Africa. All of this is possible by focusing on human needs and
complexities and then exploring possible solutions.

Although the word “design” is often associated with the quality

and/or aesthetic appearance of products, as a discipline it has
the ultimate goal of promoting well-being in people’s lives.
However, it is the way designers perceive things and act on them
that caught the attention of managers, opening up new avenues
for business innovation.

Thus, the main task of Design Thinking is to identify problems

and generate solutions. It understands that difficulties affect
people’s well-being and they are of a diverse nature. Therefore, it
is necessary to map the culture, contexts, personal experiences
and processes in the lives of individuals to obtain a more
complete view and so better identify barriers and generate
alternative ways to overcome them.

According to David Kelley, a Design Thinking leader, applying it is

linked to the following:

162
 • Creating the ability to absorb and practice empathy;

• Building creative trust and allowing yourself to explore

divergent ideas;

• Actively learning, testing ideas and making them tangible

through prototypes;

• Structuring a desired future through the practice of

storytelling, considering the value generated by innovation.

DT unites what is desirable from a human point of view with what

is technically possible and economically viable, slicing a problem
into smaller pieces that can be solved at the present moment.
Accordingly, it is not limited to a process with fixed rules to arrive
at a result. Instead, David Kelley considers it to mean an infinite
and expanding investigation.

• Desirable - what makes sense to people?

• Technically feasible - possible in the foreseeable future
• Economically feasible - sustainable for the business

1. But do only designers think like that?

While designers have kept this kind of thinking active in their

profession – giving them a certain creative aura – all human
beings are design thinkers by nature. It was abductive thinking
that allowed the evolution of artifacts in our society, from
primitive civilizations to vernacular design and traditional
craftsmanship. Observing the world and generating new hidden
solutions is a collective human skill that has only recently come to
be seen as something in need of some exceptional talent.

163
This can be illustrated by an exercise to draw a sunset, which highlights the
unique traits of any individual. Although this exercise is based on generic
information, it is immersed in a specific context and presents creative
answers to a question.

2. Generic stimulation

In this exercise, different individuals are instructed to draw a sunset,

without much additional information or external interference. Most people
will draw a horizon, water, the sun, birds and perhaps a tree. Through this
generic but direct stimulation, designers, administrators, lawyers, doctors
and teachers tend to arrive at the same result.
C
on
ve
rg
e
ge
er
iv
D

Discover Define Develop Deliver

D
iv
er
ge

e
rg
ve
on
C

Context Define Solution

the problem

Figure 1 - Representation of Double Diamond

164
On the other hand, when people are asked to draw the last
sunset they saw, including all its context (where, with whom
and how), the final result will be based on human experience,
and once again, all individuals will be able to make their ideas
tangible and improve their approach as they consider reality
as a starting point. This is a subtle technique that exemplifies
how a mindset oriented toward creative trust caters for the
understanding of an approach.

Phases of Design Thinking

The four phases of Design Thinking are presented in a “double

diamond” model, in which four connected triangles represent
the whole process of innovation.

The double diamond represents the creative process of teams

when they need to expand their points of view (diverging
thoughts, ideas and data) or when they need to funnel their
findings, hypotheses and solutions (converging decisions).

• Moments of divergence: discovery and development

• Moments of convergence: definition and delivery

It is worth mentioning that when teams find themselves

blocked in their creative process and cannot progress,
divergence is recommended. On the other hand, when the
spectrum becomes too broad, risking project deadlines or
costs, convergence is recommended.

165
The phases of Design Thinking combine to form an interactive
approach that can be tested and adapted in line with the
business’ needs and challenges

Frame a Gather Generate Make Ideas Test to Share the

Question Inspiration Ideas Tangible Learn Story

Figure 2 - Source: https://www.ideou.com/pages/design-thinking

1. Immersion – the grass is always greener on the

other side of the fence

The first stage of the process is immersion, which aims to get

closer to the project’s context from the point of view of both
the client company and its end users (the client’s customers).
It is here that we get a deep understanding of the problem and
the people involved in the situation, immersing ourselves in the
reality of users and developing empathy by comprehending their
needs and motivations. At this point, the project team also gets
closer to the problem’s context and begins to understand the
implications of the challenge.

There are two stages of immersion: preliminary and in-depth.

The preliminary phase takes place even before the project
kickoff. It allows the team to have its first contact with the
problem and get to know the subject.

166
Here are some tools used at this moment:

EXPLORATORY RESEARCH

This means immersion in the real context of individuals impacted

by the creative process. The team goes to relevant places to
understand the subject, observing and interacting with the
people involved. This provides information that can be used
to define expectations, the roles of users and/or environments
involved in the study

Tip: Interviews become more productive when conducted in

pairs. As one team member interviews, the other notes down
what is happening in the environment. This duo may or may not
be present in the same environment. The person responsible
for evaluating people’s reactions can be connected remotely.

DESK RESEARCH

This means analyzing already available market data, also known

as secondary research, as it is based on previously obtained
information.

Commonly used sources include academic studies, data

released by other companies or the government, and even social
networks. The aim is to cross-check information and make
parallels between the data.

167
STAKEHOLDER MAPPING

This activity is fundamental to understand how project

stakeholders relate not only to the problem at hand, but to each
other. The idea is to note who the stakeholders are and their
needs, motivations, expectations and fears.

Another way of examining the context is to carry out an

in-depth immersion. Designers then discover how people act,
what they think and how they feel. The guideline at this stage
is to ensure that the focus is on human beings, gathering
information of four types:

• What do people say?

• How do they act?

• What do they think?

• How do they feel?

To achieve this objective, the following tools are used:

1 Interviews

The focus is on encouraging the participants to explain

their “whys,” in order to understand the meaning behind
what is being said. Subsequently, this information will be
used to create personas, which will play a key role in the
ideation stage.

168
 2 Awareness notebooks

This indirect observation technique allows users

themselves to report their activities, in the context of
their daily lives, using phrases, drawings, collages or
photographs to depict their experiences and perceptions.

3 Simulations

Project team members assume the role of users and

spend a period acting from a different point of view and in
a different context for a day or more.

4 Shadowing

This means monitoring users within their life context,

without external interference, just observing their routine.
The final result of this stage will provide inputs for the
creation of some artifacts, such as personas.

Analysis – consolidate and order

information to conquer

In this stage, all the collected information is organized in

order to detect patterns to help the team understand the
whole situation and start the process of understanding the
problem in its essence, culminating in identifying process
improvement opportunities.

169
There are various techniques used in this phase. Here are
some of them:

INSIGHT CARDS

These are records based on inputs from exploratory, desk and

in-depth research, transformed into cards that facilitate quick
consultation and handling. A grouping of several cards is called
an Affinity Diagram.

CERTAINTIES, ASSUMPTIONS AND QUESTIONS MATRIX

This is a matrix that relates a project’s areas for attention and

defines what to focus on. It is based on three main questions:
What do we already know about the project? What are the
hypotheses or what knowledge is assumed? What questions do
we have?

One important point is that despite being created at the

beginning of the project, the matrix remains active during its
development, as it can present changes and advances.

PERSONAS

These are correlations with key project stakeholders or

fictional characters, created from patterns observed during
the immersion stage. They represent motivations, desires,
expectations and needs. Their characteristics can range from
demographic aspects such as gender, age group and social class
to behavioral profiles.

170
EMPATHY MAPS

This is a visual tool that analyzes and describes customers’

behaviors and life contexts. It is the starting point that allows
you to visually reproduce who the customers are.

USER JOURNEY MAPS

This tool can be used to identify gaps in relations with

consumers, map new business opportunities, improve a
product or simply improve the user experience. It represents
user relationships with the activities and systems involved, as
well as the sensations caused at each step of the flow.

Ideation – the more, the better

Ideation is the phase in which ideas are presented without

any judgment. It is the moment to think outside the box and
propose solutions to the problem. To do this, practices to
stimulate creativity are used, which aid the generation of
solutions in accordance with the context worked on. There is
no limit on ideas at this stage.

It is highly advisable to have a variety of profiles of people

involved, including the parties who will benefit from the
proposed solutions.

171
In this stage, it is possible to apply the following techniques:

1. BRAINSTORMING

Usually carried out in a group, brainstorming is essential to

stimulate the generation of a large number of ideas in a short
period of time. Basically, it is a creative process led by a
moderator, who is responsible for putting participants at ease
and stimulating creativity without the group losing focus.

To be productive, you should avoid judging ideas. Despite being

100% collaborative, it also needs to be silent, so that everyone
can express their thoughts without bias. Afterward, a discussion
and the refinement of ideas can be started.

2. CO-CREATION WORKSHOPS

These events usually feature people who may be directly or

indirectly involved with the solutions being developed, including
end users, the employees of the company that commissioned the
project and a team to facilitate the discussions.

The idea is to have short, dynamic activities in small groups, so

that those present can activate their creativity.

172
Ideas for holding a workshop

The ideal thing is to start with a general alignment on the

problem discussed. Then carry out some activities to assess
each participant’s perceptions of what is currently working,
what could be improved and what could be done if there were
no limits in terms of resources (financial or intellectual).

It is advisable to build a journey map with the participants, to

recognize the whole process and thus select a top-priority
part. This is followed by a brainstorming session (initially
individual and later collectively debated), so that an idea
is selected in a vote. If necessary, the team facilitating the
discussion can recommend that participants try to come up
with variations of this idea to ensure that they are indeed
exhausting all possibilities.

Finally, the creation of a storyboard to aid the prototyping

stage is recommended.

1. MENU OF IDEAS

This is a catalog setting out a summary of the ideas

generated by the team at a certain moment. The goal is to
start organizing the insights and making them visible and
understandable to everyone.

173
2. POSITIONING MATRIX

This tool is designed to support the decision-making process,

facilitating efficient communication of the benefits and challenges
of each solution, so that the most strategic ideas are selected
for prototyping.

How it works: The ideas generated in the project are listed, and
they may be grouped by similarity or, in the case of a very large
amount, they may be preselected. The guiding criteria and/or
personas created during the project are then cross-checked,
forming a matrix, which must be filled in collaboratively, evaluating
how each idea meets the requirements.

3. MAP X

The objective of this tool is to visually represent the value

generated by ideas and all beneficiaries.

• Determine stakeholders: Identify all the parties affected

positively or negatively by the idea.

• Create the map: Write the idea that will be analyzed in the
center of Map X. Describe the value that will be generated and
the accompanying cost and risk impacts for each stakeholder.

• Increase opportunities: What could be changed in order to

generate more value or mitigate costs and risks for a particular
stakeholder? How to generate “win-win” ideas.

174
Prototyping – getting ideas off the
drawing board

Prototyping means making an idea tangible. It entails passing

from the abstract to the physical in order to represent reality
(albeit in a simplified way) to be validated. Therefore, it is the
validation phase of the generated ideas. It is the time to trim the
edges, see what fits the project, put together proposals and get
down to business.

With a prototype in hand, it is possible to test the product

with users, refining and improving until it becomes a solution
that is genuinely aligned with their needs. Thus, it can generate
refinement until the solution is mature enough to be launched
onto the market.

Despite being presented as a final phase, prototyping can happen

in parallel with the other phases. As ideas emerge, they can be
prototyped, tested and, in many cases, even implemented.

In this stage, these are the most important tools:

1 Paper prototype

This is a low-fidelity prototype, which can start in a

simplified way and gain complexity over the iterations.

175
 2 Volumetric model

This is a representation of a product and the level of fidelity

may vary. It could be made of anything, from simple materials
like paper, cardboard or modeling clay to elaborate ones
that simulate the color and finishing details of a product to
be manufactured.

3 Staging

Widely used in contexts outside the reality of IT, this is a

simulation of a situation, which can represent anything from
a person’s interaction with a machine to a dialogue between
individuals regarding a service.

4 Storyboard

This is a visual representation of the flow of a solution and/

or story through static quadrants, which the team visually
sketches, using drawings, collages or photographs, showing
how interaction with the solution will take place.

Design sprint - War room

In environments that pose high-risk challenges and involve many

critical decisions, and if most stakeholders cannot converge on a
possible solution, a design sprint in a war room is recommended.

176
This method was developed and announced by Google
Ventures. It was created by Jake Knapp in order to test and
apply new ideas in just five days. A design sprint combines
Design Thinking techniques with Agile methods. While it is user-
centric, it is also iterative, practical and collaborative. The idea
is to test hypotheses quickly and accelerate learning.

Design sprint teams have a heterogeneous configuration, as

they are made up of people from different areas, professions
and life contexts. However, the number of team members is
limited to seven, in line with the definition of an Agile squad.

For a design sprint to happen, a facilitator needs to be

present, to organize a room reserved especially for the five
days of activities. The facilitator will also produce a calendar
with intervals and define when the client should take part in
meetings with the team.

The participating profiles are as follows:

DEFINER

Someone who has strategic vision and the authority to make

decisions, such as CEO, founder or product manager (client).

FINANCE SPECIALIST

Someone who understands the budgets, cash flows, income

and expenses, such as CFO or CEO.

177
CONSUMER SPECIALISTS

Those who understand the client’s behavior, expectations and

frustrations, such as salespeople or customer success analysts.

TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIST

Someone who understands the solution’s viability and

technical challenges, such as a technical director, engineer
or technical specialist.

DESIGN SPECIALIST

Someone who designs the products or services that your

company offers, such as a designer or product manager.

Example of daily goals:

• Monday: The focus is on understanding the proposed

challenge. Each participant should share as much information
as possible, and interviews with key actors can be carried out
during the day.

• Tuesday: The aim is to explore as many ideas as possible

and select participants to return on Friday and test the
solution. Each team member will individually design a
proposal for a solution.

• Wednesday: At this point, the ideas are presented and the

team selects the most viable one for prototyping.

178
 • Thursday: The intention is that a mid/high-fidelity prototype
will be created by the end of the day so that users can test it
on Friday.

• Friday: This is the moment when the user will interact with
the prototype and provide feedback on the presented solution.

BONUS

In addition to the original five-day version, there is now a

version 2.0 of this methodology. This consists of a four-day
creative process, which only involves the full team on the first
two days, unlike version 1.0, which requires the entire team
throughout the five days.

• Monday: Map and design

• Tuesday: Decide and make storyboard

• Wednesday: Prototype

• Thursday: Test

179
Design Thinking and Agile methods –
stronger together

In addition to the above, the Gartner model is the most

used innovation pipeline method, adapted to make viable
the results obtained from the entire problem discovery and
resolution process. This model combines Design Thinking
and Agile methodologies.

From the moment the parties agree that the challenge

was correctly understood and converted into an idea
made possible by a prototype, Design Thinking enables
the implementation of these solutions through Agile
techniques – that is, gradually and incrementally, delivering
value streams in sprints and setting short-term goals in
planning meetings. There are also daily progress status
meetings with the development team, deliveries are
reviewed with the customer and continuous improvement
is verified in retrospectives.

Design Thinking contributes empathy, collaboration and

experimentation as key values for the creative process.
Meanwhile, Agile methods focus on individuals and
interactions, working products, customer collaboration,
responses to change rather than processes and tools,
comprehensive documentation, and actions involved in
following a contract or plan.

We start with a hypothesis, discover a problem, define

a solution and initiate incremental interactions to
deliver value.

180
It doesn’t end with Design Thinking

We live in a multifaceted world with interconnected systems that

seek to understand how to remain essential to guarantee not
only competitive advantage but also business health. Design
Thinking offers concrete possibilities to influence market results,
above all considering human complexity to ensure that ideas are
sustainable and meaningful.

The creative process should not be considered finite when a

prototype is made. Even if the project team understands the best
path from its prototyped hypothesis, the end users’ reaction in a
test environment, whether real or controlled, must be considered,
so that the solution’s applicability can be evaluated.

Design Thinking is a cyclical, iterative process that can be

repeated over and over until a deeper understanding of the
problem is attained. However, it must always be based on
empathy, collaboration and experimentation – conditions present
in all stages of the methodology.

When we carry out the creative process by combining

Design Thinking and Agile methods, we observe how these
two methodologies are complementary. When there are
unanswered challenges requiring in-depth understanding, Design
Thinking represents the starting point toward innovation and
continuous improvement.

The answer lies in asking the right question so that when

the challenge is clear and the objective is to create a solution
in waves of development, the use of Agile methods can intensify
the perceived value, driving results through transparency
and effectiveness.

181
PART 3
FOR EVERYONE

182
AGILE MARKETING
Real-time marketing in the
age of Agility
Although the Agile culture was initially created and implemented
for software development, its concept and practices can also be
applied in other areas and industries. In marketing, for example,
advertising campaigns and initiatives can be made more efficient
and assertive using Agile tools and processes.

183
As well as making a company’s daily routines more dynamic, Agile
marketing offers customers better results at lower costs. After all,
strategies are designed to be carried out in less time, compared
to more traditional agency formats, to be evaluated at the moment
they are being executed.

However, for all this to happen in a well-orchestrated way,

broader knowledge of the entire process is necessary. This means
understanding what Agile marketing really is, as well as correctly
using the frameworks, knowing how to measure all the results and
using them in your favor. These are steps that complement each
other and lead to the previously defined objective.

What is Agile marketing?

Creating and implementing campaigns, evaluating results and

modifying actions are practices that can take a long time in
marketing management, plus they may prove expensive for clients.
However, thanks to the introduction of Agile methods into the
routines of advertising agencies and marketing departments, this
situation has changed, bringing advantages for both companies
and consumers.

Agile marketing offers solutions that make the stages of the

process more fluid and dynamic, thereby solving major pains in the
sector. With the help of management tools and frameworks such
as Kanban and Scrum, these solutions reduce the time taken to
implement projects and also their costs.

184
One of the paths that Agile marketing indicates is strategic
vision, which means having clear objectives from the beginning
of campaign formulation, knowing where you want to reach,
which consumers you want to reach and how to make it happen.
With a team capable of evaluating the entire progress of the
planned actions, this work becomes easier.

The first step is to establish a practical backlog. This means

defining the tasks required to carry out the project. However,
these tasks must be short-term, small actions that are put into
practice and evaluated soon afterward. During this process, it is
essential to take a critical look at consumers’ behavior. In Agile
marketing, changes need to be made throughout campaigns.

The consumer is always the compass that guides the progress

of campaigns. Therefore, previously planned actions that do not
achieve the expected results should be taken as a warning sign.
When running tests, an action that does not work needs to be
rethought immediately, while those that achieve their goal can be
maintained and possibly improved.

These are dynamic cycles that require the evaluation of data

(which must be collected during the campaign), observation of
consumers’ behavior and the team’s decision-making leadership,
which often can and should rely on grounded intuition. Evaluation
of results and adaptation to changes in the world during the
process, in order to reduce errors and reach the goal, are
undoubtedly characteristics of Agile culture in marketing.

185
In addition to faster and more continuous delivery of results, this
approach helps segment and identify ideal consumers for the
brand. By observing how an action is received and the behavior it
generates, through hypothesis testing, the team aligns its strategy
so that it is increasingly successful. The result is high conversion and
retention of high-quality leads.

Thus, for campaigns that used to take a long time to execute and
analyze, Agile marketing makes the process more practical and
accurate, and consequently less costly for the client.

However, it is important to emphasize that Agile marketing needs to

go beyond daily practices and the use of tools. It is crucial for it to
be part of the team’s behavior. That is, everyone must absorb the
concept and have an Agile mindset, from creation to decision making.
Only in this way will the team be able to deliver more than the result
to its client, generating value for its target audience.

Traditional marketing versus

Agile marketing

Since Philip Kotler presented the first concepts about marketing in

the 1960s, a lot has changed. The term is now used in a different way
and technological advances have influenced and modified the modus
operandi. More recently, the Agile methodology has become part of
the marketing planning routine of some companies.

186
Agile marketing differs from traditional marketing in several
aspects, including the development of lean campaigns. In
the past, a marketing project for a brand would take around
six months to be created, executed and finalized, but now this
process is divided into shorter stages that take less time.

These stages, defined within a framework, are executed by a

cross-functional team, which brings together professionals
from various sectors with complementary skills. A favorable point
compared to the traditional top-down management model. In
Agile mode, teams are collaborative and they have the autonomy
to self-organize in order to be more productive.

As a result, they are able to track actions in real time, discuss

necessary changes and thereby achieve their goals more
assertively, without having to ask their superiors for permission
and spend time waiting for an answer.

Therefore, we can say that the Agile management model allows

flexibility throughout the process, unlike traditional marketing,
which entails compliance with a rigid plan, without any additions,
since the results will only be evaluated at the end of the
campaign. In this regard, Agile marketing understands that it is
necessary to evaluate all the data that emerges in the period,
concerning everything from users’ behavior to the success or
failure rates of an isolated action. These assessments can be
performed by the team on a daily basis.

Another important factor is allocated investments. Campaigns

managed using Agile techniques are less costly, as they have
a shorter duration. In addition, investments can be split up, not
only to carry out a campaign’s actions, but also to maintain what
is working, make improvements and innovate. In the past, brands

187
would spend a lot on executing a long-term campaign, assigning
a fixed sum for all the predetermined steps. If the campaign’s
objectives were not achieved, the money spent would be “lost.”

To prevent this from happening, Agile marketing brings a new

vision to the process. Instead of developing a broad campaign plan
without a well-defined target audience, preference is given to
defining a persona for the brand. This technique of segmenting a
brand’s consumers or potential customers increases the chance of
conversion. This therefore makes campaigns developed using the
Agile approach more assertive. The focus is always on consumers
and their needs.

One important point that helps with conversion is the seasonal

nature of campaigns. As well as being shorter, as pointed out above,
they need to be planned for the right moment. On commemorative
dates, for example, actions performed too far in advance may not
achieve the expected results. Therefore, it is essential to identify the
ideal period to start and end a campaign. In addition, it is important
to be open to using recent content. This means incorporating
trends and new technologies that go beyond the images, videos and
taglines used in traditional marketing.

In the routines of advertising agencies and companies that adopt

Agile marketing, it is possible to identify other changes that the
method brings about. However, all of them are based on the values
listed in the Agile Marketing Manifesto, which points the way for
managers and teams to be more productive and efficient.

188
Agile Marketing Manifesto

Since Agile culture has spread beyond IT, the scope of work
in various areas has changed significantly. In marketing,
for example, in addition to changes to routines, people felt
the need to create a separate manifesto, inspired by the
introductory Agile Manifesto.

The Agile Marketing Manifesto was developed in 2012 during

the SprintZero event, which took place in San Francisco,
bringing together dozens of professionals from the field. This
document presents seven values and 10 principles to guide
teams and companies to work in an efficient, productive, agile
and goal-focused way.

The principles were underpinned by a set of values previously

discussed and proposed by the professionals present at the
event. These values are as follows:

189
PRINCIPLES OF THE AGILE MARKETING MANIFESTO

Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through

1 early and continuous delivery of marketing strategies that
solve problems.

We welcome and plan for change. We believe that

2 our ability to quickly respond to change is a source of
competitive advantage.

Deliver marketing programs frequently, from a couple

3 of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference for
the shorter timescale.

Great marketing requires close alignment with

4 business, sales and development people.

Build marketing strategies around motivated individuals. Give

5 them the environment and support they need and trust them
to get the job done.

Learning, through the build-measure-learn feedback loop, is

6 the primary measurement of progress.

Sustainable marketing requires you to keep a constant

7 pace and pipeline.

8 Don’t be afraid to fail; just don’t fail the same way twice.

Continuous attention to marketing fundamentals and

9 good design enhances agility.

Source: https://
10 Simplicity is essential. agilemarketingmanifesto.
org/principles/

190
The values, in addition to being inspired by the Agile Manifesto,
were developed and voted on during the SprintZero event. In the
end, five guidelines were arrived at, which aid marketing decision
making and strategies applied on a daily basis.

Values of the Agile

Marketing Manifesto

1. Focus on customer value and business outcomes

over activity and outputs

More than simply executing a campaign, an Agile team needs to

be focused on delivering value to customers through its work.
This is the question that the Manifesto’s first value addresses.
From the very beginning, a campaign needs to contain measures
aimed at the needs presented by the brand rather than an
unfocused strategy.

According to the Manifesto, Agile marketing prioritizes the right

activities over the number of activities. At the end of the process,
the client needs to receive relevant results that solve its pains
and positively impact its business.

191
2. Deliver value early and often over waiting
for perfection

In the past, campaigns took around six months to circulate in

online and offline media and the results were only delivered at the
end. However, using Agile methods, this process can take place
continuously. That is, through shorter and more objective actions,
value can be delivered to the customer from the outset.

In this process, there is no fear of making mistakes, as it is through

them that the team improves its work and sharpens its vision. The
important thing is not to make the same mistakes. The pressure
for perfection can harm the progress of a campaign and delay the
delivery of value to the customer.

3. Learn through experiments and data over

opinions and conventions

The Manifesto’s third value refers to the importance of using data as

a basis for actions. In the previous culture, strategies were developed
based on pre-established conventions and other opinions, but the
Manifesto’s authors believe that the “implement-measure-learn” loop
generates more and better results.

Therefore, in order to implement the Agile marketing culture, you

must be open to learning from mistakes and successes in the testing
and experimentation process and using statistics for new activities.

192
4. Cross-functional collaboration over silos
and hierarchies

Many company departments and advertising agencies have

certainly suffered from communication failures and lack of
connections in executing a campaign. Therefore, the need to
change this situation is expressed in the Manifesto’s fourth value.

It is extremely important for an Agile team to work in collaboration

not only with its peers but also with all areas involved in the
campaign. Everyone needs to get into the habit of looking for
solutions together in order to meet the customer’s needs. Processes
that are executed individually, in silos, do not achieve the expected
results and do not meet the customer’s needs satisfactorily.

5. Be ready to respond to change over following

a static plan

The fifth value conveys the importance of being prepared to adapt

to possible changes, whether internal or global. It is not impossible
for alterations to occur in the course of a campaign and they need to
be designed in such a way that they can be tweaked and modified
without harming your primary objective.

A campaign that follows a rigid plan, executing the initially planned

steps regardless of what happens, is unlikely to reach its target
audience and consequently deliver value. Thus, an Agile marketing
team needs to be connected to changes under way in the world and
and the impact they can potentially have on work.

193
Framework models

To manage campaigns in an Agile way, teams can utilize

frameworks. These are work models that facilitate the
organization of activities and allow you to track the
development of stages and visualize team performance. They
also enhance interaction and collaborative work.

In Agile marketing, Scrum and Kanban are the most common

frameworks and some teams use a blend of these two models. It
is up to project managers to identify the one that best suits the
work to be performed and the characteristics of team members.

1. Scrum

Even if a campaign has many steps, with Scrum the execution

process will be simpler. Its main feature is to divide the
activities that make up the campaign into small cycles (sprints),
each lasting from one to four weeks. Teams are also divided in
line with these sprints.

Another distinctive feature of the Scrum methodology is the

importance it places on feedback. As well as encouraging
collaborative work, it also promotes the sharing of experiences
and evaluations. This usually takes place in daily “stand-up
meetings”, when everyone shares their progress, difficulties
and other opinions, always stood up so the meeting does
not last long.

194
However, there are some other types of interactions between
teams and other sectors involved in campaigns:

• Sprint planning meeting - Initial moment, when the goals of

each sprint are defined and the responsible team is formed;

• Review - This is when the results obtained in each sprint

and the responses achieved are presented. At this meeting,
the team also presents its feedback on the work done and the
market’s response;

• Retrospective - This is an evaluation meeting at which

everyone involved presents their experiences during the
sprint, evaluates the process and suggests possible changes
and improvements.

To facilitate all the work of developing and carrying out a

campaign, Scrum uses tools to help visualize the progress of
tasks and team members’ performances. These resources stand
out for being easy to grasp visually. These tools are:

• Product backlog - Created by the Product Owner, this is a

list of requirements required to develop a campaign or product,
in order of priority. However, this list is not fixed and it may be
updated during the process;

• Sprint backlog - Based on the product backlog, this is

a new, more specific list of all the tasks that must be
performed in a sprint. It also sets out the deadlines that the
team must meet;

195
 • Scrum board - This is where all the activities performed
by each team member are listed.

Undoubtedly, Scrum is a very effective way to organize a

campaign’s production and manage a team. However, not all
companies adapt well to this model. So, other means can be
sought, such as Kanban.

2. Kanban

Teams that are characterized by good self-management, a

commitment to deadlines and ready adaptation to change can
be a very good fit with Kanban. This framework is focused on
visually presenting all stages of a project, making the work
more fluid and dynamic.

The methodology uses a board, on which all the production

stages and assigned professionals are listed in columns
with names such as “To do,” “In progress” and “Done.” Each
task can be written on a Post-it Note or card. Once a task is
finished, it moves to the next column. In this way, it is possible
to understand and have an overview of all the steps of
campaign execution and team performance.

Thanks to this easy management method, regular meetings,

which are characteristic of Scrum, are no longer needed.
However, it is worth saying that meetings are not completely
eliminated in this methodology – they are just not so frequent.

196
3. Scrum + Kanban

Also known as Scrumban, this methodology combines the

main features of Scrum and Kanban with the aim of delivering
good results at work. Basically, the visual concept of Kanban
is used to put Scrum guidelines into practice.

In practice, teams can see sprints on Post-it Notes or cards

on the task board. In this way, they can visualize the entire
progress of the workflow and interact with the board,
indicating whenever each step is completed. As for functions,
each company can organize them as they wish to find what's
most efficient for their teams.

This hybrid methodology is the most suitable for a company

that is going through a transition, when its teams are adapting
to Agile culture. It is up to project managers to identify
whether their teams have more self-managing characteristics
(ideal for Scrum) or are more geared toward flexibility and
adaptability in unpredictable situations (perfect for Kanban).
Therefore, getting the best out of the two methodologies for
their work routine.

197
How to implement Agile marketing

Framework models are essential to put Agile marketing concepts

into practice in a company’s day-to-day activities. However,
there is no single recipe for everything to work out. In other
words, team management does not need to be tied to just one
of these tools. You can use hybrid models, according to your
circumstances and needs.

The most important thing is to observe the skills of each team

member and work in the most appropriate way to achieve each
campaign’s objectives, whether this involves quickly delivering
results or improving strategies. It is also crucial to be aware of your
company’s reality so that you know which model or combination of
models can work best within its organizational culture.

In addition, the functions that each framework specifies can also

be adjusted according to each team. It is possible to choose
the best model in line with the number of team members,
for example, or choose another one that is more flexible and
modifies pre-established functions. These changes are also valid
for deadlines, such as sprint meetings or task deliveries.

Therefore, before opting for any framework aimed at Agile

culture, it is essential to know the professionals who make up
your team. You should also consider the types of customers and
campaigns that are part of your company’s scope when making
this choice. In practice, the most effective way to apply Agile
marketing is to choose the framework that best meets your
company’s demands and best suits your team’s skills.

198
CASE

A leading company in the loyalty program market entrusted MJV

with the mission of applying Agility in its marketing area. Despite
being a pioneer in its sector, the company urgently needed to
renew its strategies and reduce its waste.

Our first step was to take advantage of employees from different

areas of the company to form a multidisciplinary squad. We
then held a Design Thinking immersion, which allowed us to
understand the client’s main pains and gave us the foundations
to start an action plan. One of the first points was to introduce
the employees to the Agile mindset. We then talked about
different frameworks, including Lean and Scrum, taking
advantage of the best practices of each one. Finally, we decided
that the starting point would entail stipulating work sprints,
to carry out short tests and generate quick responses. Thus,
the work would be much more assertive and it would make it
easier to understand the effectiveness of each process to make
adjustments when necessary.

After that, we understood that it was necessary to segment

customers according to their profiles, because their interests
and consumption needs were different in each niche. Our team
appropriated 20% of the entire company’s database and began
to study it, generating much more appropriate campaigns. In
one month, the Agility squad managed to regain 115% more
customers than the rest of the company, which worked with 80%
of the database.

199
200
AGILE HR
People over processes

Agile culture is so important to companies’ performance that

it has expanded into several other sectors, including human
resources. Here, it influences recruitment processes and also the
way a company’s needs are met. Through an Agile mindset and
with the help of frameworks, HR departments can optimize their
tasks, improve their communication and be more assertive in
relation to their goals.

201
However, this is something that has only recently appeared in
companies. Contrary to what Agile HR proposes, to be more
“human” and less “resources,” the work of HR departments
was traditionally much more bureaucratic and remote from
employees’ everyday routines.

History of HR

The existence of a team responsible for a company’s human

resources stems from beginning of the 20 th century, following
the Industrial Revolution. At that time, the sector performed
extremely bureaucratic work, focused on labor laws. Its job was
basically to recruit, hire, pay and fire workers. There was no
concern about workers’ well-being, but only about meeting the
employer’s demands. This is considered HR 1.0.

Years later, HR was no longer understood as a personnel

department, only responsible for bureaucratic processes.
Instead, it became a sector that saw employees as part of the
company’s growth. It could positively and negatively impact the
success of the business. Thus, companies started to invest in
technologies and systems focused on motivating and training
employees in order to improve their results and work routines.

In this phase, known as HR 2.0, recruitment strategies were

also developed to select the best candidates for the company’s
interests. Human resources professionals were now considered
talent managers. However, all the processes, from selection to
training, were still highly dependent on human action and there
was no automation.

202
With the arrival of the Digital Revolution between the 1950s
and 1970s, HR 3.0 emerged. In this new cycle, HR professionals
benefited from the automation of bureaucratic processes. Aided
by technology, their routines no longer needed to include tasks
that computers could perform without human supervision,
optimizing processes and accelerating results.

The latest HR management model is HR 4.0 or Agile HR. It offers

a vision that brings together people and technology (such as
data analysis and artificial intelligence) to achieve a common
goal: the company’s success. However, its main feature is the
implementation of the Agile mindset in the company’s day-to-
day activities. Through Agile culture, HR optimizes processes,
helps employees perform better, delivers more value to the
company and aligns expectations more efficiently. Agile HR is the
most digital methodology available at the moment and it takes
advantage of all existing resources to get work done.

Agile HR Manifesto

Following the tradition initiated in the creation of Agile culture

in the IT area, HR professionals also felt the need to have their
own Agile Manifesto. This document lists principles to guide HR
professionals in this new management model.

These ideas facilitate the understanding of the Agile mindset

in the sector. Arranged side by side, they show how to improve
traditional habits and structures that do not contribute to the
delivery of value that Agile HR proposes. Accordingly, it presents
more effective ways to develop and engage organizational culture.

203
It is worth noting that, as the manifesto itself points out, habits in
place prior to Agile HR have their value but they do not suit the
present context. Hence the need for the new guidelines set out
in this manifesto.

AGILE HR MANIFESTO

Collaborative networks + over hierarchical structures

Transparency + over secrecy

Inspiration and engagement + over management and retention

Intrinsic motivation + over extrinsic rewards

Ambition + over obligation

Source: https://www.agilehrmanifesto.org

How to apply it on a daily basis

Out of all departments, HR is perhaps the most closely integrated

with a company’s entire hierarchy. Professionals in this area are
in contact with employees from the time they are still candidates
and they work together with managers on hiring and team
development. Although each company has its own recruitment
and work methods, when Agile culture is adopted, HR needs to
have a new understanding of its role.

204
More than simply adapting to frameworks and acquiring new
programs, you need to change your mindset. For example,
you may realize that a long and automated selection
process could be replaced by an interview that goes beyond
candidates’ resume and experience, engaging them and
awakening their desire to be part of the company. In this way,
they will feel part of the whole and any decision to break this
bond will not be simple.

In addition, an Agile HR area dispenses with bureaucratic

processes and it must be open to listening and seeking
solutions that facilitate both sides (company and employees).
An HR team that incorporates the Agile mindset is always
ready to facilitate access and communication, while fostering
professional development through digital solutions. It should
act as a bridge between leaders and employees in order to
make interactions more accessible.

By understanding the importance of this arrangement, Agile

HR also provides guidance on the internal evaluation method.
In the past, this was done annually by managers, but in the
new culture it becomes continuous. Thus, during each project,
there are moments of feedback that analyze the work done.
In addition, internal assessments are no longer top-down
and they become collaborative, meaning that everyone is
able to evaluate and be evaluated, always aimed at improving
everyone and the project in question.

Furthermore, in this new culture, HR must think of more

personalized professional development plans. After all,
each person has their own needs and difficulties, and with
proper guidance the entire team can benefit. For this work

205
and achieve its goal, efforts are needed to turn managers
and supervisors into coaches, so they embrace the role of
guiding employees without judgment. This tactic should
be part of a broader HR effort to rebuild the training and
development of supervisors, with the goal of enhancing their
role in the organization.

However, this approach should not be restricted to

employees and managers. The human resources team
also needs to conform to Agile guidelines so as to attain
better internal results. This includes communication and
collaborative work, which are essential factors in Agile
HR. Although every worker has different functions and
processes, without teamwork, a lot of information can be
lost, causing problems such as rework and slowness.

Therefore, it is highly advisable to establish a collaborative

environment in which recruitment processes are known
to everyone, problems are evaluated together, ideas are
presented to everyone, and so on. Only through open and
transparent communication will it be possible to obtain a
truly Agile mindset.

To facilitate this approach, it is worth resorting to

frameworks such as Kanban and Scrum. As well as making
the stages of each project visible, these frameworks
promote the sharing of ideas and the pursuit of solutions
in their meetings and ceremonies. Therefore, a cross-
functional structure is created, in which everyone
collaborates with everyone.

206
Global HR survey in 2020

Providing autonomy for teams, encouraging self-discovery

among team members and having a psychologically safe
environment are the main factors that have led companies to
adopt Agile HR. These are among the findings of the first edition
of State of Agile HR, a survey of HR leaders and professionals
at companies around the world, in the retail, technology and
consumer goods sectors, carried out in 2020. In all, 206 people in
19 countries were interviewed, answering questions about their
implementation of the Agile methodology and the difficulties,
challenges and results they have experienced.

Agile methodology
206 19 challenges results

interviewees countries

Figure 1 - Participants in Survey. Source: 1st State of Agile HR Report, 2020

Asked to select their biggest challenge from a list of functions

adopted by Agile HR teams, 63% of interviewees chose “training
leaders to absorb the Agile mindset, to be put it into practice in
daily routines.” This was followed by “attracting the best talent,”
“employee experience” and “strategic workforce planning.” It is

207
therefore clear that companies around the world have been finding
it hard to adjust their leaders to a new reality of cross-functional
and empowered teams, getting them to stop judging their team
members and instead guide them during projects.

According to Isabel Sanz, HR information and systems director at

Palo Alto Networks:

“My perception is that there is a desire from leadership to

have very thoughtfully planned steps for each project. They
are used to having these super hyper detailed project plans.
Now that we are trying to drive projects the Agile way, it is
vaguer. I have a target date, but the scope is fluid; it might
change between now and then. There is a challenge for them
to let go and be comfortable."
– SANZ, 2020 1

Another interesting point raised by the survey is the benefits that

implementing an Agile culture in HR has brought to companies,
even though many (32%) had only adopted Agile HR less than
two years before. The main benefits include being ready to
better serve the company, greater flexibility in the HR area and
achieving goals by working together in a structured way. In this
regard, the communication factor has a major influence. By
sharing and using the Agile mindset and its tools, everyone within
the company starts to speak the same language. This facilitates
understanding of proposed arrangements and ideas. It also
contributes to increased productivity by leading to more dynamic
processes and clearer communication within the HR sector itself.

¹ 1º State of Agile HR 2020. Available at www.stateofagilehr.com

208
 32%
of companies

had adopted Agile HR less

than 2 years before

Benefits:

Being ready to better serve the company;

Greater flexibility in HR;
Achieving goals by working together in a structured way.

Figure 2 - Benefits of Adopting Agile HR

Source: 1st State of Agile HR Report 2020

Consequently, the role of HR within companies has changed.

Many of the survey’s interviewees said that the sector
has become more strategic and more important and its
responsibilities have been distributed in multidisciplinary teams.
In general, it is possible to say that Agile methods are positively
impacting professionals’ routines and performance.

In addition to assembling multidisciplinary teams and focusing

on adapting to an Agile mindset, HR departments have also been
employing frameworks. Among those available on the market,
Scrum (56%) and Kanban (47%) were the most cited, followed
by Agile Portfolio Management (27%). This applied to companies
as a whole, given that these same frameworks were the most
common in all the surveyed sectors, in the same order.

209
 56% 47% 27%

Agile
Portfolio
Scrum Kanban
Management

Figure 3 - Frameworks Most Used in Companies

Source: 1st State of Agile HR Report 2020

However, until a routine of Agile processes has been embedded,

some mishaps tend to occur. According to 53% of interviewees,
the switch from a traditional culture to an Agile mindset is
the biggest hurdle they need to overcome. Normally, there is
resistance to change, especially when flexibility and adaptability
are aimed at. Linked to this, Agile culture sometimes loses
credibility. In all, 40% of interviewees agreed that underestimating
the transformation to an Agile model is one of the threats to
deployment. The next biggest challenge is lack of commitment
from the executive board (chosen by 37% of interviewees).

Nevertheless, the effectiveness of Agile culture in HR is more

than proven and these fears merely delay business growth, to
which all sectors ought to be committed. HR professionals say
they have achieved good results in learning and development

210
 (56%), performance and feedback (54%), recruitment (37%),
onboarding and offboarding (34%), HR analytics (26%), and
compensation and benefits (25%).

Learning and development 56%

Performance and feedback 54%
Recruitment 37%
Onboarding and offboarding 34%
HR analytics 26%
Compensation and benefits 5%

Figure 4 - HR Processes Most Influenced by Agile Methodology

Source: 1st State of Agile HR Report 2020

This demonstrates that Agile HR is an evolutionary process

that should not be put off any longer and it positively
influences not only the scope of work within HR but the
progress of the entire company.

211
212
DATA SCIENCE
The importance of data for
decision making

Data science is a way of studying and analyzing a huge amount

of information. It combines various fields, including statistics,
scientific methods, artificial intelligence and data analysis.
The data science work process encompasses the preparation,
cleaning and processing of data to perform advanced analysis.
Through this process, it is possible to generate valuable insights
that can be decisive to the success of a business and the
discovery of new opportunities.

213
In short, it is about extracting useful information from raw
data and implementing machine learning models, through
experimentation, creativity, testing, hypothesis validation and
also failures – as it is a process that is not necessarily linear
and it involves a high level of uncertainty in results.

Data scientists have a variety of skills in handling, categorizing

and analyzing data, which can be collected from the internet,
smartphones, customers, sensors and other sources, with the
aim of gaining valuable insights and information.

How data science has been

transforming businesses

Business knowledge is one of the main areas of focus of data

science, and this explains why many companies are investing
heavily in it. In a 2018 Gartner survey of more than 3,000
CIOs, business intelligence and advanced analytics were rated
the top differentiating technology for their companies. The
interviewees considered these technologies to be the most
strategic and they are making a considerable investment in
providing tools and creating a data-driven culture.

¹ GARTNER. Gartner Says Self-Service Analytics and BI Users Will Produce More
Analysis Than Data Scientists Will by 2019. 2018. Available at https://www.gartner.
com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2018-01-25-gartner-says-self-service-analytics-
and-bi-users-will-produce-more-analysis-than-data-scientists-will-by-2019.
Accessed in December 2021.

214
 Many companies are using data science teams to turn
the large amount of data they generate every day into a
competitive advantage. Data teams can work with a wide
range of areas and generate value in many ways, including
refining a product or service, generating insights, identifying
business opportunities, cross-selling and upselling, intelligent
lead management, customer purchase and portfolio
optimization, more assertive marketing campaigns, reduced
staff turnover, and increased labor productivity.

With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, the corporate

digitization process greatly accelerated and the number of
consumers using digital channels rose significantly. This
indicates great growth potential in terms of the number
of customers plus the potential to harness new business
opportunities through digital channels.

100
GLOBAL ASIA-PACIFIC EUROPE NORTH
AMERICA
65

58 55
53
41
36
32 32
22 25 25
20 20 19 19
18

0
2017 2018 2019 2020

Graph 1 - Average Percentage Digital Interaction with Customers

Before and After COVID.

215
So, it is possible to understand the need for companies to start
positioning themselves strategically in the digital world, investing in
data, making the most of its potential and transforming it into relevant
information and valuable insights for business growth and results.

Here are some areas with a lot of potential and opportunities:

Customer Supply
Sales Relations Chains HR

Marketing Finance Legal Technology

Figure 1 - Areas with Opportunities for Data Science Teams to Work and
Great Value Creation Potential.

Among these areas of great opportunity, here are some

practical examples of how data science can be used:

• Calculating customer turnover - By analyzing collected

data, marketing teams can take action to increase retention;

• Increased efficiency in logistics chains - By analyzing

traffic patterns, weather conditions and other factors,
logistics companies can improve their delivery speed and
reduce their costs;

• Supply chain optimization - For example, companies

can predict when equipment will break down and need to
be replaced;

216
 • Detecting fraud in financial services - By recognizing
suspicious behavior and anomalous actions;

• Increased sales - Based on previous purchase data,

companies can generate recommendations for their customers;

• Lead management - Intelligence in categorization

and segmentation.

Agility in data teams’

everyday routines

More traditional data mining and advanced analytics processes

are often extensive and time-consuming. In addition, because
they are scientific and experimental methods, their results can be
highly uncertain. Therefore, we can say that very long plans may
not be ideal.

At this point, the Agile mindset and management approach fit

in very well. They can enable shorter plans and faster value
delivery cycles compared to traditional processes. They can
also reduce the time spent in the learning and experimentation
process, allowing teams to pivot in situations where the precision
and accuracy of a machine learning model is lower than expected
or when hypotheses and experiments are not validated and
behave differently from envisioned.

217
Thus, the application of Agile practices based on frameworks
such as Scrum and Kanban, with an approach adapted to the
everyday routines of data teams while always well aligned with
the Lean/Lean Startup concept, make the empirical process
faster and optimize the continuous improvement process. As a
consequence, the quality of value deliveries tends to improve
and a smoother cadence of deliveries is perceived.

It is worth noting that in data science projects, there are

processes and workflows that differ from those of other areas,
such as software development, for example. Therefore, when
opting to use an Agile framework like Scrum or Kanban, it is
necessary to tailor it in line with sources of value creation
and the team’s needs. After all, Agile frameworks were not
designed specifically for the routines of a data team or other
areas covered in this book, but they can be easily adapted,
adding a lot of value to projects.

Main benefits generated when teams use Agility:

• Short value delivery cycles

• Value delivery cadence;
• Continuous improvement;
• Clear purpose and direction;
• Team autonomy and self-management capacity;
• Transparency;
• Feedback and validation;
• Oriented to data and results that generate
value for customers.

218
How Agile is used differently
by data teams

There are some specific factors to be considered in a data

science project:

• There is no quality assurance stage;

• The tests are done in production;
• The processes are extremely dynamic (so it is hard to
work with a fixed scope);
• The complexity of tasks (especially exploration tasks) is
extremely uncertain;
• The workflow is not necessarily linear.

As for the absence of quality assurance or testing steps in different

environments (tests, staging and approval), it is worth exploring
this matter further. Hypotheses are validated and machine learning
models are tested “in production.” Thus, as the purpose of predictive
models is to foresee behavior based on past events and data, it is
necessary to evaluate their performance with real and current sample
data. The aim is to measure performance and work on improvements
or replenishments if necessary.

Another very relevant point is related to deliveries, which are not

always palpable or well defined. In addition, there is a high chance
that, to begin with, teams will not achieve an objective or they will
realize that the chosen strategies and ways of working may not
generate the necessary results for effective and accurate decision
making. Consequently, it may be necessary to change direction.
However, this is not necessarily a problem, because the faster a team
makes mistakes, the faster it will learn, improve and achieve a result
that really delivers value to stakeholders.
219
Most common workflow
and frameworks

The most traditional and popular work process among data

projects and teams is probably the Cross-Industry Standard
Process for Data Mining (CRISP-DM). Created in 1996, it is based
on requirements that are not very flexible, as it was conceived
in line with a waterfall vision, with extensive and well-detailed
plans. However, it is easily adaptable to Agile practices.

It has the following sequential phases:

• Business Understanding;

• Data Understanding;

• Data Preparation;

• Modeling;

• Evaluation;

• Deployment.

220
 Business Data
Understanding Understanding

Data
Deployment Preparation

Data
Modeling

Evaluation

Figure 2 - Workflow in CRISP-DM. Source: Wikimedia

Implemented through a waterfall approach, CRISP-DM flows

horizontally and it takes much longer to deliver value, as the
work is focused on completing each stage and the project
as a whole. Accordingly, there is just one overall deliverable
and the team normally only moves on to the next step when
all the necessary features and requirements for the next
level are ready.

221
Deployment

Evaluation

Modeling

Data
Preparation

Data
Understanding

Business
Understanding

Feature 1 Feature 2 Feature 3

Figure 3 - CRISP-DM in Waterfall Model

On the other hand, if CRISP-DM is implemented using an Agile

approach (CRISP-Agile), features are prioritized. The process
becomes vertical, the delivery is divided into smaller parts
and you start working on a single feature before moving on
to the next one. Thus, feedback is faster, value is delivered to
stakeholders more quickly and necessary changes are dealt
with faster, depending on the results found.

222
Deployment

Evaluation

Modeling

Data
Preparation

Data
Understanding

Business
Understanding

Feature 1 Feature 2 Feature 3

Figure 4 - CRISP-DM Agile

In our projects, we use a workflow similar to CRISP-DM,

with some evolutions and adaptations. First, it is essential to
understand and have a vision of governance, data management
and how to comply with data protection legislation. We then
move on to data architecture, including Design Thinking in
some stages, as it greatly aids the understanding of the main
business pains and helps us to be more assertive regarding
goals. We also use Agile practices linked to the Lean/Lean
Startup concept. We use short feedback loops and hypothesis
validation tests. It is important to note that the flow is not
necessarily linear, as it may be necessary to go back to
previous steps at some point.

223
 Governance &
Organization

2
Acquisition &
Harmonization
of Data

5
1 Design
Thinking
Immersion AI
Start of in Business Workbench End of
Project and Data Thinking
Design Project
4 6
8
Business-
Focused
Deployment
7
Data
Architecture
3

Figure 5 - MJV DataScience Workflow

Having an objective workflow in which the visibility of the steps and

processes is very transparent makes it easier to track the progress of a
project. Following this path, good visual management is also essential
and this can be done using a simple Kanban board or more robust
management tools.

Management tools also help improve our understanding of bottlenecks

and enhance the visibility of status and progress. They usually favor the
use and understanding of delivery and team efficiency metrics. They
make it possible to effectively analyze areas for improvement, laying the
foundations for action plans focused on increasing workflow efficiency
and quality while maximizing value in deliveries.

224
1. SCRUM

Positive points:

• Empirical evidence;
• Customer focus;
• Work and value delivery cadence;
• Team autonomy;
• Continuous inspections;
• Transparency;
• Feedback loops and continuous improvement;
• Increased sense of responsibility and urgency.

Challenges:

• Timebox and sprints of the same size;

• Definition of Done tasks;
• Resistance/culture;
• Adaptation of ceremonies;
• Workflow.

Scrum, probably the most widely used Agile framework, works

well in data science teams, mainly because of its pillars and also
its ceremonies, with well-defined goals and cadences. However,
for a data team, it is not always best to have standardized
cycles and sprints and to prioritize work to fit in the timebox,
given that there tends to be a continuous flow of work and
the duration and complexity of tasks are highly unpredictable,
making estimates very uncertain.

225
Therefore, for some projects and teams it can make more sense
to prioritize a process focused on solving items and tasks,
which is more demanding work, without a fixed timebox and
maintaining a continuous flow. In this case, the Kanban method
may be the more interesting solution.

2. Kanban

Positive points:

• Simple;
• Visual management;
• Generates little resistance and conflicts;
• Highly adaptable to workflow;
• Facilitates work coordination;
• Limited work in progress;
• Allows teams to define the policies and cadences most
appropriate to their needs.

Challenges:

• It is not prescriptive;
• Requires greater team maturity;
• Lack of deadlines;
• Defining the Kanban board’s workflow and columns;
• Need to set clear rules and policies;
• Updating of cards.

226
One major advantage of Kanban is that it allows teams to create the
flows and visual management that meet their needs. This generates
great value in terms of task status transparency, as well as providing
greater understanding of the need to limit work in progress.

At the same time, because it is more open and non-prescriptive,

unlike Scrum, data teams have to define very well the work policies
and cadences (replenishment, delivery planning meeting, Kanban
meeting, strategy review and operations review) that they will use, in
addition to their frequency. One relevant point is that the Kanban flow
is linear, and this may not work for data teams. Therefore, it will be
necessary to think of ways to adapt the flow or perhaps use a simpler
framework, with “swimlanes” identifying each step of the flow, as
exemplified in Figure 6.

Backlog | 1 In Progress | 1 Done | 1

Business
Feature 1 Feature 2
Understanding | 2

Cleaning and
Feature 3
Processing | 1

Exploratory
Feature 4
Analysis | 1

Modeling | 1

Feature 5

Evaluation | 0

Figure 6 - Kanban Board with Swimlanes 227

3. Scrumban (Scrum+Kanban)

Scrumban presents an approach that also works very well

and perhaps has better results. It incorporates Scrum’s well-
defined practices, including ceremonies like Daily Scrums
and Planning Meetings, and maintains well-defined roles
and functions together with sprints and a fixed timebox. At
the same time, it uses Kanban’s visual management, work
in progress limitations and metrics (lead time, cycle time
and throughput) in order to avoid overload and help teams
measure the workflow and predict deliveries.

It is important to emphasize that the type of management

approach, method or framework to be used will depend on
each project’s situation and scope, as well as the maturity,
receptivity and context of each team. The framework or
work model needs to adapt to the team and not be a
hindrance. Accordingly, it should allow the work to flow
smoothly and transparently while enhancing results and
deliveries. Team motivation is essential. Therefore, the most
important thing is to focus on motivation and processes that
contribute to team engagement.

Finally, in the case of less mature teams, the focus should

be on strengthening their sense of responsibility and Agile
mindset, seeking to use a defined timebox and maintaining
the cadence and purpose of ceremonies and meetings.

228
229
CASE

One highly relevant case in which Agile management worked

very well in a data team involved CRM intelligence for target
audience prioritization.

MJV helped a debt collection company reduce its acquisition

cost through machine learning.

Because this was a project with a defined scope and a very

small timebox, we understood that it was necessary to use a
work model with weekly sprints, which allowed us to have good
timing for responding to the changes that were needed over
the course of the project.

Initially, this company had a database made up of tens of

millions of people with debts to be collected, but it was unable
to use email as a way to capture and convert these leads, as
its emails always ended up in people’s spam folder. As a result,
their only form of contact and lead conversion was through
text messages where there was no in-depth strategy.

We worked with this data and created a debt repayment

propensity score model. We then tested various hypotheses
based on debt amounts, the number of players activated and
the size of commission agreed upon, in order to increase the
efficiency, effectiveness and return on investment of sending
text messages, which was severely costing the company.

230
 After carrying out a few sprints without achieving the
expected results, we decided to pivot a little and leave aside
the strategy of trying to contact only people who were most
likely to agree to pay back their debt, which had yielded
weak numbers. In fact, from the beginning, this had been
a key discussion topic in the search for action plans and
improvements in retrospectives and planning meetings. So,
we decided to test a slightly different path.

We made the decision to test a model that identified leads

with a low propensity to make agreements and the idea was
to stop sending them text messages.

This change yielded more significant results, as we were able

to cut the cost of sending text messages without losing much
in terms of conversion and commission fees.

Reduction in Text Message Cost and Opportunity Cost

9.5 Text message cost saving in six months

Conversion losses
9.0
Text message cost saving – opportunity cost
8.5
8.0
Brazilian reais (million)

7.5
7.0
6.5
6.0
5.5
5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
0.00 0.03 0.06 0.09 0.12 0.15 0.18 0.21 0.24 0.27 0.30 0.33 0.36 0.39 0.42 0.45 0.48 0.51 0.54 0.57 0.60 0.63 0.66 0.69 0.72 0.75 0.78 0.81 0.84 0.87 0.90 0.93 0.96 0.99

Threshold

Graph 2 - Reduction in Text Message Cost and Opportunity Cost

231
232
AGILE
COMMERCIAL
Through visibility and
assertiveness, make the sales area
your commercial showcase

In the VUCA or BANI world, we know that adaptation is essential

for us to remain competitive, whatever our area of activity. This
especially applies to the commercial sector, which aims to meet
the needs of customers.

233
A traditional sales model relies on rigid models, which waste
time on bureaucratic steps that often ultimately do not add
any value. For example, sending a long list of questions to
customers to try to understand them better may not generate
superior results. They may not reply and so this action will
not have the expected effect. They may get tired and look for
another option. However, by adopting Agile methods, the sales
process becomes more visible, communication will improve and
the needs of each customer can be anticipated.

Customers have been looking for innovation and technology.

To be more assertive when sales are made, companies need
to have a strategy starting from the pre-sale stage. The
experience offered must make a big difference.

Agility should also influence the work environment. Generally, a

commercial area has aggressive and individual goals, and when
employees meet them, they often receive some kind of bonus.
This practice can be categorized as a kind of silo, whereas
Agility advocates functional and multidisciplinary teamwork.
In other words, it no longer makes sense to keep salespeople
separate from the technical experts in other areas.

Therefore, it is necessary to map the entire flow of a

commercial model, identify those involved and bring them
closer. In this way, employees are encouraged to achieve goals
together, in a more collaborative way, using best practices
based on teamwork, a fundamental characteristic of Agile.

In a sales context, commercial targets are usually defined and

business opportunities are drawn from them. Usually, these
goals are determined by superiors and they lack foundations

234
that make them achievable. This can generate frustration or lack
of engagement, as workers believe they are unattainable.

Goals can be replaced with objective key results (OKRs). In this

approach, leaders set strategic objectives for the area, such
as “product X will be a leader in the segment” or “increase the
sales volume.” The team then defines the key results. Another
suggestion is to use the motto “divide and conquer.” That is, if the
annual target is large, a company can break it into small cycles and
work on smaller volumes. This way, it will be easier to measure the
outcome and quickly discover if the target is not achievable.

If a commercial team is new to Agility, the first step can be to use

the Scrum framework.

235
1. Scrum

As explained previously, Scrum is a very complete framework

that promotes the visibility of activities and breaks down barriers
regarding the lack of information or communication.

Sprint Sprint
Backlog Backlog
Sprint Planning Meeting

Target
Retrospective
Sales Plan

Sprint
Backlog
Sprint 1

Sprint Planning Meeting

Target
Retrospective

Sprint 2

Other Sprints
Annual Sales Target

Monthly Plan Update

The Product Owner can be someone on the team or even the

director of the area. However, it is important for it to be someone
who has mastery of the prioritization criteria when defining which
activities to begin with.

A traditional project backlog is composed of a list of activities or

tasks that must be carried out. In the sales area, it represents the
commercial opportunities you want to seize. Once it has a structured

236
product backlog, the team defines the sprint backlog, which
presents the opportunities that will be worked on during
each sprint.

The ideal sprint length should be proportional to the defined

goals. It is important for each sprint to have a main objective to
be achieved by the team.

Another powerful tool within Scrum is Agile ceremonies. The

team should use the planning meeting to define the objective
and detail the tasks, the Daily Scrum to make the workflow
visible, and the review and retrospective to appraise the work
and improve the process. All these steps will help the commercial
area use its optimized time for meetings to add value and
produce more robust results.

2. Kanban board

A Kanban board allows everyone involved (directly or indirectly)

to see the backlog activities. It may be physical or online, and to
begin with it will have three columns (“to do,” “doing” and “done”).

To Do Doing Done

237
Gradually, the team can identify new columns that are part of
the flow and add them to the board. Every Agility model starts
simple and then takes shape as the team or area needs.

At a glance, employees can see each task’s status, identifying

which ones are yet to be performed, those that have been
completed and, above all, existing bottlenecks or impediments.

The team can use different colors for different tasks, allowing
it to distinguish specific customers or the complexity of
activities. Each team member can use some kind of marker to
highlight the activity they are doing.

Finally, it is important for the team to understand that Agility is

a way to facilitate the process and not necessarily to make the
company more profitable or boost its sales.

Everyone needs to be engaged, believe in the established

objectives and take responsibility for executing the activities.
All team members are responsible for the work as a whole and
not just individual tasks.

Collaboration and a sense of responsibility need to go

together. This will ensure the area’s success and evolution.

238
239
CASE

A lender linked to a retail group felt the need to increase

sales of its products and increase brand recognition. Many
people borrowed money from the company but did not
associate the line of credit with the brand.

The MJV team then decided that the first step would be
an immersion in Design Thinking, which would make it
possible to identify who the company’s consumer personas
were, the types of products they consumed and everything
linked to the ideation process. After all this information
was collected, it was realized that campaigns aimed at this
specific audience were needed. For example, it was noted
that this financial institution’s credit card was widely used in
office supply stores. We then had the insight to offer lines of
credit so that storeowners could have capital to invest and
improve their business.

Using the Agile methodology, each idea coming from the

multidisciplinary squad became a backlog process. Thus,
the opportunity arose to run short tests to provide brief
feedback. Multiple areas were involved in the team and it
was found that bottlenecks were often simple to solve. For
example, during the project, it was noted that the legal area
always took a long time to respond to requests. The solution
to this problem was to bring a legal professional onto the
squad, thereby optimizing delivery times.

240
In the end, the results achieved were so positive that the project,
which lasted six months and was limited to a multidisciplinary
squad, was then rolled out across six different areas of the
company, yielding a 35% increase in product sales.

241
242
AGILE LAW
Legal design and innovation in law
The exponential changes brought about by digital technology
have generated not only new products and services but also
new ways of working. We are now in the Fourth Industrial
Revolution, marked by connections between the digital, physical
(material/things) and biological (living beings) worlds.

New technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence,

big data and the Internet of Things tend to change the profile
of many existing functions, as well as creating new ones.
This has happened in practically all professional fields, including
law. Today, software performs functions previously carried
out by lawyers, such as analyzing documents or suggesting
legal strategies.

243
For some time now, legal technical information by itself has not
been enough to generate or sustain a competitive advantage,
especially in a world where innovation is essential for business
survival. In fact, we can ask ourselves questions such as the
following: What role do lawyers have in this hyper-connected
world, in which legal information can be obtained in just a few
clicks? How can the legal sector become a tool for innovation?
How do startups’ legal departments work, given that their
deadlines are extremely short and taking risks is an integral part
of their business model?

In our fast-paced world, it is not yet clear how legal services

and new methodologies aimed at innovation, such as Agile, are
responding and adapting to this context. What we can observe
is that even the legal profession, which has traditionally been
hermetic and resistant to modernization, has been affected by
the Digital Age. In the present world, clients are users and they
increasingly demand that legal services be provided like others,
that is, in a friendly, navigable way, with high-value deliveries and
in line with their needs.

Therefore, in the absence of academic papers on Agile law, we

propose reflection on how legal consulting could evolve, based
on what we have observed recently in the business world,
above all with respect to innovation. More precisely, there are
some signposts in the present context that indicate the best way
forward and some significant opportunities.

In any case, this goes beyond legal boundaries. We are in an

interdisciplinary world and legal technical knowledge is not
enough to generate effective value for clients. In addition, the
walls separating legal departments from other areas are being

244
 broken down, as companies are increasingly seeking to set
up cross-functional teams such as squads, with autonomy to
create solutions that generate high value for customers. That
is precisely what we all seek: to generate value for customers,
through innovation in legal services, in a competitive way.
(See Figure 1.)

Law 1.0 Law 4.0

Traditional legal Legal area starts to

department in care about client Cross-functional legal Data-driven
industrial world experience area, guaranteeing legal design
� Legalistic view � Business vision that the client and � Guarantees
applied to context and more business can navigate conditions and
without any compromise legal content generates
compromise � Simplified content � Business vision + agreements to
� Complex legal to ensure that human needs + digital collect relevant
content to be client can absorb technology integral data
absorbed by client information � Creates solutions � Decision making
� Merely points � Offers support to based on context and supported by data
out risks help client make collaborative
� Client makes the decisions co-creation with other
decision alone areas and/or client
� Joint decision
making

Client = source Client = user and collaborator. Client = network/community.

of income. In addition to systematic collection Client is integral and active part
Completely passive of feedback, there are interaction of network as user and
role, mere receiver tests (UX/UI).Actively participates collaborator, generating integral
in generated solutions data and benefiting from it.

Value from client and for client

- +

Figure 1 - Innovation in Law

245
As in marketing, the consumer is the compass that guides the
progress of the client’s campaign. For Agile law, the client,
internal or external, guides the success of services. Thus, it is up
to legal professionals to ensure that their clients, in the context
of their business, can navigate different legal frameworks (laws,
jurisprudence, customs, legal trends, and so on) in the best
possible way.

The strategies that have been most assertive in innovating in the

VUCA and BANI world are Agile mindset and Design Thinking.
The marriage of Agile and Design Thinking is perfect, and in
the legal field it is embraced by legal design, a field that is still
forming. In this chapter, we will define an Agile and innovative
legal department that operates in line with a design approach
and the Agile mindset.

But first, let us recall some aspects of today’s world that lead us
to believe that this is the best path toward legal innovation.

Client = User

We are in the Age of the User. The advent of large digital

platforms has caused customers to be seen as users. This means
that customers are not just a company’s main source of revenue,
and much less are they mere holders of duties and rights, like
consumers. They no longer have a passive posture, merely
receiving information and products. Today, they are active in their
relationship with service providers, as they are also a provider of
constant data and feedback. Thus, they are led to collaborate in
the creation or innovation of services and products.

246
Many large digital platforms have pivoted their businesses
based on users’ preferences. Those who do not listen to these
preferences will become obsolete, like Orkut, Myspace and
many other examples.

In the digital and globalized world, customers, who are now

users, can access countless products in a few clicks. Therefore,
those who understand customers in depth and drive business
decisions based on their needs will stand a better chance in this
uncertain and competitive environment. So, the field that takes
care of customers’ experience when they use services and
products is growing ever larger.

The internet (distributed networks) and

digital society

The internet has transformed our world. We live in a digital

society, capable of producing an endless arsenal of data that
can support any type of decision, whether made by a consumer,
judge or CEO. Based on past experience, we can project
functionalities, services, scenarios and even desirable futures.

At the same time, digital technologies like blockchain and

smart contracts (foretastes of “Web 3.0”) already indicate new
horizontal relationships and transactions outside the scope of
large institutions. Digital technology allows the construction of
mechanisms of trust that are starting to mediate negotiations
without the need for approval from an institution, authority, bank
or court. The Collaborative Economy is an example of this. To stay

247
in a stranger’s home or pay a stranger to take you somewhere,
just look at the scores and critical reviews of other strangers.
User collaboration is essential for these businesses to work.

This is the context of the present world, based on horizontal

networks, in which consumers/users collaborate equally,
coexisting alongside the framework of our legal system, which
took hundreds of years to build up. And is an extremely vertical,
hierarchical, complex and centralized structure.

Therefore, legal organizations that want to adapt to this

situation must offer more value through strategies for
innovation centered on these customers/users. For this to
happen, organizations must also adopt the strategies of the
Design Thinking and Agile mindset.

Agility in Law 4.0

The legal world has always been hierarchical. Legal information

is hermetic and incomprehensible to clients. Relationships
between individuals are mediated by institutions (laws, judges
and courts). Above all, the basis is procedural law – the set of
rules and principles that govern judicial activities. Thus, we can
imagine the challenge of bringing Agile mindset principles to
this intricate universe. Is it possible to apply principles such as
“value individuals and interactions over processes and tools”
or “cross-functional collaboration over silos and hierarchies”?

248
The answer is yes. A gradual transformation is possible,
from the one-off adoption of tools to the incorporation of
Agile values. In this world of continuous and multidisciplinary
learning, it is enough to observe the behavior of the legal
departments of large digital platforms, in which lawyers rotate
between areas and specialties, simplify legal communication
as much as possible through Visual Law,1 learn to program and
so on. However, you don’t have to be part of a startup’s legal
department to incorporate Agile.

In fact, there are many ways and levels in which the legal
sector can take advantage of Agile. There is a whole range of
possibilities, from the incorporation of routines and tools from
the Agile project management methodology (properly adapted
to everyday legal routines) to transformations in which all
practices are aligned according to Agile principles and values.

The point is to observe the context and take advantage of

opportunities to bring the strategies that emerged in the
digital universe to the analog world, as has happened in other
professions. If the ultimate goal is to increase the amount
of value delivered to clients, how can we do this with this
new methodology?

¹ The use of visual techniques and elements in legal documents

is called Visual Law. The goal is to facilitate understanding for
internal clients, who are not always familiar with legal terms.

249
It is worth remembering that the main characteristic of Agile is
being flexible and adaptable. There is no fixed recipe to follow,
like Fordism in the industrial world. The secret is to observe
the context, conditions and resources available to a legal
department, set goals and metrics to establish where to go, and
then gradually introduce methodological tools so that progress
can be made on an ongoing basis. In practice, through testing
and adjustments, this transformation can occur gradually.

In any case, considering the history, origins and traditions of the

legal world, absorbing Agile implies a cultural transformation.
This transformation can occur in a more or less intense way, but
it must always be guided by criteria that link the world of Agile
management to the legal world and the world of corrective/
reactive law to the world of proactive/preventive law. These
criteria are as follows:

• Focus on human beings (rather than on laws or legal

institutions) – Create information, services and systems with
the intended customers/users, based on their needs and
abilities, rather than just focusing on legal requirements.

First of all, lawyers must place human beings (clients), rather

than laws or legal aspects, at the center of their actions and
intentions. They must thoroughly understand each client’s
context and needs, and based on that starting point, analyze
and contextualize the law and generate legal guidelines and
solutions for the business.

250
 • Generation of value for clients - Focus on aspects that
create value instead of merely managing risks.

Legal departments cannot be seen as barriers to business and

innovation. They must work with clients to create solutions. Now
that fintechs are displacing traditional banks, taking risks is not
only a part of business, but the main way to remain competitive.
Therefore, the role of legal departments today is to make
operations viable and create solutions while minimizing risks

• Balanced and more horizontal relationships - Seek to

provide win-win solutions for all parties involved, rather
than accepting and perpetuating unbalanced relationships
between them.

Lawyers are generally treated with respect and judges are

addressed as “Your Excellency.” In this extremely verticalized
context, we need to talk about horizontal relationships. The legal
environment is typically divided into silos, whether in courts or
in different areas and specialties (labor, tax, litigation, contracts
and so on) within a company.

However, we know that some organizations are already working

with cross-functional squads, in which a legal representative
works with employees from other areas, forming a team with
true autonomy. There are also cases of large digital platforms
that encourage their lawyers to rotate between different areas
in order to foster connections and the sharing of knowledge
between professionals, contributing to the formation of more
empathic and balanced relationships.

251
 • Effective communication - Clarity and simplification of
information, ensuring that users understand content for
decision making, rather than just striving for legal accuracy.
Information and interactions are created with intentional
design, meaning there is strong support in visual thinking and
not just using text.

Communication is the main bottleneck in legal advice.

“Legalese” – a language mastered only by professionals in the
legal world and that tends to enhance their status – has been
giving way to Visual Law. Lawyers have finally grasped that it is
their responsibility to get their clients to absorb and understand
legal content so that they can make well-informed decisions.

• Navigability in the legal system - Allow people to be aware

of their rights, responsibilities and obligations, instead of
being passive subjects of legal norms. Through well-designed
interfaces, services and experiences, users interact with
simple and effective solutions rather than the complexity of
the underlying system.

Stimulate legal autonomy and client empowerment in relation to

the legal system.

252
 • Design mechanisms of trust - Facilitate long-term,
sustainable agreements and relationships, rather than just
quick wins or one-time connections.

In this world of decentralized networks and user empowerment,

it is necessary to create the conditions for individuals,
contractual parties, areas and sectors to interact in a balanced,
win-win manner, aiming at long-term sustainability.

• Prototyping and empirical evidence - Approaches,

interventions and outcome measurements are based on
evidence, grounded in scientific methods and validated by
data. A good way is to start with research on the customer/
user and complement it with an empirical evaluation
to gauge the solution’s impact on them. Solutions can
also be developed through quick rounds of iteration and
experimentation, rather than planning solutions and aiming
for their perfection from day one.

As with regulatory sandboxes, legal departments should try out

their solutions with clients/users in a controlled environment,
to develop new functions and test their applicability before
sending them to the real production ecosystem.

253
CASE

Transformation of Agile law

MJV was called on to promote the absorption of the Agile

mindset by the legal department of a large company. Considering
that Agile learning takes place in practice, we started with a
pilot project for a specific area of the legal department, so that it
could experience Agile routines and values in practice (learn by
doing). The project introduced new methods to the area, with the
aim of optimizing processes and getting closer to clients.

The project used a combination of human-centric approaches

(with a deep focus on the needs of internal clients) to obtain a
results-oriented methodology.

Through Design Thinking, we gained a deep understanding of

the context of these lawyers, their internal clients and various
stakeholders that interact with the team. We mapped the area’s
legal support demand journey, identified areas of concern and
created criteria to guide solutions in the project ideation stage.
Based on the inputs collected, we held a multidisciplinary
co-creation workshop with lawyers, their clients and other
relevant stakeholders, in order to:

• present a repertoire of tools and practice fundamental

concepts of the Agile mindset;

• work on empathy and multidisciplinary collaboration;

• generate ideas to solve the challenges raised.

254
More than 50 ideas were generated at different levels of depth
in response to the proposed challenges, of which nine were
prioritized and detailed.

Using the Agile framework, which aims at continuous

improvement, the ideas selected in a workshop underwent
testing and validation sprints. We worked in two prototyping
areas together with the lawyers:

• Agile routine implementation tests, tailored to the area’s

needs and everyday activities;

• Visual Law and Legal Guidelines 2.0: Different formats

for presenting specific legal content to internal clients were
tested and validated, through information design tools, a
human-centered culture and technology. Finally, a document
of approximately 20 pages was created as a quick guide, in
order to answer internal clients’ questions in an interactive and
friendly way.

The end result was the team’s definitive adoption of Agile culture,
consequently encouraging the area’s clients and other close
stakeholders to follow the same path.

255
GLOSSARY

256
Agile Coach/Leader: Someone who
seeks to develop and disseminate
Agile methodology best practices,
as well as encouraging the
exchange of knowledge among Agile
practitioners and facilitating training
and capacity building.
Aprioristic: Based on a priori (self-
evident) knowledge, concepts or
thoughts, which do not depend on
experience or practice.
Collaborative networks: Inter-
organizational groups with a
common goal.
Definition of Done (DoD): A set of
activities agreed upon by a Scrum
Team that must be completed in a
sprint before a backlog item can be
considered complete. This allows
the standardization of deliveries
by each team member and greater
control over the quality and
accuracy of items deemed to be
done, reducing rework.
Definition of Ready (DoR): Criteria
determined and agreed between a
Scrum Team and Product Owner for a
user story in the product backlog to
be considered ready to be developed
by the team during sprints. It can be
considered an entry criterion for the
Sprint backlog.
Framework: Indication of the
trajectory of something, without
specifying exactly how to do it.
Internet of Things: A term that
refers to the internet’s insertion in
various objects, from household
appliances to items of clothing.
Intrinsic motivation: Internal
motivation related to inner strength,
which can remain active even in the
face of adversity.
IT: Information technology.
Kaizen: A word of Japanese
origin, emphasized in Lean
Manufacturing as the search
for continuous improvement. It
entails understanding the present
condition, the desired state, the
steps to reach the objective and the
monitoring of data and results.
Methodology: System that provides
virtually everything needed to
conduct a project.
257
Micromanage: Management
style that closely controls the
work of subordinates.
Mindset: The way people think in
the face of change and how they
deal with failure and success.
Modus operandi: A particular
way of doing something or acting
when carrying out an activity.
Pair programming: Agile software
development technique in which
two programmers work together.
Prototyping: Technique for
drawing, sketching or
prototyping something.
Requirements: Description of how
a system should be developed.
Teamwork: The combined action
of a group of people, focused on a
common goal.
258
Timebox: Refers to the maximum
amount of time you spend on a
certain task. It is a management
strategy to ensure the team’s
productivity in relation to meetings
or ceremonies within Scrum.
Tribes: In the Spotify
methodology, a tribe means
several squads that work in a
related area.
Waterfall model: Sequential
software development model.
Workflow: Sequence of how
processes are carried out within
an organization.
259
BIBLIOGRAPHY

260
2021 CEO Study: Find your essential. How to thrive in a post-pandemic reality.
IBM Institute for Business Value, 2021. Available at https://www.ibm.com/
thought-leadership/institute-business-value/c-suite-study/ceo. Accessed in
January 2022.

Agile HR Manifesto. Available at https://www.agilehrmanifesto.org/. Accessed

in October 2021.

ANDERSON, D. J.; CARMICHAEL, A. Essential Kanban Condensed.

Lean Kanban University, 2016. Available at https://kanbanbooks.com/
free-kanban-book-downloads/.

APPELO, J. Delegation Boards at Management 3.0. Blog Management 3.0,

2015. Available at https://management30.com/blog/delegation-boards-at-
management-30/. Accessed in September 2021.

BARTEL, S.; BARTEL, A. O Guia Oficial do Método Kanban. Translated into

Portuguese by José JR. Seattle: Kanban University, v. 1, 2021. Available
at https://resources.kanban.university/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/
The-Official-KanbanGuide_Portuguese_A4.pdf. Accessed in November 2021.

CAROLI, P. É – Não é – Faz – Não faz. Blog Caroli.org, 2015. Available at

https://www.caroli.org/e-nao-e-faz-nao-faz/. Accessed in October 2021.

CHIARA, A. Product Owner: quem é e o que faz. Blog K21, 2018. Available
at https://k21.global/br/blog/entenda-papel-product-owner. Accessed in
October 2021.

COLLIER, K. W. Agile Analytics: A Value-Driven Approach to Business

Intelligence and Data Warehouse. Boston: Addison-Wesley Professional, 2011.

DATA SCIENCE PROCESS ALLIANCE. Available at https://www.

datascience-pm.com/. Accessed in December 2021.

FILHO, A. F. G. Scrum Master: quem é e o que faz. Blog K21, 2019. Available at
https://k21.global/br/blog/quem-e-scrum-master. Accessed in October 2021.
261
IBARRA, Heminia; HANSEN, Morten T. Are you a collaborative leader?
Harvard Business Review, 2011. Available at https://hbr.org/2011/07/
are-you-a-collaborative-leader. Accessed in February 2022.

IBM 2010 Global CEO Study: Creativity Selected as Most Crucial Factor for
Future Success. IBM, 2010. Available at https://www.ibm.com/news/ca/
en/2010/05/20/v384864m81427w34.html. Accessed in January 2022.

MJV. Design Thinking para equipes: Matriz de Posicionamento. Blog MJV,

2016. Available at https://www.mjvinnovation.com/pt-br/blog/matriz-
deposicionamento/. Accessed in January 2022.

MJV. Design Thinking: Workshop de Cocriação. Blog MJV, 2016. Available at

https://bityli.com/vRyTp. Accessed in January 2022.

MJV. Framework Scrum: trabalho em equipe para acelerar resultados.

Available at https://conteudo.mjv.com.br/pt-br/ebook/framework-scrum.
Accessed in October 2021.

MJV. Inovação com Design Thinking: o Brainstorming. Blog MJV, 2016.

Available at https://www.mjvinnovation.com/pt-br/blog/inovacao-
comdesign-thinking-o-brainstorming/. Accessed in January 2022.

MJV. Management 3.0: por que você deve conhecer esse modelo de
gestão? Blog MJV, 2021. Available at https://www.mjvinnovation.com/pt-br/
blog/management-3-0/. Accessed in September 2021.

MJV. Métricas Ágeis: quais indicadores sua empresa precisa dominar?

Available at https://conteudo.mjv.com.br/pt/-br/ebook/metricas-ageis.
Accessed in January 2022.

262
MJV. Scrum: Guia para Implementar em Gerenciamento de Projetos. Dez
passos para fazer uso da ferramenta em qualquer tipo de negócio. Available at
https://conteudo.mjv.com.br/scrum-guia-para-implementargerenciamento-de-
projetos. Accessed in October 2021.

ORACLE Brasil. O que é Ciência da Dados? Available at https://www.oracle.

com/br/data-science/what-is-data-science/. Accessed in December 2021.

ORGANIZE AGILE. 1º State of Agile HR 2020. Translated into Portuguese by

JP Coutinho. 2020. Available at https://www.stateofagilehr.com/. Accessed in
November 2021.

RIGBY, Darrell; ELK, Sarah; BEREZ, Steve. The Agile C-Suite: a new approach to
leadership for the team at the top. Harvard Business Review, 2020. Available at
https://hbr.org/2020/05/the-agile-c-suite. Accessed in February 2022.

SABBAGH, R. Polêmica: o melhor Product Owner NÃO é o cliente. Blog

K21, 2014. Available at https://k21.global/br/blog/polemica-o-melhor-
productowner-nao-e-o-cliente. Accessed in November 2021.

SANDER, C. O que é lean thinking? Saiba como ter clientes mais satisfeitos.
Blog CAE Treinamentos, 2020. Available at https://caetreinamentos.com.br/
blog/lean-manufacturing/lean-thinking/. Accessed in October 2021.

SCHWABER, K.; SUTHERLAND, J. O guia do Scrum. O guia definitivo para o

Scrum: as regras do jogo. 2020. Available at https://scrumguides.org/docs/
scrumguide/v2020/2020-Scrum-Guide-PortugueseBR.pdf. Accessed in
November 2021.

TERZONI. O que é o Lean Thinking (pensamento enxuto)? Lean Blog, 2018.

Available at https://terzoni.com.br/leanblog/lean-thinking/. Accessed in
November 2021.

The Agile Marketing Manifesto. Available at https://agilemarketingmanifesto.

org/. Accessed in October 2021.

263
ABOUT THE
AUTHORS

264
Ysmar Vianna e Silva Filho

Undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Brazil’s

Aeronautics Technology Institute (1966), master’s in electrical
engineering and computer science from University of California,
Berkeley (1969), PhD in computer science from University of
California, Berkeley (1972). He had an extensive university
career and was a pioneer in computing in Brazil, working as
an instructor at the COPPE graduate engineering study center
at Rio de Janeiro Federal University, where he installed the
university’s first computer in 1967. He created the institution’s
informatics course, was the head of its Computer Science
Department, and the director of its Electronic Computing
Center. He has worked as a consultant for CNPq and CAPES,
two Brazilian government funding bodies, and he served for
many years as a member of CNPq’s Advisory Committee.
As a consultant, he has worked on IT planning projects for
institutes associated with CNPq, the implementation of system
development methodologies for Vale, BANESE, OAS, Banco
Econômico and BR Distribuidora, and the development of
systems for Embraer, INPI, Rio de Janeiro Federal University
Hospital and Rio de Janeiro Federal University. He also
conducted a comprehensive study for EMBRATEL about the use
of telecommunications in the transportation sector.

265
Maurício José Vianna e Silva

Undergraduate degree in computer engineering from Rio de

Janeiro Catholic University (1990), master’s in computer science
from Illinois Institute of Technology (1992), and PhD in computer
science from the latter institute (1995). As a consultant, he has
worked for various clients in the United States (including the
Chicago Board of Trade Clearing Co., Performance Computing
Inc., Miller&Fairchild Inc. and R&R Donnelley) and Brazil
(including Banco Boavista, the Rio de Janeiro Municipal Finance
Secretariat, Telefônica Celular, Claro, Vivo, Oracle and Bradesco
Seguros). He participated in the development of the CASE tool
(PCCase) at the Brazilian Intellectual Property Institute. He has
written many technical papers that have been published at
IEEE and ACM international conferences, in the area of object
orientation and databases. He is currently working on projects
in the areas of mobile VAS and innovation in auto and health
insurance and social systems.

266
Ana Banach

Undergraduate degree in information systems from São

Paulo State University and graduate diplomas in people
management and innovation. Has more than 14 years of
experience in the area of Agility, having worked with some
of Brazil's largest e-commerce and telecom companies,
whilst holding more than 12 certifications in the area. She
also leads workshops on the subject and lectures throughout
the country. She is currently the head of the MJV Lean-Agile
Practices Center of Excellence. She leads the implementation
of Agile methods in companies, facilitating communication
improvements and promoting the benefits of Agile
connections between areas.

267
Arthur Castro

Process analyst with undergraduate degree in management

processes from La Salle University. He currently works
at MJV as an Agile Master in project management and
facilitation, using Agile methodologies in the areas of data
science and software development in particular. He worked
in Portugal as the manager of a consulting project to
develop a physical and digital product.

268
Isabella Costa

Agile Leader at MJV with an undergraduate degree in

international relations and graduate degree in project
management from Rio de Janeiro Federal University. She is
certified in Agile facilitation techniques. She worked with
Agile methods at IBM Brasil, where she participated in an
Agile transformation internal pilot program, and was a Scrum
analyst at the United Nations Development Program. She also
worked as an innovation analyst at Fábrica de Startups Brasil,
helping companies in different sectors by running co-creation
workshops using Design Thinking techniques, and she led a
training project on innovation methodologies. She believes
that Agile transformation happens where there are motivated
and engaged individuals, supported by servant leadership and
guided by teamwork, aiming at internal process improvements.

269
Izabel Santos

Undergraduate and master’s degrees in production engineering

from Ouro Preto Federal University and Minas Gerais Federal
University, respectively. She is currently doing an MBA in IT
management. A passionate Agile practitioner, she has worked
as a Scrum Master on data and software development projects
in different sectors, such as health, mobility and finance. She
has worked with various tools and methodologies, including
Jira, Azure DevOps, Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, OKR, Management
3.0 and Design Thinking.

270
Juliana Yue

She has a multidisciplinary background, with undergraduate

degrees in law and design, both from the University of São
Paulo. She has more than 20 years of professional experience,
working in the legal area as a specialist in corporate governance
and later as a specialist branding designer. Today, she is a
legal designer and innovation consultant at MJV Technology &
Innovation, where she coordinates teams on projects based on
the Design Thinking approach and Agile mindset. She is also a
guest professor at Getulio Vargas Foundation’s Rio de Janeiro
Law School, where she is responsible for the Legal Lab – Design
and Innovation in Law course.

271
Murilo Pedroso

Undergraduate degree in business information systems

and graduate diplomas in project management and
organizational psychology. He has more than 10 years of
experience with Agility at companies in many sectors and
of many sizes. His passion for Agility drives him to help
people and companies develop and transform, always
focusing on generating real results by implementing Agile,
Kanban and Lean methodologies.

272
273
ABOUT MJV
MJV Technology & Innovation

For more than 25 years, MJV Technology & Innovation has

been helping to influence innovation and solve business
challenges with some of the world’s biggest companies. The
consulting firm has offices in Europe, the United States and
Latin America, and a multidisciplinary team composed of more
than 1,200 professionals, including designers, engineers,
anthropologists, data scientists, developers, entrepreneurs
and much more.

We believe in collaborative work and we apply Design

Thinking and the Agile methodology as a guide in all the
projects we develop.

Mauricio Vianna, PhD Ysmar Vianna, PhD

CEO Chairman
mvianna@mjvinnovation.com yvianna@mjvinnovation.com

www.mjvinnovation.com
274
MJV is composed of five pillars, structured in complete synergy:

TECHNOLOGY CONSULTING
Development and implementation of customized business
analytics, IT and Internet of Things services.

DIGITAL STRATEGY
Development and implementation of corporate strategy and
user experience, positioning digital transformation as a guiding
force for businesses.

PROFESSIONAL OUTSOURCING
Allocation of UX, UI, marketing and IT professionals, with the
strategic and operational support of MJV, optimizing deliveries.

BUSINESS INNOVATION
Development and implementation of innovative solutions aimed
at reducing costs, increasing and generating new revenues,
and developing new business models.

ESG TRANSFORMATION
Development and implementation of positive impact solutions
considering all aspects of the ecosystem, looking at business,
people and the planet.

275
NORTH AMERICA: EUROPE:

UNITED STATES UNITED KINGDOM

Atlanta London
atl@mjvinnovation.com ldn@mjvinnovation.com

SOUTH AMERICA: PORTUGAL

Lisbon
BRAZIL lis@mjvinnovation.com
Rio de Janeiro
rio@mjvinnovation.com
ITALY
Sao Paulo Rome
spo@mjvinnovation.com rom@mjvinnovation.com

Alphaville, Sao Paulo

alp@mjvinnovation.com FRANCE
Paris
Curitiba par@mjvinnovation.com
cwb@mjvinnovation.com

COLOMBIA
Bogota
bgt@mjvinnovation.com

276