I have made this presentation for the GOTO Nights meetup on 07.11.2017 in Copenhagen, Denmark. https://www.meetup.com/GOTO-Nights-CPH/events/243940988/ Abstract: These days many large companies are experiencing various types of transformations (from waterfall to agile, from agile to scaled-agile, from a CMMI-world to a light-weight governed world, from a PMO organization to something else, and so on) in their IT and/or software development organizations. All these transformation efforts need to be supported by continuous learning tenets. As a popular example, agile transformation needs a culture change that fosters continuous learning. As another yet concrete example, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) that is fully or partly embraced in large Danish/Global companies such as Lego, Nordea, SimCorp outlines certain initiatives such as Communities of Practice, and advises the ScrumXP teams to try Team Inside-Outs and Book&Coffee Breaks. In this talk, we will visit 20 tangible continuous learning initiatives that can be applied to agile teams. All these methods are used with three different teams on a scaled agile (SAFe) setting, during the last year, hence you will also get information from the trenches on how such initiatives are perceived. My intention is, after this talk you will be able to try something new with your teams that would hopefully cause a good change. This talk may seem to target agile coaches, scrum masters, development managers, etc. who can influence their teams and lead by example. In reality, any software development professional can benefit from the numerous ways of continuous learning and contaminate their teams with the new good habits.

1. © 2017
20 CONTINUOUS LEARNING
INITIATIVES FOR AGILE TEAMS
ENDER YÜKSEL, PHD
SENIOR SCRUM MASTER, SIMCORP

2. © 2017
GREETINGS
2
Ender Yüksel, PhD
Sr. Scrum Master, SimCorp
Proud member of the first
generation of Scrum Masters in
SimCorp, contributing to the scaled
agile transformation of the product division.
Serving cross-functional, cross-located, multi-national,
and polyglot agile software development teams.
• If you haven’t ALREADY done so,
• Introduce yourself to the people sitting next to you
2

3. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx3
GREETINGS FROM SIMCORP!
Following slides, courtesy of Malene Krohn.

4. © 2017
FROM BECOMING
TO BEING AGILE

5. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx
KEY DECISIONS TWENTY YEARS AGO
THE EVERGREEN SYSTEM
ALWAYS FULLY
INTEGRATED
EVERY YEAR
2
YEARLY RELEASES
NO CUSTOMER
MORE THAN
2
RELEASES
BEHIND
MORE THAN
20%
OF REVENUE
INVESTED IN R&D
NO CUSTOMER WITHOUT
MAINTENANCE

6. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx
ANOTHER KEY DECISION
SIMCORP GOES AGILE
GLOBAL
EVERGREEN
ACCOUNTABLEINTEGRATED
AGILE
AGILE
AGILE
AGILE
AGILE
AGILE

7. © 2017
TOO MUCH
FACTORY
OUR ROADBLOCKS
(SOME OF THEM)
COMPLEXITY IN
OUR
PROCESSES AND
TOOLS
INCREASING
CHANGE
RESISTANCE
MISSING
REQUIREMENTS
AS BOTTLENECK

8. © 2017
Faster Time
to Market
THE
DESTINATION
Higher
Quality
More Value
Higher
Employee
Satisfaction

9. © 2017© 2017
THANK YOU!
NOW, LET’S GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER BETTER

10. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx11
SURVEY

11. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx12
START WITH WHY
• Why do that? What’s the purpose?
• How do you do what you do?
• What on earth do you do?
Kudos to Simon Sinek for the concept, though I distorted it a little bit.

12. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx13
WHY

13. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx14
WHY

14. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx15
WHY

15. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx16
HOW
Promote a culture of continuous learning,
in which leaders encourage employees team members to
take time for professional development,
provide resources (equipment, materials, opportunities, etc.) for them
and lead by example

16. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx17
WHAT
• Just a little bit patience…

17. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx18
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS TALK?
• Something new
• Some takeaway for you
• Inspiration
• Real life experience
• Kudos to Joanne Perold
Warning
• Agile is all about learning (and adapting to
new learnings), however the learnings in
iterations, reviews/retrospectives,
inspect&adapt sessions are NOT our topic
today
• Continuous Learning is NOT a buzzword

18. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx19
WHAT I EXPECT
• Co-creating knowledge
• Ensuring two-ways knowledge sharing
• Brutally honest feedback (bonus if you can also formulate constructively)
• So that I can reduce my blind spot in the Johari Window
• Being able to inspire you so that it is worth your time and effort
• Number of participants x Duration of the presentation = Number of hours that is at stake
Last but not least, have fun and enjoy the good company!
Image credits: http://communicationtheory.org

19. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx20
ICEBREAKER STORY
Story of Zog, the keenest dragon in the school!
Zog by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, Alison Green Books. Many thanks to Efe (5) and Deren (2) for lending me their beloved book.
by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

20. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx21
Zog by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, Alison Green Books. Many thanks to Efe (5) and Deren (2) for lending me their beloved book.

21. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx22
Zog by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, Alison Green Books. Many thanks to Efe (5) and Deren (2) for lending me their beloved book.

22. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx23
Zog by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, Alison Green Books. Many thanks to Efe (5) and Deren (2) for lending me their beloved book.

23. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx24
Zog by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, Alison Green Books. Many thanks to Efe (5) and Deren (2) for lending me their beloved book.

24. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx25
• Let’s not spoil the whole story
•So, what do we learn from Zog, so far?
•Discuss in Pairs Pro tip: Ever wondered why facilitators often ask you to discuss in
pairs?
- Divide&Conquer: More people can express their opinions
- Fairness: Not only the loud ones be heard, but also the
silent ones
- Energizing: Some action is needed every 15-20 minutes
- Increased focus
- Not but not least, make time for the facilitator

25. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx26
HERE COMES THE LIST
THAT YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR
But let’s create/improve the
knowledge together, and learn
from each other
Note: For convenience I tried to group the list,
please speak up if it confuses you or if you think
that the grouping can be improved

26. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx27
1. READING GROUP
READING
• Have a goal
• For instance, We want to learn scaled agile, agile at scale, nexus, less, spotify model, etc.
• Focus on short but essential reads
• Articles, manifestos, Henrik Kniberg style books
• Send the reading material in advance, and ask for some prep (not only reading, but also the parts that
were most interesting)
Do you have alternative
ways, suggestions,
tips, tricks? We would
really like to hear!
Example: Agile Reading Group (Kudos to Poul Mejlsted for leading the efforts)
• Before the agile transformation (December 2015 – August 2016)
• Small but very interested and motivated audience (mostly devs and tech writers)
• Meeting every second week, for one hour
• Materials: videos from conference talks (wait for #9), book excerpts, wiki articles, assessment tests, online
resources, short books, white papers

27. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx28
2. BOOK & COFFEE CLUB
READING
• Prescribed by SAFe
• Extended coffee breaks
• Topics that the team is trying to master
• Example: Book & Coffee Club (June 2017 – ongoing)
• Small but very interested audience (members of two scrum teams)
• No video conference, computers allowed (thus not straightforward for cross-located teams)
• Once per iteration (every second week), for half an hour
• Materials: Primarily books, sometimes books supported by articles.
• It helps a lot to form a library in advance.
• Also, helps to have a cosy crner with comfy couches and a decent espresso machine
• Prepare excerpts from books.

28. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx29
Another example, from
Rasmus Christian Kaae

29. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx30
3. SHARING GOOD READS
READING
• Share the good reads on
• Yammer
• Slack
• (Good old) Email
• Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn
• GoodReads.com
- Also helps you broadcast what you
are reading these days
• Print excerpts and leave it close to
the espresso machine
• Some places to look for good reads
• HBR, Medium, Inc., Mashable,
TechCrunch

30. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx31
GUT CHECK
I am so fond of reading and,
I have done and have been doing
all the initiatives you just mentioned.
Likert Scale image credit: surveygizmo.com
Gut Check idea credit: Dean Leffingwell, SAFe Summit 2017

31. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx32
4. TEAM INSIDE-OUT
KNOWLEDGE SHARING
• Suggested by SAFe
• A team member (or shared ones such as architect, ux) preps a
presentation or flip-chart
• It can also be an external presenter, no need to be religious on ”inside-
out”
• E.g. ”we will soon start using ATDD, and Kim has experience with it”
• Example: Team Inside-Out (June 2017 – ongoing)
• Small but very interested audience (members of two scrum teams)
• Once per iteration (every second week), for an hour
• Video conference for cross-located teams, and recording the session for the ones who missed

32. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx33
5. EXPERIENCE FROM OTHER TEAMS/COMPANIES
KNOWLEDGE SHARING
• New members joining,
from other
teams/departments or
even their companies
• Members went on
rotation, or lent out to
other teams
• Learn about other
framworks, practices
• Giving a hand to other
teams is not only being
kind and helpful, but
also new learnings

33. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx34
6. COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE
KNOWLEDGE SHARING
• Suggested by SAFe: http://www.scaledagileframework.com/communities-of-practice/
• Self-organizing groups that discuss best-practices, new topics, etc.
• Wenger, McDermott, and Snyder provided the core ideas for the theory of CoPs in 2002. Here is how
they define it:
- A group of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen
their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis
• And here are some characteristics:
- Proper agenda, decision making authority, open community, suitable rhythm, passionate leader
• Examples
- Profession (role-specific) CoPs: SM, RTE, PO/PM, TEST
- Specialty CoPs: Telemetry, Static Code Analysis, Functional Language Developers, User Experience

34. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx35
7. BROWN BAG SESSIONS
KNOWLEDGE SHARING
• I classified as Knowledge Sharing, but most often it can be a
way of Internal Training
• Traditional way, have a presenter/speaker
• Try Video Brown Bag Sessions (and everyone in the room can
have lunch)
• Don’t forget to air out the meeting room afterwards!
• Example
- We watched Mike Cohn’s video trainings in a series of video brown bag sessions, with the members of our
agile release train
- Although anyone could watch it on their own, a significant proportion of the colleagues showed up
- it is a win-win, especially when the calendars are tight
- Don’t forget to leave room for fruitful discussions in the end
Image credits: http://www.rirealtors.org

35. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx36
GUT CHECK
Knowledge sharing
is part of our culture at work
we do it by many ways
Likert Scale image credit: surveygizmo.com
Gut Check idea credit: Dean Leffingwell, SAFe Summit 2017

36. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx37
8. MEETUPS
MEETING THE COMMUNITY
• Talking about Meetups in a Meetup

37. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx38
9. CONFERENCES
MEETING THE COMMUNITY

38. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx39
10. THOUGHT LEADERS
MEETING THE COMMUNITY
…

39. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx40
GUT CHECK
You took the time to come here and listen to this talk,
network with peers, and expect to learn something new.
Of course you deserve a 5 in this one!
Likert Scale image credit: surveygizmo.com
Gut Check idea credit: Dean Leffingwell, SAFe Summit 2017

40. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx41
11. INTERNAL TRAINING
TRAINING
• Courses
• On-the-job training
• Mentoring / Coaching

41. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx42
12. EXTERNAL TRAINING
TRAINING
• Training from vendors
- Or even universities
• Certifications
• Online Training

42. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx43
13. JOB ROTATION
TRAINING
• Employee Learning
• Opportunity to expand knowledge and impact
• Learn about different parts of the organization
• Employer Learning
• Learn about the employee’s strengths
• Achieve a flexible and knowledgeable (T-Shaped?) work force

43. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx44
GUT CHECK
I proactively seek for internal/external training,
and try to make use of my new knowledge/skills
as soon as possible
Likert Scale image credit: surveygizmo.com
Gut Check idea credit: Dean Leffingwell, SAFe Summit 2017

44. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx45
14. TRAINING OTHERS
LEARN BY TEACHING
• Docendo discimus
• Examples
- Teaching the basics of the programming language we use, to another team, so that they can at least debug
- Teaching testers some IDE and commands that they can do more before creating defects
- Training newcomers, even though they don’t join our team

45. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx46
15. BOOKS
CRAFTSMANSHIP
• Make sure you have a favorite craftsmanship book that you
give your new colleagues

46. © 2017© 2017
THANK YOU FOR
ASKING THE FIRST*
QUESTION!
47
* Non-trivial
With compliments from

47. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx48
16. E-LEARNING
CRAFTSMANSHIP
• PluralSight
• Khan Academy
• Coursera
• Udemy
• EdX

48. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx49
17. DOJO
CRAFTSMANSHIP
• Suggested by SAFe
• Not only for coding
• One computer, rotate the opeartor (every 10 minutes)
• Whole or subset of team

49. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx50
18. STEP OUT OF COMFORT ZONE
DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE
In case you need some inspiration
(celebration of Windows 95 launch):
• Comfort Zone = Zone of slow growth
• Agile Team, try pulling a feature out of your comfort zone
Article credits: “If You’re Not Outside Your Comfort Zone, You Won’t Learn Anything”, Andy Molinsky. “Learning Outside Your Comfort Zone”, Maryellen Weimer.

50. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx51
19. ASK OTHERS TO TEACH YOU
DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE
• Especially teams that generally work in other areas,
or product owners
• Quantify benefits
• Invite others
• If possible, record the sessions
• Contribute e.g.
- Document your learnings
- Maybe update the wiki
- Ask lots of questions, let the one who teaches
you to also benefit from this

51. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx52
20. STUDY GROUPS
DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE
• Especially when you really need to learn something fast,
efficient, and collectively
• You can use the previously mentioned techniques
- Find relevant trainings
- Ask an expert to give you a crash course
- Allocate time to regularly meet and reflect on learnings
- Try to make use of the new knowledge as soon as
possible
• Don’t be afraid of making mistakes

52. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx53
GUT CHECK
I know that planning and estimating work will be much
smoother if I can learn more my domain knowledge
Likert Scale image credit: surveygizmo.com
Gut Check idea credit: Dean Leffingwell, SAFe Summit 2017

53. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx54
MVP: MINIMUM VIABLE PRESENTATIONReading
•Reading
Group
•Book &
Coffee Club
•Sharing
Good Reads
KnowledgeSharing •Team Inside-
Out
•Experience
from Other
Teams,
Companies
•Communities
of Practice
•Brown Bag
Sessions
MeetingtheCommunity
•MeetUps
•Conferences
•Thought
Leaders
Trainings
•Internal
Trainings
•External
Trainings
•Job Rotation
Learnbyteaching
•Training
others
Craftsmanship
•Books
•E-learning
•Dojo
Domainknowledge
•Step of
Comfort Zone
•Ask Others to
Teach You
•Study Groups

54. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx55
GUT CHECK
Score Assessment
9 – 10 Totally room for improvement
11 – 15 Totally room for improvement
16 – 20 Totally room for improvement
21 – 25 Totally room for improvement
26 – 30 You must be kidding 
Gut Check idea credit: Dean Leffingwell, SAFe Summit 2017

55. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx56
PRO TIP: HOW TO APPROACH EMPLOYEES THAT ARE
NOT INTERESTED
No time for that!
I learned everything I
need to know!
It is a distraction
from our business
objectives!
Listen
Each person’s
subjective experience
of the situation is
always “true”, seen
from their perspective
ExplainUncover lost
information
Talk
Ask for
help
Inspire

56. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx57
PRO TIP: HOW TO APPROACH EMPLOYEES THAT ARE
NOT INTERESTED
No time for that!
I learned everything I
need to know!
It is a distraction
from our business
objectives!
DON’T
• Try to “educate”
• Tell that s/he reacted
inappropriately
Short Term
• Be fair
• Calm down the person, with
finding common ground and
similarities
Long Term • Encourage personal development

57. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx58
WHAT TO EXPECT? - REVIEW
• Something new
• Some takeaway for you
• Inspiration
• Real life experience
• Kudos to Joanne Perold

58. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx59
RETROSPECTIVE

59. © 2017 E. Yüksel, 20 Continuous Learning Initiatives for agile teams @enderyx60
RETROSPECTIVE
• I would also love to hear the traditional way
• What was good? Things that I should continue doing
• What was NOT good? Things I should stop doing
• What can be improved and how?
• I would very much appreciate receiving feedback (we can talk after the presentation, or you can email to
eny@simcorp.com ), THANK YOU!

60. © 2017© 2017
THANK YOU!
61

61. © 2017© 2017
AND THANKS TO
62
Sanem Yüksel
Efe E. Yüksel & Deren S. Yüksel (for lending me their book, Zog)
My former and current scrum teams: ¡Ay, caramba!, Hakuna Matata, Money Makers.
And scrum of scrum teams: Front Office, IBOR
Pexels.com for all the stock photos.
Kahoot.com for the surveys.
Everyone in the GOTO team!
All these great people, that inspired me and/or helped with the content, organization, and promotion:
Axel Scheffler Dean Leffingwell Frank Olsen
Henrik Kniberg Hugo Ludbrook Ingrid Gran Stiansen
Julia Donaldson Joanne Perold Malene Maegaard Krohn
Poul Mejlsted Rasmus Christian Kaae Simon Sinek

62. © 2017

63. © 2017© 2017
LEGAL
DISCLAIMER
The contents of this presentation are for general
information and illustrative purposes only and are used at
the reader’s own risk. SimCorp uses all reasonable
endeavours to ensure the accuracy of the information.
However, SimCorp does not guarantee or warrant the
accuracy, completeness, factual correctness, or reliability
of any information in this publication and does not accept
liability for errors, omissions, inaccuracies, or typographical
errors.
The views and opinions expressed in this publication are
not necessarily those of SimCorp.
© 2017 SimCorp A/S. All rights reserved. Without limiting
rights under copyright, no part of this document may be
reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), or
for any purpose without the express written permission
of SimCorp A/S.
64