Enabling Autonomy at Spotify

Enabling Autonomy at Spotify

• 1.
  Enabling Autonomy at Spotify JasonYip Agile Coach, Monetization Tribe, Spotify NYC [email protected] @jchyip https://jchyip.blogspot.com https://medium.com/@jchyip
• 2.
  What do youmean when you say “autonomy”?
• 3.
  Autonomy means the freedomto do what you feel like.
• 4.
  Autonomy means the freedomto do what you feel like. Psychologically shallow
• 5.
  Autonomy means the freedomto do what you feel like.Devoid of meaning andshared identity Psychologically shallow
• 6.
  Autonomy means the freedomto do what you feel like.Devoid of meaning andshared identity Probably leads to depression Psychologically shallow
• 7.
  Autonomy means feeling freeto act, with all your capabilities, to contribute toward a collective outcome.
• 8.
  Autonomy means feeling freeto act, with all your capabilities, to contribute toward a collective outcome. Psychologically strong
• 9.
  Autonomy means feeling freeto act, with all your capabilities, to contribute toward a collective outcome.Contributes to a sense of capability and self-efficacy Psychologically strong
• 10.
  Okay, I acceptyour definition of autonomy. How might I support it?
• 11.
  http://blog.crisp.se/2016/08/23/henrikkniberg/alignment-at-scale-agile-africa-keynote
• 12.
  What do youmean when you say “alignment”?
• 13.
  Alignment = Intent+ rationale + constraints Intent: What Rationale: Why Constraints: Any restrictions on How
• 14.
  Alignment = Intent+ rationale + constraints Intent: We need to cross the river Rationale: There is more food on the other side Constraints: Please don’t kill any beavers
• 15.
  What does Spotifydo to enable alignment?
• 16.
  Company Beliefs Our World OurPlatform Our Company Our Teams Top-level rationale
• 17.
  North Star +2 Year Goals Our World Our Platform Our Company Our Teams Top-level intent
• 18.
  Company Bets (rank,WIP limit) Sponsor, Road Manager, Key Stakeholders, Summary, DIBB (Data Insights, Beliefs, Bets), Impact, Investment, Staffing, Dependencies Intent, rationale, constraints
• 19.
  Tribe Bets Varies Intent, rationale,constraints
• 20.
  Squad Missions andRoadmaps Varies Intent, rationale, constraints
• 21.
  TPD leadership Tribe TPDleads Company Beliefs North Star / 2 Year Goals Company Bets
• 22.
  TPD leadership Tribe TPDleads Company Beliefs North Star / 2 Year Goals Company Bets Strategy Days TPD Alignment Taps Other Tribe / Squad sessions vary
• 23.
  So that’s allI need to enable autonomy?
• 24.
  Well, no.
• 25.
  Alignment is not enoughto enable autonomy.
• 26.
  http://www.davidmarquet.com/our-story/
• 27.
  Autonomy is enabledby Alignment AND Competence
• 28.
  What do youmean when you say “competence”?
• 29.
  Essentially, I trustthat 1. You will decide things in a similar way to how I would 2. You have similar or better skill to do the work
• 30.
  Competence means shared workbeliefs AND technical excellence
• 31.
  What does Spotifydo to enable competence?
• 32.
  Engineering Core Beliefs ‣Speed of learning and execution lead us to create a best in class product ‣ The fewer technologies we are world class on, the faster we get ‣ Shorter iterations yield faster learning, quicker value and higher quality ‣ Small empowered cross-functional teams is the foundation of fast paced product development and innovation ‣ Strong teams always beat rock stars ‣ Your ability to learn and adapt is more important than your knowledge, merit and experience
• 34.
  “Get off toa flying start with backend development by following our step-by-step Golden Path tutorials: they'll show you how to develop, build, provision, deploy, test, and monitor a backend service in our production environment. These tutorials are designed to get new employees, boot camp squads – indeed anyone who is new to backend development at Spotify – to get up to speed, fast!”
• 36.
  “The Chapter Leadis the line manager for his or her chapter members, with all the traditional responsibilities such as developing people, setting salaries, etc”
• 37.
  Not just TPD
• 38.
  ‣ #tech-excellence ‣ #fearless-development Slackchannels and unconferences
• 39.
  So Spotify isreally good at enabling autonomy?
• 40.
  Autonomy is astrong belief at Spotify… but...
• 41.
  Let’s say it’sa work in progress Zombie projects Looser than I’d like on technical habits Not a strong tradition of technically-orientedcoaches Experience skews toward the young side TPD / Business gap Ability to absorb rapid growth rate
• 42.
  So, that’s allI need to enable autonomy?
• 43.
  First, don’t justcopy.
• 44.
  Think for yourself.
• 45.
  We are afterall talking about enabling autonomy.
• 46.
  Principles are probably generalisable.
• 47.
  Autonomy means feeling freeto act, with all your capabilities, to contribute toward a collective outcome.
• 48.
  Autonomy is enabledby Alignment AND Competence
• 49.
  Alignment = Intent+ rationale + boundaries Intent: What Rationale: Why Boundaries: Any restrictions on How
• 50.
  Competence means shared workbeliefs AND technical excellence
• 51.
  Beyond principles, you’ll needto experiment with the specific mechanisms.
• 52.
  Who are youagain?
• 53.
  Who was thatguy? ‣ Jason Yip ‣ Agile Coach at Spotify since Feb 2015 ‣ Previously Principal Consultant at ThoughtWorks (started in February 2001) ‣ First encountered Extreme Programming in 1998
• 54.
  My question tothe audience: What do you do to enable autonomy?