I don’t know what information they have, but it’s completely clear to most employees that Agile needs to be abandoned. However, it seems to me that they persistently refuse to see the real picture and persistently push for something that definitely doesn’t work. What could be the reason?
17 replies (most recent on top)
It’s working
@Foxf+1b8F0ci4 In the past, JG had said “no excuses” when it comes to the cost reduction targets. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Not filling the Agile Chapter Head role always seemed odd. Seemed like a perfect role for a random hi-po or well liked manger who needed a place to hang out for a bit. Agile overhead type roles will have a target on their back much like Planning.
The GMs decided to get rid of the Agile chapter head and not backfill the position. It's likely going to be the best decision post-ImagineIT. Next to go are those subchapter heads and other agile people who are just overhead on real projects and get in the way of people doing work. IT is being pressured to meet a cost reduction target, and with MSPs not doing so well to help IT run reliably, and the software/application engineers needed to actually do anything at all, the easiest thing to cut is agile.
Our desktops are so bloated and over-monitored I don't try to delete documents. They've locked so much down it's almost impossible to fix anything on your own, which is often the most expedient method. Half the time I cannot understand what the helpdesk is saying due to poor connection or accent.
agile people are self-loathing, with nothing to do, and so we're here all day complaining about our work because there's really not enough to do to keep us busy.
and yet here you are. strange world.
Haven't been to this site in a while but do people who have jobs at CVX but no social life still troll the Chevron layoffs forum? That's the way it was a while back. Sort of strange.
Agile is deàd.
@1png but our subchapter heads in agile are promoting the SAFe summit, wanting to send everybody there. while our chapter head is a consultant for cPrime, and all these conferences have cPrime as a main sponsor. it's the biggest waste of money for the company to get certified scrum masters and product owners. the best ones I know are the ones who don't have certifications and just do stuff that makes sense. Agile Manifesto is going to be the death of CTC. maybe that is a good thing.
I'm currently on an agile project and between the stand-ups, the pre-planning, planning, retrospective, scrum masters, project managers, PMO office, I've concluded it's all just a front for these people to have job security...look to who actually has technical competency and is assigned the tasks, they're the ones you want everyone else is just there to waste your time
Chevron implemented a bastardized version of Agile + CPDEP. The old habits of phase gate meetings were too hard to shake off. Couple that with an IT department that strangles new technology, and you’ve got the worst possible scenario. When you work somewhere that won’t let you delete desktop icons without IT admin rights, you’re not working at a progressive technology company.
Agile is meant for small autonomous teams that have a cross functional skillset that reduces dependencies on external groups to get work done. Chevron bought into Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), which attempts to adopt agile principles and over complicates the heck out of the framework by bolting on all the additional roles, meetings and hierarchies needed to fit this into a large multi-national corporation.
I took a non-SAFe agile certification course and the instructor didn't have a lot of good things to say about SAFe....it essentially ki--s the whole value proposition of being Agile. The only way it will work for us if we flawlessly pull off the execution of SAFe, which we are understandably struggling with given massive OC gaps, the whole org being flipped ontop of its head and the industry as a whole going through a major transformation...all in the period of 1-2 years.
The way Chevron does it, it is Fgile. It’s just not safe to do.
Agile is like CPDEP. It is great but prone to abuse if not used in a fit for purpose manner. Agile is 80/20. Do the minimum as fast as you can to see if it works, then start bolting stuff on. People at Chevron are used to doing a complete study with all the bells and whistles and a 100 page report only to find the customer wanted something else or is no longer there.
Ironic that its called Agile. There is nothing agile about it.
It pains me to work in this system knowing how much time is wasted on overhead positions.
It doesn’t matter if it really works. The appearance of actually doing something valuable and innovative is the only thing that matters. Just deny the obvious for a couple years, then acknowledge a “Mis-step” before the next re-org. We’ll be due for a new CIO by then. The shelf life on our current one is almost expired.