Autonomous teams are an article of faith in modern software development. Give cross-functional full-stack full-lifecycle teams autonomy and they will deliver value and flow – or better value, sooner, safer, happier.
But where are the boundaries of autonomy? Where does governance and policy fit in? Can a team decide their own HR practices, interactions with regulators & funding model? What about architecture, design, or organisational decisions that – by the nature of the product, not a poorly chosen architecture – must span multiple teams, or even multiple teams-of-teams? How are they made?
How are autonomy and coherence balanced in a fractal way? Who decides what, when and how? And who decides who decides?
Simon will provide a combination of theory – the Viable Systems Model, the Platform model ("preventing unnecessary creativity"), Socio-Technical design principles – and practical experience, as a preview to his contribution to Jon Smart's forthcoming book tentatively titled Organising for Outcomes.
Simon Rohrer, Head of Enterprise Architecture and Ways of Working at Saxo Bank has spent his career advocating for modern ways of working, with roles in hands on software engineering, agile coaching with a focus on technical excellence, and senior roles in enterprise architecture and strategy. He's a co-author of Jonathan Smart's IT Revolution Press book Sooner Safer Happier, and working on a chap...