From the beginning of manned flight, to the first step on the moon, the patterns of agility have guided both the exploration of aviation and space. As complexity continues to increase and resources become scarcer, the use of Agile and similar methodologies within the aerospace industry has become indispensable.

The history of aerospace extends over two thousand years, back to the earliest forms of aviation. From the story of Icarus to Chinese kites, mankind has been fascinated by flight. However, it has only been in the last few centuries that we have seen man take to the skies, beginning with balloons, then advancing to powered flight in 1903, followed closely by supersonic flight, spaceflight, and flight to other worlds.

Please join us as we reflect on both the successes and failures throughout the course of man’s quest for the heavens. We will discover some common patterns that lead to failure in various events in aviation, as well as examine missions and flights that met with success, and apply these lessons to our Agile toolbox as we look to replicate success in future endeavors.

Have you ever been part of a team working to win over a DoD organization to Agile and were blocked with skeptics that assert that Agile is “just the next new fad.”  This session will give you the hard facts and skills to win over these skeptics by showing that Scrum, Agile, and Lean are in fact Military war fighting methods that are battle tested, quite literally. This presentation will walk the audience through how the Agile and Military iterative problem solving methods map to one another. The desired objective in doing this is to provide examples and narratives that can be put into your agile tool box for when they are needed.

Presentation History

This presentation has been given via several venues over the last year to include: The AFEI Agile in Government Summit, The DoD CIO Software Assurance COP, Southern Fried Agile 2014, and several Agile meet-up groups.

About me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasfriend

Thanks for taking the time to consider my proposal.

Best regards,

Tom Friend / Agile Consultant / LtCol USAF (Ret)

CSP, ACP, AHF, FLEX, CSM, PSM, ATP

Talk: (980) 939-3477

Write: Tom.Friend@AgileOnTarget.com

Agile DC 2014 Track Government

 Agile Methods Embedded in the United States Military War fighting Methods.

 a) Title –

 Agile Methods Embedded in the United States Military War fighting Methods. How OODA & MDMP War Fighting & Maneuver Warfare Stacks up Against Agile Software Development. Reflections of a Crew Dog / Scrum Master

 b) Summary –

Agile = Military Decision Making Process

SCRUM = OODA loop Observe Orient Decide Act

Military Maneuver war theory = Lean principles

 c) Description

 This lecture walks the participants through the crossover points of AGILE SCRUM to Observe Orient Decide Act (OODA), the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP), and the lean principles of Maneuver warfare.

 The lecture provides the Agile practitioner, engaged in Federal DOD Agile organizational transformation, tools and touch points that will resonate with military decision makers. These tools and narratives are bridges to build trust and dialog. They are concrete starting points to engage in relevant conversations that lead to constructive outcomes.

The application of the content in this lecture is for a focused audience. However; the message is a fantastic way to show how the Agile Scrum processes are used in other areas. For the non Federal Agilest the outline of OODA and MDMP will be quite novel. For example the history of the OODA loop that formed during the birth of dog fighting in the Jet Age was the beginning of iterative refinement that led to what we know as SCRUM today.

Boyd’s OODA Loop Applied Relates human behavior

Goal: Successful interaction with other loops

Objective: Get inside the opposing OODA Loop

Outcome: Destructive: Air Combat, Warfare

Outcome: Constructive: Agile Software Engineering Process

 When you’re doing OODA “loops” right, accuracy and speed improve together; they don’t trade off. A primary function of Agile “loops” is to build an organization that gets better and better at things.

 Additionally this lecture shows numerous crossover examples of MDMP and Agile in general along with an overview of how Maneuver warfare is an adaptation of Lean principles.

 The end goal is to how that Scrum, Agile, and Lean maps to Military methods. The focus of these process is to quickly develop a flexible, tactically sound, and fully integrated synchronized plans that increases the likelihood of mission success. This is the same within IT development.

 d) Learning Objectives

 Learning Objective - Provide Federal DOD Agilests ways communicate to Military decision makers that Agile Scum is OODA MDMP only by different terms. It is nothing new just being applied differently using a new vocabulary of terms.

 Outcome - Present the similarities of Agile Scrum vs traditional proven Military Decision Making Processes.

 Outcome - Provide bridge of understanding between AGILE SCRUM and OODA & MDMP for Military and DOD contractors that are unfamiliar with the Agile methodologies.

 Outcome - Present talk tracks and narratives that demonstrate how the Agile Methodology complements MDMP.

 e. Target Audience –

 The primary level of audience understanding and comprehension is Level 3. Performing – Target audience is experienced Scrum/agile practitioners (2+ years)

 This is a very focused / specialized session for those that can apply the lessons. However it is a very cool session for those that just want to sit in and see how Scrum is applied in Aerial Combat dogfights and Agile in the broader war fighting process.

For those in the Federal DOD game the take always are to provide several narratives to leverage for agile transformations within the Federal and DOD space targeting DOD Military decision makers in order to break down transformation barriers and perceived risk.

 f) Information for Review Team – Link to Presentation: https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?cid=FEDBE246E52347F9&resid=FEDBE246E52347F9!1092&app=WordPdf

 g) Presentation History –

 This presentation was given at the Agile in Government Summit in Washington DC 2014. It has been well received within the Federal and DOD space.

It is new thought capital and slide ware that has not been presented to a general agile audience.

 About the presenter: This lecture is presented by LtCol Tom Friend USAF Retired. A US Military Combat veteran, Pilot, Squadron Commander that has operational experience in the Navy, Air Force, and served on the ground with the Army and Marines as Forward Air Controller. He is a distinguished graduate from Air War College and has a BS in Aeronautics. On the federal side he is a graduate of The Army Logistic Management College in federal contracting. He has served as a Federal Acquisition Program manager and Acceptance test pilot at a US Military aircraft manufacturing facility. He additionally has 20+ years as a project manager and 10+ years of Agile XP SCRUM software development experience within various IT markets.