Agile Leadership Capstone

Overview

Class Central Tips

This capstone project course takes you through a guided journey of putting together a comprehensive agile transformation packet. To create this packet, you will be creatively applying the concepts and tools we have covered in the first four courses of this Specialization. In the capstone course scenario, you were hired as a Senior Scrum Master at Nike. You will understand what a Fortune 100 company would be looking for in a candidate by analyzing a real Nike job posting. If you aspire to work in a similar role, this exercise should give you an idea of where you stand today and what skills you might want to hone on in the future. You then will be completing a probationary assignment as a part of the requirement of this new role. Your plan should help you answer the question of what steps you will take in your first 30 days at Nike to develop yourself, your team, and the enterprise. The packet you will be developing consists of the following four elements: Transformation roadmap One-month-long Sprint Plan for personal development One-month-long Sprint Plan for developing a brand new Agile team Change management plan to strengthen Nike’s internal culture, support innovation, and fend off intense competition (alternatively, you may choose to create a plan for the company you are working for) The capstone project will provide you with a hands-on experience of strategically planning for change and applying Scrum tools. Don’t forget to have fun with it!

Syllabus

Planning for Personal Transformation

In the first module, you will focus on your personal transformation. Your completed Agile Leader Workbook will be your starting point. You will complete the personal transformation section of the roadmap, develop a Product and Sprint Backlog, or, in other words, plan a Sprint. Even though this exercise is focused on you, you can easily apply the same steps and planning process to mentoring and coaching situations.

Planning for Team Transformation

In the second module, you will focus on training your newly formed team you will be leading at Nike on principles of Agile and Scrum. How would you teach someone who has no experience and knowledge about agility, change resiliency, and Scrum? In this module, you will prepare for leading this change based on the background information presented in the case study. You will complete the team section of the transformation roadmap, and develop your Product and Sprint Backlog for training your team to become Agile. This part of the exercise will give you the experience of planning a transformation of a brand-new-to-Agile team.

Planning for Enterprise Transformation

In the third module, your goal is to develop a change management plan for advancing Agile within Nike. You will develop your plan based on the information about the company and where it stands on its Agile journey presented in the case study. Needless to say, there are some opportunities, and it’s your job to help capitalize on these opportunities that will propel Nike to the next level of Agile adoption. You will complete the last section of the transformation roadmap, and create a 4-5 page transformation plan by applying change management theories and tools you have previously learned. You may choose to create a plan for the company you work for, or do both! If you choose to do both, use Nike case study as a practice opportunity.