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Pattern idea: Crossing the chasm (#368)
Adds pattern on crossing the chasm for scaling InnerSource initiatives. Co-authored-by: Sebastian Spier <github@spier.hu> Co-authored-by: Johannes Tigges <lenucksi@users.noreply.github.com>
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## Title
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Crossing the InnerSource chasm
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## Patlet
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Early InnerSource experiments have been successful. Methods that were successful
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convincing early teams stop working though when scaling the initiative. This
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chasm can be crossed by using different methods to reach people at different
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stages of the innovation curve.
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## Problem
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Often InnerSource programs [start as experiments](../2-structured/start-as-experiment.md). From there
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reaching early adopters and visionaries typically is easy. However the methods
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used to reach these innovation friendly associates typically stop working when
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trying to scale the initiative to pragmatists, conservatives or even sceptics.
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As a result scaling stalls and the entire initiative cannot live up to its
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potential.
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## Context
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A corporation with teams on a wide spectrum of innovation friendliness has
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stared an InnerSource initiative. Goals are set, early experiments were
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successful, some teams are successfully using the new collaboration best
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practices.
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However there are teams which are less innovation friendly. Maybe they are more
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risk averse than others. Maybe they prefer stable processes so they can focus on
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their daily engineering challenges. Maybe they prefer to follow a proven path
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instead of running into all of the hurdles that early adopters run into.
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## Forces
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- The goal is to increase collaboration, reduce duplication, increase knowledge
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sharing.
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- Some teams already adopted a lot of InnerSource best practices, often when
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doing so they had to fix hurdles within the organisation when adopting a more
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collaborative way of working.
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- Some associates refuse to invest time in experimenting with new ways of
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working, preferring a stable environment.
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- There is too much time to get everyone on board individually.
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- Depending on where associates are on the innovation curve they are willing to
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invest different amounts of time to master a new way of working.
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## Solution
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The [InnerSource guidance group](../1-initial/innersource-guidance-group.md) should make different offers for
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mastering InnerSource depending on where on the innovation scale employees are:
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### Steps for reaching innovators
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* Meet with people in person, in 1-on-1 settings, choose those in favour and
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those against and those interested in the topic to create a first network.
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* Start with InnerSource pilots.
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* Create a community of practice that operates according to the principles that
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you want to establish.
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* Bring innovators together so they can support each other.
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* Write down everything that you discuss in person or in calls so others that
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lack the time to join those calls can follow along, provide their input and you
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have a document that you can share with individuals following your trail.
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Write down solutions to any problems you find along the way and share those
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written solutions with people following your trail.
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### Steps for reaching early adopters/ visionaries
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* Share results and learnings form retrospectives of InnerSource pilots.
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* Share external material (bonus points if that is material that colleagues
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created earlier: talks, blog articles, book chapters, magazine articles, videos
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etc.)
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* Co-create a document of shared [InnerSource Principles](../1-initial/explicit-innersource-principles.md).
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### Steps for pragmatists
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* Offer in-house and online training.
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* Establish local experts on topics in the teams you want to reach.
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* Provide an InnerSource strategy that is backed by higher level management.
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* Provide InnerSource cheat sheet in particular for those new to the company.
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* Provide teams with a self check to scale the initiative (see [Maturity Model](../2-structured/maturity-model.md).
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### Steps for reaching conservatives
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* Include InnerSource training material in mandatory training courses for new
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hires.
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* Integrate any tooling and any experiments you have run into established
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company structures (e.g. GitHub/ GitLab instances are under a regular plan,
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accounts are easy to create and integrated with e.g. coporate single sign on
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solutions, in-house support can provide help for these tools).
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* Provide low effort opportunities for learning (e.g. put little riddles in your
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coffee kitchen or whatever the digital alternative is for your company.)
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* Ship bite sized learning pieces to inboxes.
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* Pull in external expertise - sometimes in house expertise counts much less
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than external statements.
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### Steps for laggards
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* Incorporate InnerSource into career competencies description.
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## Resulting context
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* The InnerSource initiative can reach teams with various innovation
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preferences.
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* Overall InnerSource adoption improves.
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* Friction between teams decreases due to a common understanding.
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## Known Instances
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TBD
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## Status
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Initial
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## References
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- Book: [Crossing the Chasm](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61329.Crossing_the_Chasm) - Geoffrey A. Moore, Regis McKenna
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- [Making InnerSource & Developer Experience Real at one of Canada's Top 5 Banks](https://youtu.be/QbJ4VFk8DwA?t=549) - GitHub Universe 2021 - Anthony Vacca
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