As an Agile enthusiast, trainer and coach I’m pretty passionate about being Agile regardless of the specific framework being followed. In fact, my passion lies in the culture of being Agile, rather than a dogmatic adherence to a framework.
Following a Framework
A dogmatic approach to a framework may work well if you are a “.com”, start-up, or other application development shop. But, for those of us working with large corporations a dogmatic approach feels impossible. Here are a few of the reasons why:
I fully support adopting a framework, so don’t get me wrong. Organizations should try to adopt as much as possible of their chosen framework, and specifically note exceptions acknowledging deviations from a given framework. However, before the organization gets concerned about the framework they are trying to follow, I ask them to look at the Agile Manifesto and Twelve Principles. How much cultural change is the organization willing or able to accept in order to adopt a framework? As true agility requires both, a change to the new framework and a change in culture.
Cultural Change
When the “gurus” got together in Colorado, they not only defined the Scrum Framework, they created the Agile Manifesto, and Twelve Principles. These two items identify the Culture of Agile. To truly be Agile, organizations must work on the cultural change required regardless of the framework.
From the Manifesto:
Does your organization really put Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools?
Carte blanche rules for processes and tools don’t always work for everyone within the organization. Some tailoring must be done to truly be effective. Marketing teams may not need to use the same story writing and management tools as Software Teams.
Do they favor Working Software (Value Delivery) or Comprehensive Documentation?
Note: For non-development teams, I prefer to consider what “value” the team is delivering as working software does not apply.
This is not an excuse for skipping documentation all together.
Does your environment allow for true Customer Collaboration over Contract Negotiation?
Or do you have a hard time trying to figure out who is the recipient of the value you are delivering? A culture of “us versus them” may keep workers away from collaboration
Does the organization Respond to Change over Following a Plan?
Or are we all so worried about scope creep, we have a rigorous change policy? Or has the pendulum swung the other way, and you’re experiencing the “Chicken Little -sky is falling” scenario all the time?
Acknowledging the Agile Manifesto and how an organization may adopt their culture to it, is one of the first steps to agility.
Twelve Principles
To be honest, I find the majority of teams I work with have no understanding of the 12 Principles of Agile. How can that be? Does leadership really believe a framework will work without other changes? Yes, it is hard. Yes, someone will always be unhappy. Welcome to the real world. If you fail at adopting Agile, and you haven’t tried to change culturally, is it really Agile that doesn’t work? Are teams working to be Agile, while the rest or the organization continues with business as usual?
Think of the simple scale from “Somewhat Agree to Somewhat Disagree”, and for each of the Principles score your organization.
This allows our customers to see steady and ongoing progress towards are end goal.
Changes of scope may have an impact, but we need to quit complaining about change.
Reduce risk, increase collaboration, break work down into small pieces, and get feedback after each delivery.
If the team doing the work has no access to the recipients of the value, are you playing the “telephone game” with requirements and feedback?
Agile teams are self-organizing, self-managed, and empowered to do what it takes to deliver quality value at regular intervals. If you’ve truly hired good people who want to do a good job, why micromanage them? Empower your folks, and see what happens. With any luck teams will learn to pick up the stick, and run with it.
Skip multiple emails, and meet face-to-face even if it is over the internet!
If you’re not creating software, deliver small pieces that act as building blocks towards completing your value delivery.
A little extra time here and there is okay. However if working 50 – 60 hours is the norm, it’s hardly sustainable.
Going faster doesn’t cut it if quality drops. The focus should always be on delivering quality.
Do you remember the 80/20 rule? We have a phrase “no gold plating”, so focus on what really matters to the 80%.
Learning new practices, and engaging regularly to ensure the foundation is sound enables teams to take advantage of emerging technology and practices.
Without continuous improvement, being Agile slips further and further away from reality.
Summary
Cultural change is key within organizations in order to really support the Agile Manifesto and its Twelve Principles. Where does your organizations culture fall when using the Manifesto’s scales, and the Twelve Principles? Work to move the pendulum a little at a time as needed. The origins of Agile lie not in black and white answers but in collaborating to do what is best in our drive to deliver value. Your customers will be happy, and you’ll retain employees and keep them and shareholders happy.