Month: July 2014

Stay Agile My Friends

chriswmoodyLeave a comment

ckv31a

This is mostly meant to give you a chuckle, but there is some validity to it as well.  In my last blog post I talked about how we need to challenge the limits of what we understand agile to be.  Can you be agile and waterfall at the same time?  Probably not if you look through the lenses of what we typically view as a waterfall process.  But it’s possible.

One thing I’ve noticed as an agile coach is that people like to gravitate towards what they know and are more comfortable with.  One way this can play out is when helping a team adopt agile, you can get a strong pull to keeping things in the box of a waterfall process. This happens both at the individual contributor level and management level. Management can sometimes want waterfall type metrics but without the changes needed to realize the true benefits of agile. It’s ok though.  Be patient, and see if you can find a way to meet somewhere in the middle. Waterfall isn’t bad.  In fact it has tremendous value in the right context.  So, as an agile enthusiast make sure you aren’t always negative about waterfall especially when it could be used to your advantage.  However, what you don’t want to do is fall into the trap of using the buzz words from agile/scrum but keeping things pretty much the same.

I’ve found it is helpful to ask people questions about why they want to do something a certain way. “What do you think will be the benefits of trying it this way?” “What are you hoping to accomplish by doing it this way vs. that way?” If you say things like “You are just stuck in old thinking.” or “That’s not agile.” you can build walls instead of creating bridges. If they are pushing for trying something, maybe just go with it for 1-2 sprints.  Then evaluate the impact it is having.  After all, I’ve always found that I am continually learning from the teams I work with, and surprise-surprise I DON’T KNOW EVERYTHING!  😉

Advertisement

“That’s Not Agile”

chriswmoody3 Comments

right_way_and_wrong_way_sign-other_zps8c090af3

If you work in an organization that utilizes one of the many agile methodologies, you have probably heard the statement “that’s not agile”. It could be about a proposed process change, or a critique of an existing way of doing things. It baffles me to no end when people get lost in the weeds about if something they want to try as a team is agile. This is unfortunately very prevalent in Agile Coaches and Scrum Masters who have a lot of experience.  Since agile is an emerging idea that is really starting to catch some momentum, some who have been advocates for a longer period of time can be standoff-ish about how to do things.  This should be a huge red flag, because there are so many variations of agile and not every organization is the same. You can know all the right things, but completely fail at helping a team adopt agile. That is why it is very important to be flexible, and not have a “better than” mindset.  The principles of agile/scrum are meant to be a guide, not a law that must be perfectly adhered to.  I’m not suggesting you should throw all caution to the wind and try any and everything, because “everything’s agile!”  No.  What I am primarily addressing is the way in which this topic is approached.

So, who’s right?  Maybe saying “that’s not agile” can be valid.  Or maybe we’ve lost sight about what agile is all about.  Let’s just take a quick peek at the Agile Manifesto for a refresher on what it’s all about:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan

To be brash: If someone tells you “that’s not agile” and it’s something that could enable one of the 4 agile main points of the manifesto, I would seriously question how well they truly understand agile.  And agile by nature is something that I believe will continue to evolve as people uncover better ways of doing things. (sound familiar?)

If your organization is looking for an Agile Coach or Scrum Master or you are just trying to improve your skills in that realm, here are some suggestions for what not to do, and what to do.

  1. Don’t try to impress anyone with your agile credentials.  Do try to identify things that have been successful on similar teams/organizations.
  2. Don’t be preachy when trying to present new ideas.   Do suggest ideas with a humble and flexible attitude.
  3. Don’t rely solely on past experiences of what worked for other teams.  Do spend a lot of time listening to people’s needs an challenges.
  4. Don’t react when people are critical of agile.  Do find a way to tie what people want back to agile principles and show them how they could enable those things.
  5. Don’t press your own agenda.  Do thoroughly understand how you can support management’s vision.
  6. Don’t treat the agile principles as a law.  Do use them as a guide for making continual improvement.
  7. Don’t be too critical of a team’s existing processes. You never know how much hard work they have put into building what’s there. Do make a point to try to build on existing foundations, and position it as an improvement rather than tearing down.
  8. Don’t be too quick to judge what will work best for  a team.  Do ask a lot of sincere questions and follow the breadcrumbs of how things became the way they are.

 

Hopefully the next time you want to say “That’s not agile” you can remember the big picture and help your teams find the very best solution.  What things are important to you as an agile proponent in these regards?  Do you have any good stories to share?