Cargo Cult Agile (2008)
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Cargo Cult Agile (2008)
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Re: Cargo Cult Agile (2008)
#2I should explain that to my boss, we're literally doing waterfall but with standup meetings...
Re: Cargo Cult Agile (2008)
#3I'd argue stand up meetings are the opposite of agile, the insistence on them is literally breaking the first rule of the agile manifesto:
> Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Probably breaking the fourth too:
> Responding to change over following a plan
How many companies have done a retrospective on whether the daily recitation of Kanban board movements is providing any value?
Re: Cargo Cult Agile (2008)
#4I have been thinking about this a lot, ever since I first read this article, some years ago.
Most of my freelance projects and technical coaching gigs in the last few years where at companies that were in or after their "Agile transition". And most got "Agile" horribly wrong.
I think cargo cult is an issue, but the problem goes deeper. I wrote a conference talk titled "Your Company Will Never Be Agile" around that topic. The gist is:
Many C-level executives want "true business agility" for their company: They want to be able to react quickly when circumstances change. Many "workers in the trenches" (developers, testers, ...) want to be able to do good work and provide value to the customer.
But in established companies, the organizational structure, processes and policies, annual budgets, KPI and bonus systems and middle management prevent the company from becoming truly agile.
So, young, small companies are more agile, because (among other things) they did not become a bureaucracy yet, they are mostly run by engineers with not much middle management, and because of survivor bias (they do not have a war chest yet, so those that were not able to react quickly do not exist anymore).
Unfortunately, there is no English recording (but the slides are here: https://speakerdeck.com/dtanzer/your-company-will-never-be-a... ).
Re: Cargo Cult Agile (2008)
#5[deleted]
Re: Cargo Cult Agile (2008)
#6I should explain that to my boss, we're literally doing waterfall but with standup meetings...
"wagile"
Re: Cargo Cult Agile (2008)
#7All managers not only engage in waterfall, but covet all of the privileges of waterfall. The ability to tell lessers what to program down to the line of code is the ultimate expression of power for people who will never, ever be C-level. And to top it off, they use their powers to force you to compel you to agree that their practices are agile.
Agile has never, and will never exist when micromanagement is a good enough drug for those who will never reach actual influence.
Re: Cargo Cult Agile (2008)
#8I'd argue stand up meetings are the opposite of agile, the insistence on them is literally breaking the first rule of the agile manifesto: > Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Probably breaking the fourth too: > Responding to change over following a plan How many companies have done a retrospective on whether the daily recitation of Kanban board movements is providing any value?
To me, a lot of Agile breaks the first rule. A Certified SCRUM Master comes in and overhauls your processes. That is, in effect, processes and tools straight up, from the minute that scrum master goes on a course.
It wouldn't be much of a course if it didn't teach some process for implementing SCRUM.
It wouldn't be much of a consultation if the consultant tells you to go speak to your customers and find out what is really bothering them and how you can deliver working software quickly to alleviate that.
So you have daily standup a, weekly retrospectives, a designated master, product owner, a process for estimation, a n-week sprint. Those are must haves. That's all process.
Re: Cargo Cult Agile (2008)
#9I'd argue stand up meetings are the opposite of agile, the insistence on them is literally breaking the first rule of the agile manifesto: > Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Probably breaking the fourth too: > Responding to change over following a plan How many companies have done a retrospective on whether the daily recitation of Kanban board movements is providing any value?
> I'd argue stand up meetings are the opposite of agile
Those 15min when the team gets together and talks about what they're doing and where they need help ... that's the most useful meeting I've ever been a part of. 80% of all other interactions could be removed with a kanban board and some patience.
Like, shit man, sometimes it takes me more than 3 minutes to reply on Slack because I'm doing shit. Go do some stretches or something ...
Re: Cargo Cult Agile (2008)
#10I should explain that to my boss, we're literally doing waterfall but with standup meetings...
"Agile waterfall" may be a meme but I have seen job listings use that exact term to describe the company. Out of everywhere I've ever interviewed though, no company that has described themselves as Agile have been remotely Agile, ones that don't spend so much time thinking about process generally are Agile to a degree.