Warning Signs that Agile Is Declining
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Warning Signs that Agile Is Declining
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Re: Warning Signs that Agile Is Declining
#2Badly managed businesses that are run the "top down" way the author describes typically have no respect or desire to understand the product development process they depend so heavily on for success and profit. No amount of "Agile" or "Lean", no consultant or trainer, no Kanban or Scrum board can really ever hope to change this for them if these organizations cannot self reflect and see that they are standing in their own way.
The concepts and learning that has come from the agile and lean software movements are still valuable though. Valuable for those who choose learn and are willing apply them, test them, validate them and actually self discover what is and is not effective. But they are absolutely snake oil and worthless for those who are unwilling to put in this basic effort.
Re: Warning Signs that Agile Is Declining
#3The devil is in the details. You still need competent people to determine and estimate tasks, and to implement those tasks. Implementation is the biggie. How do you design the implementation? How complete are your tests? What are the important requirements of the task?
There seems to continue to be this idea in management that process will take the place of skilled programmers. That you can then just plug any programmer in, and the process will produce a usable product.
It's amazing how most other skill based industries require certification exams, to verify that you truly do know how to build a bridge, prepare a legal defense, or perform a hip replacement. Software development is the only place where process is thought to replace skill and knowledge.
Re: Warning Signs that Agile Is Declining
#4Badly managed businesses that are run the "top down" way the author describes typically have no respect or desire to understand the product development process they depend so heavily on for success and profit. No amount of "Agile" or "Lean", no consultant or trainer, no Kanban or Scrum board can really ever hope to change this for them if these organizations cannot self reflect and see that they are standing in their…
I think you may have accidentally nailed the crux of it in your first sentence. Most enterprises are not software shops and nearly everything represented in this blog post is not talking about product development... and if you're not selling it you're probably not going to be inclined to care about best practices or be passionate about quality or timeliness.
Re: Warning Signs that Agile Is Declining
#5Oh boy, could I give a good rant about how we're seriously screwing up Agile. In fact, I did -- http://www.whattofix.com/blog/archives/2010/09/agile-ruined-...
But as bad as the average Agile adoption is, I disagree with the author. Let's take each of his points:
Companies are “doing agile” Yes. As an example, last year I had a huge manufacturing company (which I will not name) ask me to come in to help as an Agile coach. It was a weird gig -- no teams, no traction, just a couple of guys in an office somewhere. It took me a while, but I finally figured out what they wanted. They wanted an "Agile Expert" to help them rewrite all the processes so they could be Agile! To them, it was top-down, create and monitor the process, etc. This was a control game, and they just wanted an imprimatur for the whole thing so they could gain more control.
So you might think that I would agree with this point, but I do not. The reason is the same reason why these guys brought me on: Agile is being implemented from the ground-up whether companies like it or not. The natives are restless, developers are seeing the difference, and change continues to happen. Most of this top-down stuff you see is more a reaction to that than anything else. So yes, the guy in the top office is trying to take a big hammer and "do" Agile like he did everything else, but the guys on the shop floor are doing their best to do it the right way, no matter what.
The business and development divide has grown...we now have project managers as ScrumMasters. Yes we do in many places, but not always. Lots of teams are doing it different ways. I think you could look a this either way, depending on your personal experience. When I wrote a blog article last week about rotating the ScrumMaster role among different folks in the team (http://tiny-giant-books.com/blog/scrummasters-get-no-respect...) I had one CST come by and say basically "That's not a good thing. I've never seen it done like that!" But I also had a few people email me and thank me for bringing it up. It varies.
We can’t even appear as a united front. This is a biggie, but it's a feature, not a bug. Remember: Agile is not like Scrum. Scrum has a certification process and an ivory tower where you go and get blessed. Agile is just best practices for iterative and incremental development. It's a superset of Scrum, sure, but don't mix them up. Because it's best practices, there's a lot of conflict out there. But that's great! Give me a dozen different options and opinions, let's talk it out, and then I can make an informed decision. The noise is a good thing. People get mad because Agile seems so slippery. One guy said, "It's almost like 'whatever works the best' is then just called Agile." Yes! Exactly! It's changing as we continue to try new things and share more.
So cheer up! I'm starting to hear from companies that want to use Agile for all of their business processes, not just technology development. Eric Ries is doing an awesome job of taking Agile/Lean ideas into the startup world. I'm so optimistic I even spent a few weeks putting down my best thoughts for how to start your team on the best foot. (http://amzn.to/xUgFxL) I wouldn't have done that if I didn't think the market was out there for it.
I think Agile adoption is always going to suck -- but it's just because of the nature of trying to get large numbers of people to think differently. If your experience with Agile adoption sucks, it's probably because you are working in a place where a lot of things suck. That's a much bigger problem than just Agile.
Re: Warning Signs that Agile Is Declining
#6Badly managed businesses that are run the "top down" way the author describes typically have no respect or desire to understand the product development process they depend so heavily on for success and profit. No amount of "Agile" or "Lean", no consultant or trainer, no Kanban or Scrum board can really ever hope to change this for them if these organizations cannot self reflect and see that they are standing in their…
No amount of "Agile" or "Lean", no consultant or trainer, no Kanban or Scrum board can really ever hope to change this for them if these organizations cannot self reflect and see that they are standing in their own way.
You neglect the larger scale life cycle of such companies. Over time, in a large and varied environment, some group manages to do the right things. The real value of such group is recognized for a time, but then is lost to time and attrition. The project ages and becomes another outdated and sclerotic barrier to further progress.
The concepts and learning that has come from the agile and lean software movements are still valuable...But they are absolutely snake oil and worthless for those who are unwilling to put in this basic effort.
Basically, you want good people and a team culture that actually works.
Re: Warning Signs that Agile Is Declining
#7Getting things done is not that hard. I don't need a burn down chart and some dude with a Dilbertesque PHB role to do my job effectively. I view anyone waxing on about so-called agile in the same light as those who speak of synergistic paradigm shifts in innovation etc.
Re: Warning Signs that Agile Is Declining
#8The devil is in the details. You still need competent people to determine and estimate tasks, and to implement those tasks. Implementation is the biggie. How do you design the implementation? How complete are your tests? What are the important requirements of the task? There seems to continue to be this idea in management that process will take the place of skilled programmers. That you can then just plug any program…
Amen brother!
Re: Warning Signs that Agile Is Declining
#9Original url here:
http://www.gilzilberfeld.com/2011/12/4-warning-signs-that-ag...
Re: Warning Signs that Agile Is Declining
#10Warning sign 0: When it became Agile-with-a-capital-A
Capitalization means it's become a proper noun. A specific Thing. And everything that comes with that: canned methodologies, books on how to implement specific "Agile" processes, management retreats, certifications and all sorts of other senseless bureaucracy.
In other words, processes, tools, documentation, contracts, and plans. Not quite the kind of agility they were talking about in the manifesto. ( http://agilemanifesto.org/ )