The Missing Value in the Agile Manifesto
We’ve all heard the saying, when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Everyone wants a clear-cut answer and Agile prescriptions have become the solution. Everyone likes a yes or no answer to their problem. It’s great when you can simply say 1+1=2. Unfortunately, in the real world the answer is rarely so black and white.
We can certainly stop that cough and congestion with a prescription, but we may not recognize the underlying pneumonia. The patient may appear to be improving, but their lungs are filling with fluid. We have to look deep enough to find the real cure.
When we look at the original Agile Manifesto, we notice there are no prescriptions. Several of my heroes signed the original manifesto. I’ve often wondered if they could have foreseen what the many variants of Agile would become to organizations.
How each process would be heralded as the cure-all solution if you simply follow our advice exactly. Did your project fail? You must not be doing it right. I often wonder if they would add the following value:
Doing what works over adhering to a prescription
There’s nothing wrong with the prescriptions of the Agile variants and I use them on projects all the time. The problem comes with believing that a certain prescribed way of doing things is going to be the cure-all solution for every organization. Agile is more about creating a mindset than following a specific process.
Many of the most revered, highly-performing organizations never mention a specific Agile variant (think Spotify, Netflix). They are certainly following Agile principles and utilize what would be considered Agile techniques, but they don’t tend to adhere to a certain prescribed Agile process. Some of their methods are even copied so relentlessly they’ve almost become a prescriptive Agile approach of their own (e.g. the Spotify Model). So what does this tell us?
Don’t misunderstand what I’m recommending as, Do Whatever! A process is still important, but uncovering a process that works is what’s most important. Revisiting the opening of the Agile Manifesto:
We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it.
So what is our path forward? Start with learning:
Understand the concepts of Agile first
Read books and articles on the core concepts of Agile and lean thinking. Determine what rings true for your experience within your organization. Look at the culture of your team and determine where you find the biggest gaps. Share what you’ve learned with your team and be open to the ideas of others.
Learn the Agile prescriptions
Although it sounds like I’m railing against the prescriptions of Agile processes, these techniques are extremely valuable. The prescriptions of specific processes, whether it’s Scrum, KanBan, Extreme, TDD, etc. should be seen more as tools in your toolbox. Are we having trouble collaborating? Let’s try a daily standup meeting or pair programming. Are we having trouble visualizing where we are in a sprint? Let’s try a KanBan board. Is quality a major problem? Let’s focus on test-driven development (TDD).
Find what’s worked for similar organizations
Look for high performing companies within your industry or look for organizations that might be structured in a similar way. What Agile techniques have they used? Many companies have tried to emulate the Spotify model, but remember, Spotify as a company has Agile built into its DNA. What is a company similar to yours that has been successful and what can learn from them?
Understanding the concepts of Agile Software Development and how they fit within your organization are key to success. Blindly following prescriptions simply because the expert or the training course said so can lead your team down a path of failure.
My recent article series on building a high performing team can provide a starting guide to the core concepts of Agile Software Development. The series focuses on the key ingredients to a high performing Agile team:
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Originally published at https://focus.dev on November 8, 2022.
