Scrum vs. Kanban vs. The Matrix
If your company forces you to use one particular framework or process, I immediately feel sorry for you. That is not an environment where you are going to do your best growing or learning.
But many teams and companies struggle with this idea. Which process is best for us? If you’ve read much in the agile universe, you already know the answer. No one process fits all problems. In fact, I might even argue the extreme: that no process should be used in exactly the same way, regardless. The idea of there being a textbook definition doesn’t even exist.
There is no spoon.
If you’re a sci-fi geek, you immediately know what I mean. Reality is an illusion. We have to use our minds to interpret, shape, and understand what is around us. And just as the spoon is a tool like any agile process, it may be used in many ways and we must decide on our own unique approach and utility for taking advantage of that process. But in order to do that, one must first know their own desired outcomes and why they exist. What is your team’s vision an purpose? Who are the customers? Who are your stakeholders? Then you can worry about using an agile method to get things done.
Every team adopting a new agile process tends to go through a learning curve (a Satir Change Model curve) that starts with the disruption of learning the mechanics, some period of time of adjustment to settle into a new normal, followed by a period of higher productivity and results. You’ve probably also heard of the phrase Shu Ha Ri, a Japanese martial arts concept describing the phases of learning on your way to mastery. And like Danielson in the Karate Kid, you may need to learn the awkward mechanics first (wax on and wax off, etc.) before you can apply those rules and start to embody the purpose and utility of what you know. And only after using and experimenting and truly embracing the knowledge, experience, and the spirit of why those rules exist can you innovate, bend, and expand upon them as a master. As you might guess, I prefer a similar analogy using Neo from The Matrix. After all, bending the spoon is impossible. Once you’ve achieved a mastery level, you will realize the truth (i.e. the agile mindset has clicked for you and you understand why we work this way) then you will realize it is not the spoon that bends, but it is only yourself.
Almost any team can use the concepts from Scrum or Kanban to get their work done. Some start by using the simple constraints of Scrum to timebox their work and learn the mechanics of building feedback loops, thinking iteratively and embracing transparency, inspection, and adaptation. Some decide their work is more unpredictable and prefer to focus on visualizing the work and optimizing flow instead using concepts like limiting Work in Progress and Continuous Improvement from Kanban.
Most teams, as they learn and grow realize the process that suits them best will often include a blend of the two. But, first, it is more important to become a master of the agile mindset and the principles and values that come with all agile and lean processes. Then, Neo, it is inevitable.
You know the question as well as I do. What process is right for you?
It’s the question that drives us. It’s the question that brought you here. The answer is out there. It’s looking for you. And it will find you, if you want it to.
Hi, I’m Brian Link, an Enterprise Agile Coach who loves his job helping people. I call myself and my company the “Practical Agilist” because I pride myself on helping others distill down the practices and frameworks of the agile universe into easy to understand and simple common sense. I offer fractional agile coaching services to help teams improve affordably. See more at FractionalAgileCoach.com
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