The Agile Solar System
Recently, I had the chance to review and re-read the Agile Manifesto and came to realize how relatable the Agile Manifesto is to our Solar System. The more I was thinking about it, the more I realized that we can actually compare our Solar System with the Agile Manifesto.
Let’s break it down by remembering the Principles of Agile Manifesto and the components of our Solar System and together create the “ Agile Solar System”
The Sun
Much like our Solar System, Agile has a center, has something that all our actions, thought process, principles and tools revolves around it.
For Agile, our sun would be the customer/ end user/ consumer. Agile has a customer centric approach. Our first and foremost priority in Agile is the customer and delivering value to them “through early and continuously delivery of valuable software” (Agile Manifesto — first principle). Much like the Sun is solar system, customer is our center, and what guides our business and design decisions.
The Planets (Pluto included)
With our customer in the center of our attention and them being our light that guides us, we have the planets/ rest of principles that helps us keep the system together and support our customer centric approach.
- Welcoming the change, embracing the feedback received early enough from the end user and adjust our plans. With agile mindset and approach, we should embrace the change even if it comes late in the development process. We should respond to change over following a plan.
- Delivering working software frequently (depending on our iteration’s duration), will enable us to have more frequent contact with our end user and respond fast enough to the new requirements and needs.
- Business side and development teams must work together daily throughout the project, so we make sure that there is alignment between the business goals and the software produced by the team. Working together with business will allow the team to make proposals and discuss about technical aspect of newly proposed features. Essentially, Development teams working together with business will help establish an open communication and collaboration and have a sense of accomplishing a common goal.
- The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face to face conversation. Of course, during the remote work working on the same space and seeing our colleagues face to face is not possible, but for sure we now live in an era that we have all tools possible to keep a very close contact with our coworkers.
- When coming to terms with measuring our progress, there is only one measuring unit — working software. Demonstrating a working software is a great asset for the motivation and accomplishment of the development team.
- The agile processes help with sustainable development. The artifacts, the events and the roles in each agile framework are there to help the evolving parties (business, development teams, consumers) maintaining a constant pace.
- Technical excellence and good design are what enables us to be agile, respond to change faster and establish a continuous delivery. Technical work and design is essential aspect and should not be neglected, it should go hand in hand with the business features. Remember, technology is our enabler for continuous delivery.
- Retrospect on how to improve and evolve, become more efficient, and adjust our behavior accordingly help both the team and the business side grow.
- Finally, “simplicity — the art of maximizing the amount of work not done- is essential”. In Agile, we need to think simple, think with MVPs, think incrementally. Only then we will be able to establish this constant delivery pace. We need to “Stop starting and start finishing”.
Gravity
In regards to the power that keeps everything together, I would say in Agile is the development teams.
Having self- organizing teams empowers your system to grow.. “ The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self — organizing teams.” That is why is very important to keep the team motivated, to quote the Agile Manifesto: “ Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done”.
As we saw from above, it is visible that there are relations between our Sola System and the principles of Agile Manifesto. Each of these parts of the universe play key role in establish balance in the universe, similarly to each principle of the manifesto. Every single aspect/ principle brings us closer to agility and technological and business advancement, closer to satisfying our customer needs with a technologically strong software, built by high motivated and self — organizing teams.
