MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE ARGUING THAT AGILE DOESN’T WORK..
Even more people argue that – we’ve been doing this anyway! It’s the old stuff re-packaged!
Whatever your view, one thing is clear. Delivery needs to become a habit not a fluke. If one agile project can’t be delivered to the satisfaction of stakeholders and customers alike, then it sure as hell means that none of the others will totally be either.Agile is about practise but it is also about doing a certain number of things in a VERY disciplined way. The problem we have today with the proliferation of the ‘expert’ on the internet, (self-proclaimed ones mostly) is that the academic foundations of agile/ Scrum/ Lean are often ignored. Without the proper homework under-lying these methodologies, there is a weakening of them that leads to a dilution at scale. This is why the proper training is so important.
What’s more, lip service to an agile way of working is not good enough either and will not lead to a delivery culture. Agile challenges the command and control manager. If the organisational culture incentives this way of working then there is little hope for Agile to flourish in this environment.
Empowerment is an easy word to write but a very hard thing to teach. Empowerment comes from changing behaviours and this is what many who start on the agile journey don’t recognise up front.
HERE IS THE GUIDE WE SUGGEST FOR THE AGILE JOURNEY:
1. Observe what’s broken and also what’s working well
2. Baseline where you are
3. Work with senior executives on culture and prioritisation of projects. Gain buy in.
4. Build a course that gives everyone a common understanding
5. Create champions
6. Coach and follow up as necessary
Check out our Agile Transformers course.
BUT I HAVE TO AGREE WITH THESE GUYS: