Agile Basics

• Scrum works (not because it has 3 roles, 5 events, and 3 artifacts but) because…
  • it adheres to the underlying Agile principles of iterative, value-based incremental delivery
    • by frequently gathering customer feedback and embracing change
• Agile is
  • set of values and principles (Agile Manifesto)
  • a way of developing software that reminds us that although computers run the code, it’s people who create and maintain it (The Agile Samurai)
  • the courage to be honest enough to admit that building software is complex and it can’t be perfectly planned since requirements change
• 7 Principles of Continuous Innovation: describe what Agile is all about
  • 1. Delighting Clients
    • "Focus work on delighting the client"
  • 2. Self-Organizing Teams
    • "Do work through self-organizing teams"
  • 3. Client-Driven Iterations
    • "Do work in SMALL client-driven iterations"
  • 4. Delivering Value to Clients in Each Iteration
    • "Deliver value to clients in each iteration"
  • 5. Radical Transparency
    • "Be totally open about impediments to improvement"
  • 6. Continuous Self-Improvement
    • "Create a context for continuous self-improvement by the team"
  • 7. Interactive Communication
    • "Interactively share stories, questions, conversations"
• Agile is constant change
  • One of the key foundations of become Agile is the use of empiricism
  • Adaptation has many synonyms, of which ‘change’ is the most common
  • Inspect and adapt: After a short time, reflect on what has happened, how it affected, team decide what to do
  • focus on changing the environment to be better: This means that things will be different. If the situation is not different, then you have not acted on the learning
  • The resistance to change similar to how teams struggle
  • state of continuous improvement: agile tools and techniques to deliver a better product, more frequently
  • Constant Continual Learning: Experiment > Experience > Evaluate > Adjust
  • Some Reasons why teams get stacked:
    • They try to change too much
      • Solution: Limit the number of things that you are going to change, maybe to just 1
    • They don’t see anything to change
      • 2 extremes
        • Being overwhelmed
        • Not seeing any way
      • Solution: focus on a clear vision, a common goal, then the current state can be compared with that goal, and then find the one change that will give the most benefit for the least effort (ITG) Once a change, no matter how small, is enacted then you are moving and the momentum can grow
    • The team is changing at a rate faster than the organization can accept
      • Many organizations/leaders think that agile is a silver bullet, gets invoked & that’s all required
      • The organization needs to move to the mindset
      • responsibility of all the people helping develop the agility of the organization