May 3, 2011 Agile is a Transformation, not a Proclamation
Here at Appfire we're in a fortunate position to be able to work with hundreds of different customers every year. Each week we meet with new, highly-skilled product development teams, many of whom are responsible for some of the best consumer-based products in the world.
Many of these organizations have either already implemented Agile within their development process or they're on a path to do so. In both cases, they've made the decision that their teams, and their business, aligns best with Atlassian's tools, and they contacted Appfire for our expertise.
Regardless of each organization's experience with Agile, when we're working with new customers, we always remind them of the important fact that:
"Agile is a transformation, not a proclamation!"
The reality is that "going Agile" is not as simple as just throwing a switch. Agile methodologies take time to adopt, foster, tune and grow within your organization. The mechanics can be a little tricky at first and appear a bit cumbersome at times, but with the right tooling, time and patience you will get there ...and you will see the benefits.
Agile also works best when all of the teams who touch your product have a clear understanding of how it's been implemented (or will be implemented) and how it is used throughout your organization. Once you've gained adoption, Agile is always in continuous motion - ever evolving and growing. Each phase of use becomes an informed transformation of your past activities.
The very best product development teams have already accepted these truths. As I write this, I'm looking around my desk and I see at least five popular consumer products that were developed by companies using Atlassian products - all of whom have had Appfire's assistance with their unique tooling goals and Agile programs. Each product is something I couldn't go without in my day-to-day life, and I'm pretty certain you'd say the exact same thing. I can tell you that not one of these five companies just "flipped a switch". Not one of them simply proclaimed "we are Agile". Each one reached out for guidance, prepared, adopted, learned and evolved. Each one is effectively sharing their use of Agile with their entire product development organization. All five are transforming and improving day-by-day ...and their products speak for themselves.
Reader Comments (1)
Brilliant, Randy. Probably, the most important thing in SCRUM is the retrospective. You must refine your development mechanics and your working culture, iteration by iteration.
You must find your own path, not proclaiming it.