Agile foundation and agile myths

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Agile Foundation, Promises and Myths

Executive Brief For

Turner Broadcasting PMO



Better Software Delivery

• Get working software to market faster• Optimize resources• Improve predictability of delivery• Satisfy customer needs• Improve delivery capability



Software Development Circa 1994

Technology is a key driver for business strategies

But most business weren’t very successful at it



The Predictive Approach

To improve software delivery we need to:

• Standardize processes• Optimize resource utilization• Perform Rigorous up-front design• Produce Comprehensive documentation• Get commitment to a definitive Scope, Cost and

Schedule• Enforce strict adherence to the detailed plan



Predictive ApproachUnderlying Assumptions

Scope• All requirements are

knowable initially• Requirements can be

documented completely up front to guide development

• Change requests provide sufficient flexibility to new and/or clarified needs

Variation• Tasks required to

deliver requirements can be precisely known and estimated

• Tasks must start and finish according to the predictive schedule



Predictive Approach: Underlying Assumptions

Process• Software engineering

is linear in nature• Manufacturing-centric

practices apply directly to software engineering



Agile Manifesto

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it.

Through this work we have come to value:

• Individuals and interactions over process and tools

• Working software over comprehensive documentation

• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

• Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.



PREDICTIVE / AGILECOMPARISON



Get to Market Faster

Predictive Approach• The best way to finish projects faster is to dictate that all tasks

be finished on time

Flaw • Variation from estimates is natural

Agile • Separate estimates from execution. Promote Road Runner

behavior.



Optimize Resource Utilization

Predictive Approach• The highest ROI depends on maximum resource utilization

Flaw • Software development is not linear in nature – Optimizing

resources doesn’t improve cycle time, it creates WIP and lost knowledge.

Agile• Focus on finishing and flow of work



Predictive Approach• Planning every detail up-front results in stable projects

Flaw• You don’t know where you are until you deliver things.

Agile• Frequent delivery of tested, deployable solutions provides the

best learning and predictability (you can trim the tail)

Business Value GrowingKnowledge Growing (risk reduction)

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

Cost Value

$ in

k

Improve Predictability



Satisfy Customer Needs

Predictive Approach• Study the problem until you know everything

Flaw• We can not have perfect (even reliable) up front knowledge of

all tasks, how to do them, how long they will take, or what challenges we will face.

Agile• Get started early delivering value and get customer

feedback



Improved Capability

Predictive Approach• Rigorous adherence to work standards, hand-offs, and detailed “how”

based process

Flaw• Every team, product, and situation is different with different needs

and strengths

Agile• Engaged, fully capable, self organizing teams that are continually

assessing their performance and applying situation specific strategies, processes and practices



Better ways of developing software

Agile Methods deliver on the promise:

• Get to market faster• Optimize resources• Improve predictability• Satisfy customer

needs• Improve delivery

capability

Because Agile is designed to deal with these realities:

• Inevitable uncertainty in scope

• Natural variation from estimated task effort

• Non-linear nature of software engineering



AGILE MYTHS



No Planning

Origins• Comprehensive detailed

planning is not realistic• Treating estimates as

commitments destroys moral and value

Agile Approach• Identify major outcomes,

milestones & dependencies

• Plan & prioritize backlog iteratively

• Establish context & simple policies



No Documentation

Origin• Detailed up front spec’s

are wrong in retrospect• Perfect documentation

provides little customer value but results in delays and rework

Agile Approach• Document high level,

stable concepts• Just in time detail• Rich forms of

communication• Focus on long lived doc’s

that support adoption and achieving value



No Commitments

Origin• Tasks cannot be defined,

much less estimated, up front

• Committing to tasks does not ensure the project is on track

Agile Approach• Estimate the big project by

order of magnitude• Commit at the sprint level• Demonstrate predictable

delivery of working software

Commit at OOM

Commit to PO Pull work -

Commit to Team



No Process

Origin• Detailed process is different

from task to task• And difficult & wasteful to pre-

determine & enforce• Teams know the most about

the task in the moment

Agile Process• Establish standards & policy• Establish competencies within

teams• Teams self-organize armed

with most current understanding

• Automate repetitive processes



No PM, BA, QA

Origin• Scrum does not specify PM,

BA, QA• Agile started with small teams

where a Product Owner embodied these functions

Agile Approach• These competencies still exist

either on the team or coordinated by the Product Owner

• Larger org’s require a PO team

PM

BA

QA

PO

DEV

DBA

UI

Product Owner Team

Development Team



CONCLUSION



How do you know you’re Agile?

The question is not are you Agile

Where are you on the Agile scale?• Balance predictive and Agile methods where

appropriate to optimize your organizations ability to deliver value



Summary

• Agile arose in response to problems with predictive planning

• Balance predictive planning and Agile execution to achieve these goals of software delivery– Get working software to market faster– Optimize resources– Improve predictability of delivery– Satisfy customer needs– Improve delivery capability

• When applied responsibly and purposefully, the appropriate Agile efforts will dramatically improve the ability to deliver software.



QUESTIONS?

Dennis StevensPresident, SynaptusEnabling the Agile Enterprisewww.synaptus.comwww.dennisstevens.com

http://www.synaptus.com/

http://www.dennisstevens.com/

Agile foundation and agile myths

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