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Agile Myths and Misconceptions
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Transcript of Agile Myths and Misconceptions
Agile Myths and Misconceptions
Myth #1:
Agile is a Methodology
Methodology- pretentious misused term for “process”
- If situation X, do Y...- Do activity A, then B, then C...- Use template 1, diagram 2...- The output of M is the input of N...
Methodologies: Scrum, XP, Kanban...
Agile is Principles & Values
Agile Manifesto
12 Agile Principles
4 XP Values
7 Principles of Lean Software Development
Agile reduces process, which must be replaced by values to work.
Agile is Principles & Values
Customer Satisfaction, Customer Value
Evidence-Based Decision-Making
Technical Excellence
Feedback, Visibility, Courage
Eliminating Waste
Human Interaction
Etc...
Myth #2:
Agile is Project Management
Agile Has Equal (or greater) Focus on Engineering
Early Agile methodologies were heavy on engineering
– Test-Driven Development, Coding Practices, Design Patterns, etc.
Scrum originally focused on just project management, but lately is reemphasizing engineering
“There's a mess I've heard about with quite a few projects recently. It works out like this:
“They want to use an agile process, and pick Scrum
“They adopt the Scrum practices, and maybe even the principles
“After a while progress is slow because the code base is a mess”
- - Martin Fowler
Agile Manifesto Signatory, ThoughtWorks Chief Scientist, Author
The Cost of Bad Code
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 2520
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Iteration
Velo
city
Team Capacity
Team Capacity
Requirements FeaturesDevelopment
Team Capacity
Team Capacity
Requirements FeaturesDevelopment
Bugs Bug Fixing
Team Capacity
Team Capacity
Requirements FeaturesDevelopment
Technical Debt
Bugs Bug Fixing
Technical Debt
Team Capacity
Team Capacity
Requirements FeaturesDevelopment
Technical Debt
Bugs Bug Fixing
Myth #3:
Agile is Short Milestones
Waterfall withMany Short Milestones
● Iterations 1 – 4: Requirements Gathering● Iterations 5 – 8: Design● Iterations 9 – 16: Implementation● Iterations 17 – 20: SIT/UAT● Iterations 21 – 24: Production Support
Module Milestones(Multiple Short Waterfalls)
Phase 1: Ordering Module
Phase 2: Order Processing Module
Phase 3: Billing Module
Phase 4: User Management
Iterative Development
It's not just about frequent deliveries
Software is Evolved
Software is Evolved
Reach potentially-shippable state as quickly as possible.
All succeeding deliveries should maintain to be potentially-shippable state.
Working software produced at each iteration
Progress measured by working features
● No such thing as “X% complete”, only done and not done at the end of a sprint
Done means tested, ready to deploy
Myth #4:
Agile Cannot Work with Fixed Budgets
Fixed-Budget, Fixed-Scope
Typical Scenario:
1. Project budget and detailed requirements are set in beginning.
2. Requirements are achieved, with plenty of overtime, and usually delays.
3. System is unusable because of mismatch to business needs and bugs.
4. Additional project phases needed to accommodate actual business needs and fix bugs.
5. Repeat X times.
So what happened to the fixed budget?
In Agile...
Budgets are fixed.
– Based on team composition and duration.
Business objectives are defined.
– First to market? Win customers from competition? Reduce cost? Integrity of financial transactions? Reduce human error? Reduce process time?
Scope is variable.
Deliver something early that meets business needs.
– Early ROI
Base succeeding iterations on feedback.
– Customer uptake, stakeholder feedback, etc.
When project ends, organization is left with a valuable, useful product, within a fixed budget.
Myth #5:
Agile is Unpredictable
Agile is Evidence-Based Decision-Making
● Requirements of future iterations based on user feedback from previous iterations.
● Schedules are based on experience from previous iterations.
● Architecture based on Spikes, not literature.
Waterfall Decision-Making is...
...Creative Writing
Myth #6:
Agile MeansNo Upfront Design
Agile Design is Evidence-Based
Architectures are based on Spikes
– Subjected to tests (ex. performance)
Enough detail for team to get started.
– Design expected to evolve, collaboratively.
Waterfall design is... yes, creative writing.
– Designs are not validated by code.
– Details not based on feedback.
Myth #7:
Agile MeansNo Documentation
Agile Means Documentation that is Actually Read
User Stories are in a form that is meaningful to all parties, expresses business objectives.
Acceptance Tests removes ambiguity from requirements.
Unit Tests describe the behavior of methods.
Traditional Requirements...
Use Cases, etc, are devoid of business context.
– Developers & stakeholders do not have basis to discuss better solutions that still meet business objectives.
No automated way to validate if requirements and code are aligned.
Myth #8:
Agile Will Prevent Problems
Agile will make problems visible, early and often.
…so that they are easier to fix.
– Expect to initially experience more problems, not less.
Waterfall reveals problems only later, when they are hard to fix.
Myth #9:
Agile Means No Managers
“Self-Organizing Teams”
“There’s a reason we use the term 'self-organizing' rather than 'self-organized' or 'self-managed.'
“That’s because it’s a process and a characteristic, not something that is done once and for all.”
- Esther Derby
Self-Organizing Team: Mature, responsible, self-directed courageous people.
– Aligned with company objectives
– Solicits and provides feedback
– Productivity visible to the organization
– Works within financial and regulatory boundaries.
To get there: Different people/teams need different management approaches.
– Maturity, culture, motivation, discipline, awareness, etc.
Myth #10:
Agile Means Weak Control
Traditional Control
Status Reports
– “We are 90% done.”• Based on what?
Agile Control Feedback
Working Features
Customer Satisfaction!
Test Coverage
Performance Tests
Velocity / Burndown Charts
Fine-grained commits, commit logs
Continuous Integration
Static Analysis
– Cyclomatic Complexity
– Coding Standards
– Common Bugs
– Technical Debt
Web Analytics
Myth #11:
Agile is Easy
Most companies think it will only take months to adopt Agile...
… it usually takes years
… because it is mainly a cultural shift.
Painful mistakes will be made along the way.
Organizational changes will need to be made, throughout the company.● Performance Management process, Marketing involvement,
Budgeting Cycles, etc.
Myth #12:
You're Agile orYou're Not Agile
Agile is a Continuum
No such thing as a “perfectly Agile” team.
● Constraints – other departments, maturity of team members, clients, schedules, regulation, etc.
● Continuous improvement – always something that can be done better
Be iterative in your Agile adoption.
● Take small steps that will achieve quick wins.● What one value or practice can you adopt this
week/month that will show visible gains?
Recommended Readings
Interested in learning more?
facebook.com/orangeandbronze
Online Magazine:orangeandbronze.com/orange-orchard
www.orangeandbronze.com