Being Agile vs. Doing Agile

There are many methodologies and tools available today for doing agile. Unfortunately, being agile is not as simple as selecting one of these methodologies or buying a tool and prescriptively rolling it out to the organization. Being agile requires changes to you organization by adopting agile values that drive significant cultural changes.

Agile does not map or fit to your current processes or organizational structure. Adopting agile will be disruptive to your organization and culture. The changes will take time and the organization will experience Tuckman's stages of group development: forming, storming, norming, performing along the way. Becoming an agile organization will require top down fundamental changes in mindset, values, and principles.

Too many organizations want to “implement" and "scale" agile to their organization instead of making their organization agile. The paradigm shift from a command and control culture to one that empowers and trusts teams to solve problems and deliver innovative solutions is difficult for most organizations. Agile adoption is not a destination, but a journey. The organization should be constantly evolving the agile process through lessons learned during retrospectives.

To be agile, stay true to the agile manifesto values (http://agilemanifesto.org)

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change over following a plan

 and principles (http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html)

• Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
• Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.
• Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
• Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
• Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
• The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
• Working software is the primary measure of progress.
• Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
• Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
• Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential.
• The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
• At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.