I have previously considered Scrum applicability by project characteristics, identifying key project attributes that enable successful use of Scrum and others that recommend against it. Are there other conditions where Scrum might not be the methodology of choice?
Over the years I have seen a number of writers and speakers claim that military units are an example of or perhaps a model for Agile teams. To evaluate these assertions, let us consider the problems faced by military units, specifically those in combat, that might lead them to adopt Read more…
I have in a previous post, considered a possible origin of the idea of self-organizing team in Agile methodologies, concluding that I had not found the philosophical source for the practice. Continuing research has taken me back through a number of sources as illustrated below, with the lighter boxes being Read more…
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive,nor the most intelligent,but the one most responsive to change.”– Charles Darwin “If you want to make enemies,try to change something.”– Woodrow Wilson In the current business environment, the term “change management” has come to have a spectrum of meanings. One Read more…
I have discussed the topic of metaphors for software development before (in transportation, rugby, and house construction) but there seems to be no end of authors using the outside world to help communicate points about software development. Today I turn to a metaphor in Becoming Agile in an imperfect world Read more…
I have in previous posts (here and here), critiqued commonly used metaphors intended to illustrate Agile philosophy and benefits. Given those critiques, a question left unanswered is, what is a good metaphor for software construction projects? I think of house planning and construction as a suitable metaphor for enterprise system Read more…
I’ve often wondered where the idea of self-organizing teams originated and why the approach is considered essential to Agile methodology (see also post on Nonaka & Takeuchi). The idea is stated as the 11th Principle supporting the Agile Manifesto: “The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.” The Read more…
Fans of the Prairie Home Companion radio show will recognize the closing statement from the show that the community of Lake Wobegon is “…where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.” The last part, while appealing to its fictional Read more…
Perhaps the most cited reference defining and supporting Agile thinking is the 1986 Harvard Business Review article by Takeuchi and Nonaka, “The New New Product Development Game” (the first “new” is for the new process, the second “new” is for new products created by the process). It is this article Read more…
Business generally seems drawn to simple models and metaphors for understanding and communicating complex principles and organizational behavior. This leads us to everything from Porter’s 5-Forces Analysis and Myers-Briggs personality dichotomies to Who moved my cheese? and “peeling the onion.” Certainly, software development is not immune to this behavior and Read more…