agile myths

Agile Myths

... from the "real world"

Agile Latvia Evening 26.08.2010

Dmitry Buzdin

What are Agile Myths?

An excuse not to use Agile or some of the Agile Practices because of the "real world" conditions

Myths, where do they come from?

• old habits• previous experience• lack of knowledge• no hands on experience• fear of change/responsibility/transparency...

Spot the Reality Competition

If Myth is real --> raise your hand

Disclaimer

All infomation in given presentation is based on speaker's personal experience and reality he lives in...

Developer Myths

Myths about Test Driven Development

• TDD makes me slow • Real code is too complex to test• Unit Testing is a separate product• Just a waste of time

Reality: Test Driven Development

• yes, it takes more time now because ...• ... you do not know how to do that• ... it will save time later • ... it makes you think

Myths about Pair Programming

• Takes twice as much time• Not so good idea• Not efficient

Reality: Pair Programming

• It will not save time now• Knowledge sharing• Constant reviews• Not necessary for the whole day• Impossible if developers are against

Myths about Agile in Big Teams

• Not for Big Teams• Not for Distributed Teams• Our daily meetings take too much time• Total Chaos

Reality: Agile in Big Teams

• Split teams to smaller ones, by functionality/location/other• Distributed collaboration can be automated• Strict daily meeting format

Myths about Agile Developers

• Only highly skilled and talented could do agile• You can not just become agile • That is why agile is not working...

Reality about Agile Developers

• Simply follow the rules • Responsibility is the key• Skilled developers are welcome• Newcomers are involved from day one

Recap of Developer Myths

• Spend more time today to save time tomorrow• Every team can do Agile

Manager Myths

Myths about Having No Process

• Agile throws away processes• Agile replaces "bureaucracy"• Our CMMI Level 4 is incompatible with Agile

Reality: Having No Process

• Agile is more disciplined than "ad-hoc" development• Reliance on practices• Continuous feedback• Measurable progress• Continuous improvement

Myths about No Documentation

• Documentation should be discarded• "I am agile, I do not need documentation"...

Reality about No Documentation

• Documentation is not forbidden • Documentation should be generated• No documents for sake of the documents

Myths about Agile and Customers

• Agile is impossible in Fixed-Price contracts• Our customer should be on-site• Our customer should be agile

Reality: about Agile and Customers

• Possible with any type of contracts• Agile is for you, not for the customer• Backlog is the key• Pick customer from your team

Recap on Manager Myths

• Having as little process and documentation as possible• But no less than that!• Customer should not necessary be Agile• Agile is about efficiency and responsibility

General Myths

Myth: We are Already Agile!

• We are already Agile enough

Reality for being Agile

Agile is a strive for excellence, not a stop

Myth about Agile Solving any Problem

• Agile will rescue our project• Agile will make me happy• Agile will cut the development costs• Agile does the job for you by automation

Reality: Agile Solves Any Problem

• Not a silver bullet• Takes time and commitment to master• Will not be effective during first X

weeks/iterations/months/releases/years• Sorry for that...

The Grand Myth: My Project is Unique

Agile is great, but my project is very special, because of design/code/customer/technology/team/...

The Reality

NO, it was implemented hundreds of times!!! ... there is nothing special about your clustered real-time embeddable enterprise project

Conslusions

• If project is not special, Agile just might work •  • Most of the myths have some ground• It is all about people• Adopt practices one by one• Do not go blindly into agile• Think...

Anything Else to Add?

Questions?

What other Myths have you encountered?• a - ...• b - ...• c - ...• d - ...• e - ...• f - ...

Who am I?

Dmitry Buzdin  Software developer/architect practicing Agile since 2005. Currently working in C.T.Co.

Reach me by buzdin@gmail.com