pragmatic agility

Pragmatic Agility

Kevin Matheny, Binary Star Consulting

Agenda

What Agile is (and isn’t)

Why you want to use it

Advice on how to succeed with it

Who is this guy?Kevin Matheny

16 years in ecommerce, 10 years in advertising

Agile since 2002, full-time since 2008

Anthropologist, not an engineer

What is Agile?

What it isn’tA silver bullet

A magic formula

Anti-planning

Anti-documentation

A goal

What it is“Agile Software Development is an umbrella term for a set of methods and practices based on the values and principles expressed in the Agile Manifesto.

Solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional teams utilizing the appropriate practices for their context."

https://www.agilealliance.org/agile101/what-is-agile/

Many methodsScrum

Kanban

And many more

The Agile Manifesto

www.agilemanifesto.org

A closer look

www.agilemanifesto.org

12 Principles• 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.

Universal* agile practices• Daily communication inside the team• Short planning cycles• Frequent delivery and feedback• Documentation focused on why and who

(rather than how and what)• Commitment to getting better over time• Retrospectives

Common agile practices

• Direct engagement with customers• Physical co-location• Shared ownership of code• Automated testing• Test Driven Development• Continuous Integration

That's all well and good, but why would I

want to use these methods?

Because it’s not 1911• Shift from artisanship to

industrial production• Scientific Management

separates planning from execution to gain efficiency

• Managers from Workers• Design from Production• Still informs how we work today

Do we know enough to make good plans?

Estimating is hard

Predictions are hard

Delivery has an impact

Things change

How much certainty do we have about the

future?

Use the right tools

• High certainty: plan up front• Low certainty: iterate and experiment

How to succeed with Agile

Be careful with words

Words are complex things

Denotations (direct meanings)

The meaning of words is contextual and social

The meaning of words is not fixed

Words are given meaning by the listener, not the speaker

An example would be handy right about now

I’m shopping for a pickup

I want to replace the one I have now

I’m open to either new or used

Quality and reliability are key considerations

Can you recommend a brand?

Probably not this

Seek to understand• Sit together – maximize opportunities for

learning• Treasure your new people• Ask for definitions• Restate for understanding• Capture everything!

Maximize communication

• http://www.agilemodeling.com/essays/communication.htm

Plan for change• The further out something is, the higher

the chance it will change

• Don’t make detailed plans more than 2-3 months out

• Key events are worth planning for (Black Friday for retail, for example)

• Regard old requirements with deep suspicion

Book utilization at no more than 70%…

… because this is 95%

Thank you!

@kevinmatheny

kevin.matheny@binarystarconsulting.com

kevinmatheny.com/wordpress

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