What is Agile? — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:05Hi I’m Mark.
2. 0:07I help organizations write software more efficiently and often this means helping teams understand
3. 0:14what it means to develop in an Agile way.
4. 0:17In this video we are going to answer the question, “What is Agile?”
5. 0:22And just as important we’ll discuss what Agile is not.
6. 0:26Many things get called Agile—especially by people who are selling something.
7. 0:32If you ask the makers of paper products, they will tell you that to be Agile you need to
8. 0:37write user stories on the sticky note cards— that they just happen to sell.
9. 0:44If you ask a consultant, you’ll likely hear that it is a methodology for developing software
10. 0:49that your organization can learn—if you buy their services.
11. 0:55And if you talk to the makers of orthopedic shoes, you’ll be told that the key to being
12. 0:59Agile is meetings where everyone stands up.
13. 1:02So the more comfortable your shoes — the more Agile your team.
14. 1:07The actual definition of Agile is found in the Agile Manifesto.
15. 1:11The Manifesto makes it clear that Agile isn’t a methodology.
16. 1:15It isn’t a specific way of doing software development.
17. 1:18It isn’t a framework or a process.
18. 1:21In fact, most of the things that are marketed as Agile tend to miss the point of what Agile
19. 1:26actually is.
20. 1:29Agile is a set of values and principles.
21. 1:36Much of the discussion around Agile has to do with following different practices, using
22. 1:41various methodologies, and even developing with specific tools.
23. 1:46While these things might help a team that is trying to follow Agile, they aren’t Agile
24. 1:50in and of themselves.
25. 1:52For example, while a team may find that having a daily standup is helpful, the standup is
26. 1:59only “Agile” to the extent that it is the result of a team following the Agile principles
27. 2:04and values.
28. 2:06When you understand this, it is easy to see that Agile is really a collection of beliefs
29. 2:11that teams can use for making decisions about how to do the work of developing software.
30. 2:18While this means the term Agile gets subjected to a great deal of abuse when people claim
31. 2:24that this or that is the way to be Agile, it also means that if you truly understand
32. 2:30what Agile is, it is surprisingly flexible.
33. 2:34Agile doesn’t make decisions for you.
34. 2:37Instead it gives a foundation for teams to make decisions that result in better software
35. 2:45development.
36. 2:48The Agile Manifesto is only 68 words and very simply says that we can develop software better
37. 2:55by valuing the items on the left side of the list more than the items on the right side.
38. 3:00This is the Agile Manifesto says:
39. 3:05We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do
40. 3:10it.
41. 3:11Through this work we have come to value: • Individuals and interactions over processes
42. 3:17and tools • Working software over comprehensive documentation
43. 3:23• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation • Responding to change over following a
44. 3:33plan That is, while there is value in the items
45. 3:37on the right, we value the items on the left more.
46. 3:45In addition to the values of the Manifesto there are 12 principles that support the values.
47. 3:51Once again the principles are very general and are less about telling you what to do
48. 3:56than they are about giving you the ability to make a good decision in a particular situation.
49. 4:02The principles are:
50. 4:051.
51. 4:07Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable
52. 4:13software.
53. 4:152.
54. 4:17Welcome changing requirements, even late in development.
55. 4:22Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.
56. 4:283.
57. 4:30Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with
58. 4:36a preference to the shorter timescale. 4.
59. 4:42Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
60. 4:495.
61. 4:51Build projects around motivated individuals.
62. 4:55Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
63. 5:026.
64. 5:05The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development
65. 5:10team is face-to-face conversation.
66. 5:157.
67. 5:18Working software is the primary measure of progress.
68. 5:238.
69. 5:26Agile processes promote sustainable development.
70. 5:29The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
71. 5:389.
72. 5:42Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
73. 5:4910.
74. 5:51Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential.
75. 5:5911.
76. 6:02The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
77. 6:1112.
78. 6:13At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and
79. 6:19adjusts its behavior accordingly.
80. 6:24Since Agile is a collection of values and principles, it’s really utility is in giving
81. 6:30people a common foundation for making decisions about the best way to develop software.
82. 6:37For example, consider a new project that is in discussion on how to get the requirements
83. 6:44from the business owner.
84. 6:46The suggested approach is to require that the business owner write down all the requirements
85. 6:51and sign off on them before beginning the work.
86. 6:54A team that is following Agile would say: “While that might work, isn’t that inconsistent
87. 7:01with our belief that we should value customer collaboration over contract negotiation?
88. 7:07And doesn’t it violate our principle that says the developers should be working with
89. 7:11the business owners every day?
90. 7:15How can we make this decision in a way that is consistent with our values and the principles
91. 7:20we follow?”
92. 7:23Or consider a developer who is working on implementing a feature for the business owner.
93. 7:28The developer realizes he needs a database to make the feature work.
94. 7:32The first idea that comes to mind is to stop work on the feature and build out a robust
95. 7:37database layer that will handle the needs of the feature and provide support for other
96. 7:41development that will be needed later.
97. 7:45If the developer believes in the Agile values and is trying to follow Agile principles they
98. 7:50would think: “But building out this layer means I will
99. 7:55have to delay delivering what the customer can see as valuable software they can use.
100. 8:01If I can find a way to build just what is necessary to deliver this feature, it will
101. 8:06better align with my principles.”
102. 8:10When you have a team that is following Agile they will be making hundreds of decisions
103. 8:15each week in the way described above.
104. 8:18That is what it means to be Agile.
105. 8:20Making each decision based on the principles and values that the team has decided to follow.
106. 8:30The decision making process matters.
107. 8:33You can’t try to short circuit things by taking decisions made by another team and
108. 8:38just blindly doing what they decided to do.
109. 8:42Another team may make decisions based on the Agile principles and values and end up with
110. 8:47a particular way of doing their work.
111. 8:50Simply trying to mimic another team’s actions and practices won’t make your team Agile.
112. 8:59After World War II Melanesian islanders were observed trying to bring cargo planes and
113. 9:06their supplies from the sky by mimicking the practices they had seen performed during the
114. 9:11war.
115. 9:13This included clearing the forest to make a landing strip complete with full size planes
116. 9:18made out of straw.
117. 9:21They also created structures that mimicked a control tower out of bamboo and had someone
118. 9:27sit in it wearing headphones fashioned from coconuts.
119. 9:30It is easy to fall into a similar type of cargo cult mentality when it comes to Agile.
120. 9:36The things that are easy to notice in a highly functional Agile team are the practices they
121. 9:43are using.
122. 9:45But the practices a team uses is the result of following Agile principles and values.
123. 9:51It is less important what practices a team happens to be using than why they are using
124. 9:58it.
125. 9:59In fact, as time goes by, a good Agile team is probably going to change and refine the
126. 10:05practices they use.
127. 10:08A team might start with SCRUM and later find that Kanban is a better fit for delivering
128. 10:12value to their customers.
129. 10:15A team might begin standing up in a daily meeting and later decide it works better for
130. 10:20everyone to stay sitting down.
131. 10:23Another team might start out using Planning Poker to estimate story size and later do
132. 10:28away with story points and simply split stories to be approximately the same size.
133. 10:34That isn’t to say it is useless to look at practices being used by teams that are
134. 10:38performing well, but you can’t go looking for practices to make you Agile.
135. 10:44Your principles and values are what will make you Agile.
136. 10:48You have to look for practices that support your principles and values.
137. 10:53The way you select your practices is what determines whether you are being Agile or
138. 10:57not.
139. 10:59If a practice is being selected because it looks like a good way to follow Agile principles,
140. 11:03it is probably a good place to start.
141. 11:07The same practice can work poorly for a team if it is selected for the wrong reason.
142. 11:15So what is Agile?
143. 11:17Agile is a set of values and principles.
144. 11:20How does a team become Agile?
145. 11:24They make their decisions based on Agile values and principles.
146. 11:29The decision making process is how a team becomes Agile.
147. 11:32The values and principles have enough flexibility to allow teams in a wide variety of organizations
148. 11:39to develop software in the ways that work best for their particular situation while
149. 11:45providing enough direction to help a team continually move toward their full potential.