The longer I stay in the software development business the more I am convinced of certain things. One thing that has hit home recently is this very interesting fact – on the whole, those in charge of software delivery are fundamentally ignorant of how software is made. I have written previously about how software development is a creative process, but what amazes me is that the people who staff and manage software development fail to see how much communication is necessary to software development.
Apke’s Law
Most of my 7+ years of Agile coaching and scrum mastering has been working with existing waterfall organizations and helping them become more agile. During this period I have seen a wide range of companies and a wide range of successful adoption, but I have noticed one thing that is constant. This was brought home recently as I reflect on my most recent agile presentation/discussion given at Geekdom in San Antonio last week.
In this Agile open forum the majority of the questions dealt with transitioning from waterfall to agile. This is where I first publicly broached Apke’s law which states:
Your transition to agile will only go as far as the highest ranking manager who understands and supports it.
Recommended Reading
Since I am often asked (and often offer without being asked) what books I have read that have helped me to better understand and implement Agile, I have created a page for recommended reading. This (and posting a new blog update) has been something I have wanted to do for some time so I wanted to make sure I got something up.
I will update this list from time to time as I find more books that I think are worth the effort.
Predictability and The Gold Standard
I am often asked as an Agile Coach when I know that I have been effective at my job. The answer is simple- my work as a coach is done when the team in question is capable of being predictable.
And what, you may ask is predictable? For me it is a team that is capable of consistently delivering 90% or greater of points that have been planned for an iteration. I have given this capability a name. I call it the Gold Standard.
Philosophy Versus Practice
When trying to get waterfall teams and organizations to move to a more Agile development methodology there are two training strategies – philosophy and practice.
The philosophical approach relies on teaching the history of software development and the philosophy behind Agile – the manifesto and principles. This approach assumes that as long as one is equipped with the proper overriding principles then one will be able to make the correct decisions as challenges occur.
The practice strategy relies heavily on training the ceremonies, especially scrum ceremonies like standups, retrospectives, reviews, etc. This approach assumes that if you do the rights things that overtime the reasons for the practices will become apparent.
Want a Quick Agile Win? Try Office Hours
When you are an Agile Coach you sometimes must resign yourself to the fact that it will usually take team members awhile to get it and victories can be few and far between. One thing that I can recommend for a quick win and something that has worked well for me on multiple occasions (when it could be implemented) is something that I called office hours. I can only assume that I am not the one who invented this, but it is something that I “discovered” independently to solve the issue of resources being pulled into unproductive meetings when I needed them to be on task for our stories.