Working Agile

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The reason so many knowledge workers hate on Agile isn't because it's bad or broken; they have just encountered what I call the Cult of Agile.

When it's turned into a religion with strict adherence and unbreakable laws, it is no better than the waterfall that came before it. You will be bogged down in meetings for the sake of meetings, have your brain filled with useless jargon, and any attempt at bringing common sense to the table will be shunned by someone with a SCRUM certification you’ve never heard of.

Do not let them fool you, that isn't Agile.

⁠

Manifesto for Agile Software Development

The entire document from 2001 can be read

here⁠

, but the core of it is this...

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:

— Individuals and interactions over processes and tools — Working software over comprehensive documentation — Customer collaboration over contract negotiation — Responding to change over following a plan

A Philosophy, Not A Religion

Many who have worked within an “agile environment” have never seen the Manifesto or read (or heard of)

the 12 principles⁠

, which feel like the solution to all the ills that corporate Agile adherants have forced upon us.

So, to get them better known, I’ll repeat them here...

We follow these principles:

1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.

2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.

3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.

4. Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.

5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.

6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.

7. Working software is the primary measure of progress.

8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.

9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.

10. Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential.

11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.

12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.

At least in my experience, these principles do not reflect the working environment I’ve seen across the industry; small-mid sized ad agencies, corps of any size, even start-ups. You are often there to satisfy the business, not the customer... you’re allergic to changing requirements instead of welcoming them... everyone is isolated outside of the daily stand-up meeting... you’re micro-managed to the teeth instead of trusted to do your work... and so on...

But even in some of the worst situations, the tools are there and waiting to be used in better ways.

Small Tweaks, Not Overhauls

We need to change the culture around “agile” and that’s much easier to do by making small changes inside of our teams, instead of convincing leaders of sweeping rollouts done for the entire org. So the sub-pages here approach an Agile workplace from this angle.

We can fix it... it’ll just take a little elbow grease and a dab of patience.

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