#AgileDoesNotHaveToBeThisHard. Insight #4.
“Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” Steve Jobs
Being purposefully incomplete is not simple.
I also don’t believe in putting the onus on agilists to solve problems that have been already solved over and over.
I see people complain about how hard Agile is or who just accept they are not going to do it well. But I see they are leaving things out. The results should be expected. But they do not have to be accepted.
I don’t like frameworks designed to be followed.
I like frameworks designed as support systems that help us think more clearly.
Here are some concepts and practices I’ve seen that help this in the knowledge workspace that are infrequently used. Each one that’s missing adds to the difficult teams face.
I don’t believe you are justified in complaining (or promoting the idea) that product development is difficult if you’re not using (or teaching) these. Note: this is a partial list.
Theory
– First principles
– value streams
– using feedback to be effective in complex situations
Requirements
– understanding the values and success criteria of stakeholders
– MVPs a la Eric Ries
– Minimum Business Increments
– customer journey
Value Creation Structures
– focused solution teams
– borrowed team member
– shared team member
Supporting learning
– using theory to access people’s dormant knowledge
– checklists
– virtual collaboration boards
Coaching methods
– how to reduce the learning curve using what people already almost know
Practices
– team estimation
– planning based on MBIs
Technical
– test first
– automated testing
Learning these things takes some time. But more time is wasted with ineffective ways of teaching than it takes learning these concepts. The above integrated with common concepts represents no more than 5 days of workshops and takes you from team to midscale (up to 450 people in development).
You can get introduced to these for free in my #Amplio Community of Practice. Sessions Monday at 1-3pm pacific and Wednesdays 7-9am Pacific through mid-September. All sessions recorded. See picture for how to register and get more information.