Welcome to the first of what I hope will be useful, informative or interesting blogs on cricket and software.
Agile From The Boundary
The Agile Manifesto written in 2001 (http://agilemanifesto.org/) says quite a lot in a succinct way. Rather than dictating what you should or should not do, it simply states where they believed the most value was. Not that processes, tools, comprehensive documentation or plans had no value.
The thing that scares most managers and for that matter BA’s is the common misconception that if you ‘do’ Agile, (do being a very loaded word, you should strive to ‘become’ agile) you ‘don’t’ document and control. Nothing could (or perhaps should) be further from the truth.
Cricket matches take place on a field surrounded by a boundary. That does not mean nothing exists beyond it. Scorers pay close attention, recording everything that happens in detail. The Laws of the game dictate the parameters of play. In International cricket there are even extra umpires in the stands providing support through television replays. Spectators look on to applaud outstanding efforts and laugh at mistakes. While the domain is clearly marked, the documents (scorebook) and controls are close at hand.
Software development is really no different. While we strive to become agile there are boundaries surrounding us. We use visual boards as aids to help plan, but like the scorers, if close attention is not paid and each action recorded by updating the board it’s all too easy to get off plan, lose sight of your goals and then spend time wondering what is happening.
Our Laws are our customers’ goals. They dictate the parameters of our game. Each cricket team can come up with its own plans and methods on how to achieve its goals, whether scoring runs or taking wickets and that goal may change as we play more. That is where the best cricket teams (and software teams) can adapt to the situation as it changes. Change is inevitable and so is learning. As we learn more we adapt accordingly.
Management and Customers are our spectators, looking on to see how the game unfolds. If we delight out customers they will applaud our efforts. If we make serious mistakes, management almost certainly won’t laugh but ongoing opportunities to engage them will diminish and we will lose trust.
So strive to become agile but remember where the boundary is and what lies beyond.
Agile From The Boundary
The Agile Manifesto written in 2001 (http://agilemanifesto.org/) says quite a lot in a succinct way. Rather than dictating what you should or should not do, it simply states where they believed the most value was. Not that processes, tools, comprehensive documentation or plans had no value.
The thing that scares most managers and for that matter BA’s is the common misconception that if you ‘do’ Agile, (do being a very loaded word, you should strive to ‘become’ agile) you ‘don’t’ document and control. Nothing could (or perhaps should) be further from the truth.
Cricket matches take place on a field surrounded by a boundary. That does not mean nothing exists beyond it. Scorers pay close attention, recording everything that happens in detail. The Laws of the game dictate the parameters of play. In International cricket there are even extra umpires in the stands providing support through television replays. Spectators look on to applaud outstanding efforts and laugh at mistakes. While the domain is clearly marked, the documents (scorebook) and controls are close at hand.
Software development is really no different. While we strive to become agile there are boundaries surrounding us. We use visual boards as aids to help plan, but like the scorers, if close attention is not paid and each action recorded by updating the board it’s all too easy to get off plan, lose sight of your goals and then spend time wondering what is happening.
Our Laws are our customers’ goals. They dictate the parameters of our game. Each cricket team can come up with its own plans and methods on how to achieve its goals, whether scoring runs or taking wickets and that goal may change as we play more. That is where the best cricket teams (and software teams) can adapt to the situation as it changes. Change is inevitable and so is learning. As we learn more we adapt accordingly.
Management and Customers are our spectators, looking on to see how the game unfolds. If we delight out customers they will applaud our efforts. If we make serious mistakes, management almost certainly won’t laugh but ongoing opportunities to engage them will diminish and we will lose trust.
So strive to become agile but remember where the boundary is and what lies beyond.
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