In the first part of this series, I talked about how many teams who try to transform into “Agile” teams fail because they don’t actually understand what being “agile” is all about, or because they try to cut corners by not fully embracing (at the outset, at least) the fundamental requirements of the methodology that they have selected. Today, I’m going to focus on three additional complications that teams often run into when they run headlong down the path of “Agile” without actually embracing the precepts of “agility” that provide the highest likelihood of success.
The first is the importance of continuous improvement practices — how ignoring the process review ceremonies hurts everyone involved. The second is how a lack of clear goals and expectations will lead to inevitable disappointment and disillusionment — both from the team as well as stakeholders. And the final point is how even though there are specific practices and ceremonies that are recommended by Scrum, the entire point of being “agile” (not “Agile”) is to assess what you’re doing, how you’re doing it, and what you’re achieving, and make changes to get better — even if that means doing things that “aren’t” Scrum. [Read more…]