Comments on: The Two Faces of Agile

By: Mike Cottmeyer

Mike Cottmeyer — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 11:12:50 +0000

Thanks for the comment Ben!

By: Ben Linders

Ben Linders — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 05:21:16 +0000

Fully agree that fir Agile (or any methodology) to succeed, it should provide a solution to the problem at hand. Or better stated, the problem as it is percieved by the stakeholders. If there is a need to innovate, then Agile can help you, and there are lot’s of good ideas in Lean Startup. If you need to get your product out to your customers more quickly, take a look at lean software development. Which will probably also lower your costs by removing waste in your processes. If you have a complex problem at hand where a solution is needed, Agile can help you to work together effectively and iterate towards solutions.

So yes, it depends, and depending on what you need a different approach can be chosen. Which has to be clear for all involved to succeed.

By: Mike Cottmeyer

Mike Cottmeyer — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 14:10:48 +0000

For me Peter this is less about team dynamics and more about business objectives. If I sell a fixed price, fixed scope, fixed time deal to a customer… my goals as an agile development team becomes different. I’m not trying to figure out necessarily what to build… but what can I build within the time and cost constraints I’ve established. This is less a discovery model and more a rapid risk reduction model. In both cases there is some aspect of customer collaboration, making sure we are building the right product, and so on… it’s just that the openness to learning may have shifted and the outcomes are more predictive out of the gate.

I’m not advocating that this is how we run our businesses… my point is that this is how many businesses are run. While we are shifting to a more collaborative model with our customers, we need a credible strategy for optimizing business outcomes, managing expectations, making and meeting commitments, etc. If we don’t ‘sell agile’ in language that our business stakeholders understand, it won’t resonate with them and it won’t be worth the investment. Agile can go a long way toward increasing predictability and ultimately building trust with our clients and that can lead to more openness to a broader set of possible outcomes.

By: Don Kim

Don Kim — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 14:01:41 +0000

I find that I can be in a emergent or convergent situation based upon the project within the same organization. Sometimes simultaneously. This despite the fact that the organization as a whole is “convergent” or sustaining type.

By: Mike Cottmeyer

Mike Cottmeyer — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 14:01:07 +0000

Depends on the organization Bob. You might have an R&D group where emergent outcomes are valued and a Product Development group where convergence is the way to go. It’ s very situationally specific. I hear agilists talking all the time about inspecting and adapting and trying to figure out the best product to build. Sometimes agile can be, and should be, applied in a what this is focused on early risk reduction, proof of concept, and convergence on expected outcomes. I’ll probably write some more on the differences in the coming weeks.