Agile

Most of us involved in software development are familiar with the term “technical debt”. As a quick reminder, it was introduced by Ward Cunningham to describe the phenomenon that occurs when we use code that is easy to implement in the short run instead of applying the best overall solution we have identified. It is by definition a conscious decision ...

For a while now I’ve been seeing a paradox with Kanban. Specifically, Kanban compared to Scrum. For a team new to Agile – although some regard this as heretical I place Kanban under the Agile umbrella, yes I know its more about Lean than Agile but of cause Agile is itself a Lean method, anyway… For team, specifically a software ...

The idea behind the Agile approach to project management is to encourage collaboration, transparency, and responsiveness to feedback among an integrated team. Agile software development means using the set of principles outlined in the Agile manifesto to develop high-quality working software, frequently. The Agile methodology emphasizes fast-paced software development, meaning software testing must also be performed at speed while remaining ...

Scrum is a simple framework that supports people in making the most of complex challenges. Organizations are re-discovering the sophisticated simplicity of Scrum. The third Scrum Wave is rising. Will you sink? Swim? Or will you surf? Shape the wave, shape the future? TALC – the Technology Adoption Lifecycle   The Technology Adoption Lifecycle (TALC) describes the adoption stages of ...

Scrum is a simple framework to manage complex challenges. Software delivery is a complex challenge. Software delivery encompasses a multitude of complex activities to create and evolve complex products in complex circumstances. Scrum embraces and emphasizes the complexity of software delivery by implementing the only process type that fits its complexity, empirical process control. Complexity There are many variables that ...

… Minimally Viable Product Possibly the most fashionable and misused term the digital industry right now. The term seems to be used by one-side-or-other to criticise the other. I recently heard another Agile Coach say: “If you just add a few more features you’ll have an MVP” – I wanted to scream “Wrong, wrong, wrong!” But I bit my tongue ...

An update to the Scrum Guide will be released on 7 November 2017. In a webinar the principal co-creators of Scrum, Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber, will introduce the changes relative to the previous update. The previous update was released on 6 July 2016 and encompassed the addition of the Scrum Values. Although language and words matter, I imagine the difficulty ...

Let me summarize what I’ve been talking about in these posts. The problem I’m seeing is that too many teams and organizations plan too much in too much detail too soon. Instead of architectural BDUF (Big Design Up Front), it’s project planning as BDUF. They expect one single person (a product manager or a product owner) to do all that ...

You’ve started thinking in feature sets. Maybe you’ve experimented with  rolling wave plans inside one quarter, so you can change and replan as you need to support your project or program. You’ve discussed flow-based roadmapping as a way to create MVPs and MVEs, release smaller value more often so you can make better decisions. You know you need more feedback ...