Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Managing Agile Software Development
A manager at the clients asked me: "How do I manage agile software development?"
I immediately thought what a silly question, but on thinking about it, it struck me that I haven't read anywhere in the voluminous verbiage written about Agile Software Development the simple basic inner concept of it all: managers are out of the loop.
That's what it's all about, no managers.
Why has no one said it this way? They all talk about empowering the team, give the developers the tools they want, everything but the central point: remove the managers to prevent them messing up the stuff they don't understand.
The managers are still there, they just do a different job to those in the heavyweight methodologies, viz:
* increase return on investment by -- making continuous flow of value our focus.
* deliver reliable results by -- engaging customers in frequent interactions and shared ownership.
* expect uncertainty and manage for it through -- iterations, anticipation and adaptation.
* unleash creativity and innovation by -- recognizing that individuals are the ultimate source of value, and creating an environment where they can make a difference.
* boost performance through -- group accountability for results and shared responsibility for team effectiveness.
* improve effectiveness and reliability through -- situationally specific strategies, processes and practices.
So I shuffled that steaming pile of on an email. That'll keep them busy and out of my hair for this iteration at least.
I immediately thought what a silly question, but on thinking about it, it struck me that I haven't read anywhere in the voluminous verbiage written about Agile Software Development the simple basic inner concept of it all: managers are out of the loop.
That's what it's all about, no managers.
Why has no one said it this way? They all talk about empowering the team, give the developers the tools they want, everything but the central point: remove the managers to prevent them messing up the stuff they don't understand.
The managers are still there, they just do a different job to those in the heavyweight methodologies, viz:
* increase return on investment by -- making continuous flow of value our focus.
* deliver reliable results by -- engaging customers in frequent interactions and shared ownership.
* expect uncertainty and manage for it through -- iterations, anticipation and adaptation.
* unleash creativity and innovation by -- recognizing that individuals are the ultimate source of value, and creating an environment where they can make a difference.
* boost performance through -- group accountability for results and shared responsibility for team effectiveness.
* improve effectiveness and reliability through -- situationally specific strategies, processes and practices.
So I shuffled that steaming pile of on an email. That'll keep them busy and out of my hair for this iteration at least.
Labels: fun, joke, politics, work
# posted by threaded @ 11/06/2007 08:10:00 am 
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