Understanding Agile Values & Principles
This session focused on discussion of the importance of and ways for communicating an understanding of the Agile Values and Principles. It was my premise that such an understanding often seems missing from what (especially large) organizations learn when they decide to pursue an Agile adoption effort. People go to various training about methods and practices, but do not seem to come away with a solid understanding of the Vs and Ps. As large organizations inevitably "tailor" what they are taught, rightly or wrongly, lacking a good understanding of the Vs & Ps can result in tailoring efforts that limit, even defeat, the benefit intended by the methods/practices.
So we discussed ways to communicate the Vs & Ps and emphasize the importance of understanding them and using them as "touchstones" when making adaptations to recommended methods and practices.
There was some discussion of visual techniques to discuss the Vs and Ps and Agile's organizational impact:
- Use of a “slider†to identify where on a given Value, i.e., between left and right, people feel they, or their organization, currently falls.
- Draw company org chart (flip chart paper) then turn it upside down to show changed emphasis. (Some debate ensued later in the day about whether this inappropriately suggested enterprise becomes subservient to teams which some feel is an impediment to enterprise scaling.)
- Reverse the four Value statements and discuss what word(s) to replace “over†with (e.g., use "support" or "empower" to suggest how the (now) left hand items can be of benefit).
There was some discussion about relating Agile concepts to the organization:
- Connect Vs & Ps with current behaviors and discuss how congruent the latter are with the former and what this would mean for Agile adoption.
- Connect Vs & Ps with what people “really†need/want - is it really Agile they need?
- It was asked whether interest in Agile needs a “failure†(i.e., identifiable pain) to have organizations seriously pursue adoption.
Regarding people understanding or wanting to understand the Vs & Ps, some questions raised were:
- What needs to be done for people to enable them to “get it�
- How much does (Senior) Management need to “get it†compared to having their “need†addressed?
- What do you do if (Senior) Management doesn’t seem to care to get it (i.e., Agile isn’t their concern)?
- What if (Senior) Management seem to “get it†but don’t feel they want/need it (though parts of the organization below them are trying to adopt such an approach)?
Some general statements made were:
- If things on the left side of a Value statement are “broken,†nothing on the right will help.
- Agile should be about a healthier life style rather than a diet plan.
- Coaches and trainers need to understand the impact lean ideas can have on Agile adoption efforts.
Finally, there was the question of:
- Whether (or how much) coaches and trainers should take responsibility to communicate the Vs & Ps and the consequences of not applying them, i.e., why understanding them matter.
This session focused on discussion of the importance of and ways for communicating an understanding of the Agile Values and Principles. It was my premise that such an understanding often seems missing from what (especially large) organizations learn when they decide to pursue an Agile adoption effort. People go to various training about methods and practices, but do not seem to come away with a solid understanding of the Vs and Ps. As large organizations inevitably "tailor" what they are taught, rightly or wrongly, lacking a good understanding of the Vs & Ps can result in tailoring efforts that limit, even defeat, the benefit intended by the methods/practices.
So we discussed ways to communicate the Vs & Ps and emphasize the importance of understanding them and using them as "touchstones" when making adaptations to recommended methods and practices.
There was some discussion of visual techniques to discuss the Vs and Ps and Agile's organizational impact:
- Use of a “slider†to identify where on a given Value, i.e., between left and right, people feel they, or their organization, currently falls.
- Draw company org chart (flip chart paper) then turn it upside down to show changed emphasis. (Some debate ensued later in the day about whether this inappropriately suggested enterprise becomes subservient to teams which some feel is an impediment to enterprise scaling.)
- Reverse the four Value statements and discuss what word(s) to replace “over†with (e.g., use "support" or "empower" to suggest how the (now) left hand items can be of benefit).
There was some discussion about relating Agile concepts to the organization:
- Connect Vs & Ps with current behaviors and discuss how congruent the latter are with the former and what this would mean for Agile adoption.
- Connect Vs & Ps with what people “really†need/want - is it really Agile they need?
- It was asked whether interest in Agile needs a “failure†(i.e., identifiable pain) to have organizations seriously pursue adoption.
Regarding people understanding or wanting to understand the Vs & Ps, some questions raised were:
- What needs to be done for people to enable them to “get it�
- How much does (Senior) Management need to “get it†compared to having their “need†addressed?
- What do you do if (Senior) Management doesn’t seem to care to get it (i.e., Agile isn’t their concern)?
- What if (Senior) Management seem to “get it†but don’t feel they want/need it (though parts of the organization below them are trying to adopt such an approach)?
Some general statements made were:
- If things on the left side of a Value statement are “broken,†nothing on the right will help.
- Agile should be about a healthier life style rather than a diet plan.
- Coaches and trainers need to understand the impact lean ideas can have on Agile adoption efforts.
Finally, there was the question of:
- Whether (or how much) coaches and trainers should take responsibility to communicate the Vs & Ps and the consequences of not applying them, i.e., why understanding them matter.