The concept of Agile-Lean in Global Digitalization

Lean in Agile concept is a tactical approach in which teams collectively identify high-value projects to focus their collective efforts. The idea is increasingly prevalent in every industry, especially that involved in digitalization.?

Together with agile, lean is producing cost-efficient, result-oriented to improve products and services while eliminating the inefficient, costly mistakes in an organization. The Agile-Lean approach generates insights about an organization's market, industry, and competitors. The practices drive low costs, efficient products and services without compromising on quality.

History

Agile

It started with 17 software developers, Martin Fowler, Jim Highsmith, Jon Kern, Jeff Sutherland, Ken Schwaber, and Bob Martin. It's an initiative to recognize two key opportunities to achieve the goal through shortening the delay to resolve market fit and substantiate the value of developed software through continuous development and improvement.

The origins of agile were from the software development community, particularly with Agile software development experiences. However, Agile adapted to the needs of non-software development environments in later stages.

Lean

The lean startup roots are in the "Cambridge Seven", namely Eric Ries, Steve Blank, David Heinemeier Hansson, Alistair Croll, Ryan Singer, and Dan Olsen. He described their experience with building products at Zappos.com in the early 2000s. The Cambridge Seven used radical approaches, including hiring designers in three days and releasing their software online (Zappos.com) almost immediately after receiving funding from venture capitalists. They also adopted the motto "Build - Measure - Learn" - an approach that would become an essential characteristic of a lean startup.

Eric Ries popularized the "Lean Startup movement". He wrote the book "The Lean Startup" in 2011. The movement primarily focused on attracting investors to startups and used as a business model for startups and small businesses in general. The foundation of the Lean Startup Movement optimized through the scientific method.

The concept of Agile- Lean

It is "a collaborative, iterative and results-based methodology for evolving products and services" that focuses "on the value the product or service provides, rather than on planning, budgeting and delivery". The process yields a quick return on investment (ROI) cycle that allows companies to incorporate new ideas into their marketing plans.

"Agile" is considered a subset of agile software development, a subset of "lean startup", which itself is a subset of ideas from Pragmatic Lean methodologies.

The following are AGILE and LEAN principles.

Lean Startup Principles (Eric Ries The Lean Startup)

1. Making things based on what customers want
2. Create a product or service for real market needs with an immediate competitive advantage, not just something fun and different
3. Using validated learning (through the application of scientific methods) to identify problems worth solving — and then getting the job done as with
4. Solving problems through validating hypotheses (i.e.testing ideas)
5. Iteratively building products and, in the process, obtaining concrete customer feedback used to optimize the product (i.e. a "build-measure-learn" approach)
6. Uncovering better ways of serving customers through cross-functional teams and rapid experimentation (with a bias toward action)
7. Using data from experiment for further iterations
8. Not letting past successes or failures constrain current trying ("fail forward fast")

On the other hand, Agile talks about people's mindset mainly on the four manifestos and 12 principles.??

Agile Manifesto (Mike Griffiths PMI-ACP )

1. ·????????Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
2. ·????????Working software over comprehensive documentation
3. ·????????Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
4. ·????????Responding to change over following a plan

The 12 principles behind Agile Manifesto (Mike Griffiths PMI-ACP)

1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
2. ?Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.
3. ?Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference for the shorter timescale.
4. Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need and trust them to get the job done.
6. The most effective and efficient way of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
7. Working software?is the primary measure of progress.
8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
10. Simplicity – the art of maximizing the work not done – is essential.
11. The best architectures, requirements and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on becoming more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behaviour accordingly.