Curing the Achilles’ Heel of Agile Method's Adoption
Recently I wrote an article: ”Methods are Theory! Essence puts Methods into Practice!”[1]. I recommend you read this article, but it is not necessary to be able to read the rest of this article. That article discusses the subject method adoption, and in particular its two cycles: The Learning cycle and the Delivery cycle.
Method creators focus on the learning cycle (books, papers, videos, slides, web sites, etc. and associated training and certification), but provide little or no support in guiding people in moving to the delivery cycle. The user of a practice, in particular a new practice or a rarely used practice, has to remember what she/he has learnt or go back to the teaching material to find out what to do.
There is a gap, a big gap, to bridge for the user moving from the learning cycle to the delivery cycle. Further down in the delivery cycle, in particular in the Plan, Do and Check activities, the users can get tool support, such as Jira, Gitlab, but the gap between learning and delivery is still there, and it is significant. We call this gap “The Achilles’ Heel of Method Adoption”.
Adopting a method, a framework, a practice or a way of working can be presented as following an infinity loop as in the figure on the top of this article.
·?????Discover – what practices to use and apply in your team – to optimize your way of working.
·?????Explore – what is in the practices and how their elements work together to guide the work of your team.
·?????Adopt – actively use practices to guide and track your work.
·?????Adapt – update your used practices to reflect current thinking and status.
·?????Plan – Use the practices to establish where you are now and agree where you want to get to next.
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·?????Do – Generate, tailor and prioritize your To Dos, with Checklists to describe “what done means” and what tasks you will need to do to achieve “done”. Tick off the Checklist Items as you go to track progress to “done”.
·?????Check – your overall status and progress to identify key gaps that may hinder your future progress
Curing “the Achilles’ Heel of Method Adoption” is supported by Essence as described in [1]. We have developed an app Essence in Practice TeamSpace?[2], which among other things addresses the “Achilles’ Heel”. Here you will find some more information on TeamSpace.
I am eager to hear what you think, please.?
[1] https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/methods-only-theory-essence-puts-practice-ivar-jacobson/?trackingId=oPGszOf7QNuvNNnnJc1iEw%3D%3D.
[2] Essence in Practice TeamSpace is a trademark of Ivar Jacobson International SA.?
Software Craftsman | Growth Strategist & Catalyst
3 年I am open to this "Essence in Practice Team Space" helping cure this "Achilles' heel" and will have to work through the content to learn more. Still, as I've been digging back into the Agile community and thinking about the work I've been doing these last 7 years as a consultant, I see that we've adopted a model of pairing with our clients to implement both the software and the new ways of working. So I'm wondering if this cooperative approach has been found by others as a good way of avoiding "Achilles' heel". Have others had success with this model?
Great article. At the heart of the Achilles’ heel of method adoption is an insufficient number of good coaches. I think the learning & delivery cycle should also be applied on the coaches themselves: train and coach the coaches. And moreover to expect from the senior people to engage more and coach others. I’m trying to setup an environment for this in the organisation I work for at this moment.
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3 年JF (John Francis) Unson (he/him) Curtis Michelson Michael Lachapelle