How deep can you go with agile?

What is your image of a modern, technologically advanced IT company?? What kind of people work there, and which processes are used? We talk a lot about Agile as the most effective project management methodology. But is everyone implementing it correctly? I know that even within the Scrum community there is a lot of controversy on this topic.

Today I want to share my understanding of the Agile methodology and to what extent it can be implemented in business.

One can say: “We use Scrum, Kanban, Jira, we hold stand-ups, we divide projects into sprints.” And then they are befuddled by a simple question: “Why?”. Why implement a methodology just to look like a tech company? It's even worse when some managers use Scrum to indulge their passion for micromanaging and overburdening employees with unnecessary reports.

I believe that there should be a balanced approach to the implementation of some kind of innovation, based on empirical experience. In our company DAR we follow four main values of Agile:

• people and their interactions are more important than regulations and processes
• a working product is more important than 100% compliance with all inner rules and protocols
• willingness to change is more important than following the original plan
• cooperation with a client is more important than meticulous negotiation of the terms of the contract

Let me make it clear right away that we try to strike a balance here as well. It would be silly to disregard state laws, compliance, corporate rules, strict financial reporting, and titanic work to earn the trust of investors.

When I first joined DAR 10 years ago as a 25-year-old specialist, our leader Alidar conducted personal development sessions for us - young employees - every weekend. We were called the Green team, perhaps no explanation is needed here. Each of us created an individual development plan. By the way, I completed my plan ahead of time. Someday, probably, I will share some details from it here.

In my daily work, I use a standing desk. This trendy item once divided office workers into two camps and gave rich content for memes. But you do find something of value for your daily life even here:

• Sitting all the time indeed can kill you
• Meetings that I want to conduct quickly are best arranged while standing, then sitting
• You can also more effectively defend yourself from an enemy while standing

So, Agile is applicable in business, as soon as you know what you are doing. You can also have some fun with it. My wife and I also do stand-ups occasionally to make family decisions, e.g. where to go on vacation. At meetings with her, we analyze blockers and how to get rid of them. And how deeply are you implementing agile?