The Large Enterprise Agile Civil War

There is a battle that has been brewing in the Agile world. There are multiple organizations that have developed and are continuing to refine frameworks to enable doing Agile Software Development at scale. In some cases, the battle is getting ugly and it’s hurting the Agile community as a whole. So how did we get here?

As most people familiar with Agile know, the Agile Manifesto was created in 2001. But that wasn’t the beginning of Agile Software Development. Depending on your sources, SCRUM was developed as an Agile methodology in the late 80s to early 90s. Kanban has been around for a long time, originating in manufacturing. Extreme Programming (XP) became popular in the 90s, but some of it’s practices can be traced back to the 1960s or earlier. And there are several more if you care to research them.

At first glance, one might think that the Agile Manifesto should have served to bring everyone together to work toward a common goal. However, that was not really the result.

From my research, certifications for Scrum were not available until around 2002 with the creation of the Scrum Alliance. The marketing of certifications was a huge success and created a feeling of legitimacy around Agile concepts. And with this success more certification programs were created and marketed. There was a huge opportunity in the market and a lot of money to be made.

Certifications and the marketing of them really helped Agile methodologies get a foothold in the software development market. Agile became a buzzword and has grown exponentially as a result with SCRUM, Kanban and XP being the leading frameworks.

That brings us to the topic at hand – Agile at scale in the large enterprise. Scaling Agile practices has it’s own unique set of complications and opportunities. And as I stated earlier, multiple organizations are developing frameworks to address these challenges. This, in and of itself, is not the problem. Afterall, diversity of thought is a good thing and having multiple options to choose from is good for the consumer.

Here’s the issue – Agile and specifically Agile in the large enterprise has become a big business. The larger the organization, the more money there is to be made. Selling frameworks and certifications to small groups made folks a lot of money. Selling a framework and certifications to a large company can make someone a LOT of money. Therefore, it makes sense that there are multiple contenders vying for these dollars.

Unfortunately, competition can bring out the worst in us humans. Instead of focusing on making our offering the best it can be and touting why it’s a good or even great option, it’s often easier to tear down the competition. And as the stakes get higher, the tactics get nastier. (Just look at the US political system and the ad campaigns that come along with it.)

Sadly, I’ve seen more and more of this in the Agile community lately. Individuals and organizations are attacking each other and trying to discredit their competition instead of building the best version of their product/framework/certification program possible. Name calling, snide remarks, and articles written to specifically discredit a competitor are becoming common place, giving the Agile community the vibe of a high-school bully rather than a professional solution.

So, what’s our way forward?

1)     Remember, as a consumer you have the power. Do your research. Look into the options and look at your organization and see which framework best fits your company’s size, mindset and culture. Try to ignore the smear campaigns and just focus on what each solution has to offer.

2)     Also remember there is no framework that will work for any company “out of the box” for the long term. Every organization is different and has different needs and challenges. If you aren’t adapting the framework you choose to the needs of your organization then you are forgetting one of the key aspects of Agile: Inspect and Adapt. See what works and what doesn’t and don’t be afraid to make the necessary changes.

3)     Don’t overthink it! Apply agile thinking to whatever you are doing. If you want to use a framework, great, do it! But think about the 4 values and 12 principles of the Agile manifesto. Or it you want to go even simpler, check out The Heart of Agile which breaks it down to 4 simple words. Let the basics guide you.

4)     If you don’t need a framework, you don’t HAVE to use one! Depending on the organization you might be able to practice Agility without having to adopt a framework. Some companies need the structure to get started, others are already close enough they may be able to adapt or borrow practices from the frameworks that are out there.

I truly believe that working in an Agile fashion is the best way to do software development. I’m passionate about it. I also believe in using the most simple Agile implementation that will work for you. But most of all, I believe in respect. High functioning teams (and organizations) are built on trust. And trust is built by showing respect. And right now, the way the large enterprise Agile market is going, they are losing my trust and the trust of an industry.

I believe the software development industry is fatigued from the effects of this civil war. We are heading into, or may already be in a post-Agile age. According to Dr. Alistair Cockburn (one of the signers of the Agile Manifesto and the creator of The Heart of Agile) we are already there. And while it is yet to be determined what the “next big thing” will be, I hope organizations will not give up on practicing Agility and will continue to work diligently to uncover better ways of building software.