Naked Truth - Stripped off all veils

Scene 1: Utter Chaos in the house, boxes to be packed, children to be loaded on school buses and a few forgotten assignments laughing in the corner

Scene 2: Relaxed mornings with time to hug/cry, have a good breakfast, do your prayers, exercises and plan your day before classes begin

This is the cause of the latest debate in our house. You see, we have been experimenting by "open-schooling" our child this academic year using "Agileshaala" mentors. The main contention against Scene 2 is, that the child is

a. Not Disciplined any more

b. Wasting time

c. Not competitive as compared with other kids of same age

All valid points and I sat pondering over these "accusations". A few thoughts kept coming back about how this is so similar to what we experience while adopting AGILE. I want all of you to reflect and let me know your views:

1. Was the discipline there in the Scene 1 due to internal factors or external? How would the child perform if the external factors are removed?
2. Is it necessary for every waking moment to be "productive" in what "We" understand as productive? Is it not necessary to have time to plan, reflect and enjoy the small moments of life? Will this life style not be more "productive" in the long run and create a sustainable and healthy routine for the child?
3. Is it necessary to compare every child from speed of writing and syllabus gained? A child can pick up speed of writing at a later stage in life but clear understanding of concepts is essential right from the beginning

Do the above three "Ring-a-Bell" to the "Managers" of the world? Do you feel the need for :

Follow Agile BUT

1. Do Agile BUT Adhere to waterfall milestones?
2. Do Agile BUT don't waste time in Planning/Retrospective meetings. Or dont spend a complete "SPRINT" on Innovation and Planning
3. Do Agile BUT I need every Scrum Team to be comparable with other Scrum Teams and give a pre-determined VELOCITY of Story POINTS

And many more...

My suggestion is: Agile Unveils the Naked Truth and you have to be acceptable to the following FACTS:

1. Water fall milestones are a MYTH. They are good to have as a stage in the Development Lifecycle. But, "Requirement Sign Off" is a Myth. You DONT WANT to freeze the requirements so early in the lifecycle for the customer's and your benefit. It is better to focus on "Working software" based milestones
2. HIGH Level plans created by Managers/High level Architects are not sufficient/accurate. You need multiple levels of planning by the people who will do the work to find the realistic plan. So, it is worth the time to spend on Sprint Ceremonies and SAFe ceremonies. It is prudent NOT to commit "hard" deadlines based on only high-level plans without room for negotiation
3. Story Point Related Velocity is the NOT the only measure of a team's performance. Planned Vs Actual Business Value, Product Quality and Customer Feedback are better measures. Especially do not ask for # of Defects from Testers. You want the testers to work with Developers and create less defects not Visa-versa.

Similarly, for your child, look beyond the veil created by the schools. Build the character/discipline of the child that will sustain irrespective of the institution they are part. Allow every child to have the freedom to choose some of the subjects they are interested and gain the knowledge at their own pace. And finally, let every child be seen for its own merit and not compared only from Marks/Syllabus/Speed

I do acknowledge that all systems have Pros and Cons. And I will discuss those in a separate article later.

And how is this possible? For me, this was very easy by adopting AGILE (https://agileshaala.com/)

AGILE shows you the NAKED TRUTH always. Its up to you to reject it or use the Truth and shape the future.