The Right Agile for Your Business

When talking with business leaders about everyday operations and hurdles, I often see that Agile principals and ways of working provide solutions. It's not just for DevOps anymore - departments like HR and Finance are jumping on the Agile bandwagon. That being said, a recent Harvard Business Review article warns about over-reliance on Agile. It suggests companies could do better by focusing less on the efficiency approaches espoused by Agile and more on careful “working backwards” planning.

Having helped businesses of all sizes implement Agile, I get where they're coming from. But I think the problem is less about Agile's limitations and more about understanding how they are choosing to implement Agile. With so many versions out there – Scrum, Scrum@Scale, LeSS, Spotify, Extreme Programming, Nexus, SAFe, and more – it's no wonder companies are challenged at fully leveraging Agile.

Two big issues come from these challenges:

• Companies pick and choose their favorite Agile bits, ending up with something Agile in name only – something I like to call “Fragile.” Sure, they have daily stand-ups and a to-do list backlog of work, but nothing really changes.

• Companies start with a simple form of Agile but fail to expand it as they grow. They get off to a good start but hit a wall when they try to scale up. To me, this is exactly what the Harvard Business Review warned about. But these problems aren't because Agile is flawed. They come from trying to use simple Agile methods to tackle complex issues.

That's where enterprise-scaled Agile solutions like SAFe or LeSS come in. SAFe, for example, helps ensure you're building the right solutions by setting strategic objectives at the portfolio level. You build a lean business case for promising solutions, starting with a minimal viable product. You then use actionable metrics that are good predictors of business outcomes to check if the solution meets customer and business needs.

Yes, this takes time. But using a scaled Agile model like SAFe reduces the need for lengthy “working backwards” planning. It also ensures that even the smallest Scrum increments contribute to real value and business outcomes.

So, if you're thinking about Agile – whether for DevOps, Finance, or Service Centers – and aren't sure where to start, I'm here to help!