Scrumming and the Military

Agile is currently a buzzword in the IT industry. Development Teams seek to be agile in order to adapt to an environment where continuously changing requirements are the exception rather than the norm. Way back in 2001, a diverse group of independent thinkers on software development formed the ‘The Agile Alliance’ and formulated the Agile Manifesto which states the following :

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:

·        Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

·        Working software over comprehensive documentation

·        Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

·        Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

The Alliance also formulated the following principles:

·        Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.

·        Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.

·        Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.

·        Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.

·        Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.

·        The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.

·        Working software is the primary measure of progress.

·        Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.

·        Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.

·        Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential.

·        The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.

· At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behaviour accordingly.

Scrum is by far the most popular framework with respect to Agile and is one of the most popular frameworks for Software development. But Scrum isn’t a process. Rather it’s a framework under the Agile philosophy. Scrum is built on some very powerful principles and tenets. The three principles of Transparency, Inspection and Adaption set the tone for empirical process control implying knowledge comes from experience. These are coupled with the scrum values of commitment, courage, focus, openness and respect.

It is quite interesting to observe the striking similarities between Agile/ Scrum and the military way of functioning. The Scrum Guide which defines Scrum, has been authored by Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber. The scrum values, scrum principles and scrum events seem to have been inspired by the way the defence forces run with an extreme emphasis on teamwork, camaraderie and leadership. It is no surprise then that Jeff Sutherland is a graduate of the US Military Academy Westpoint, and a pilot having flows missions during the Vietnam war.

Some of the principles which bear a direct correlation to the Military way of functioning are enumerated ahead :

(a)      Welcoming changing requirements is a part and parcel of military life. Military soldiers often operate in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambigious - VUCA environment. In military scenarios rapidly changing requirements are the norm rather than the exception. This information gap is also termed as the ‘fog of war’. Situations often require you to proceed ahead with the limited data or info available. Using this info, a basic plan is formulated which keeps getting refined as more and more info emerges.

(b)      Building a team around motivated individuals is the cornerstone of military ethos. Team leaders command respect. Such respect is always earned and not demanded. Leaders spend time with troops, go on missions together, share good and bad times and are able to motivate the team to overcome fearful odds. While military motivation draws on patriotism, regiment or team history or charismatic leadership, similar analogies like charismatic leadership and loyalty toward the organisation hold good universally.

(c)       The basic functional unit for any military organisation is a small team. This can be an Infantry Section, an Armoured Troop or an Artillery Detachment. These small organisational units gradually roll up into bigger units eventually coalescing into Theatre Commands with joint elements of all forces , say a Naval aircraft carrier group with a land based Strike Corps and an Airforce Command Group with several Squadrons. The basic organisation unit still remains the small team, and it’s identity is carefully preserved even as the organisation expands in gargantuan leaps. Corporate organisations also have similar frameworks like SAFe?? - Scalable Agile Framework or LeSS - Large-Scale Scrum, for rolling up the small Agile teams into larger Organisation Units

(d)      Military units allocate a great deal of attention to planning. This planning typically follows a defined template. Military strategists keep ‘War Gaming’ and refining their plans. There are plans, contingency plans, exit plans and plans for pretty much any conceivable scenario. These plans are naturally highly flexible and keep evolving with ever changing requirements and scenarios.. Teams continuously refine their plans using the OODA - observe, orient, decide, act - loop.

(e)      The team is always self organised which enables it to execute missions independently with limited or no oversight.

(f)       At the end of every mission the team always gathers in a huddle for a de brief. This de briefing is very important and helps the team draw valuable lessons for future missions or even for other teams across the board.

(g)      A typical day in any military unit begins with a brief. This could be a daily brief where the team leader takes feedback from all team members. Other common feedback methodologies include a daily situation report or sitrep, where the operational commander gathers a quick update from all the sub unit commanders under him, typical using Radio Telephony or RT. Similarly all missions always begin with a brief and always end with a de brief.

It would therefore be fair to state that Agile has a striking similarity to the military ethos and way of functioning. A military leader is already an Agile practioner in the true sense of the word. It is therefore only apt that such military leaders are easily able to transition into formal Agile roles.

#NDA #IITD #IIML #VETS #VETERANS