A story of Agilist – “I don't believe in ‘isms’, I just believe in me …”

There has been a rush of posts in recent years about whether Agile is delivering on its promises. Yes, it does appear to be the case that some groups and programmes of work are still struggling. My personal take on such themes is moulded by two considerations: the fuzziness of the topic and the implied expectation of a silver bullet.

The first lens is about shedding light on the question: “If it is not Agile, then what is the alternative?” The issue here is one of precision with regards to what people do and what labels are used. An Iterative Waterfall supported by Lean techniques and operated by an “aware” team will certainly beat any agile lipstick “set-and-forget” operation. This, however, does not mean that Agile is dead. What is bankrupt, one would hope, is the idea and implementation approach that implies that it is possible to “buy” Agile into the organisation.

It appears to be common for Agile to be mandated in the same way as cost-cutting. It is perceived that by not doing Agile the organisation is somehow going to be not on a par with either competitors or best practice. So, it is true that Agile has failed in such a race. However, what has failed is “doing” Agile. One can fail to follow the commandment “Thou shalt not steal” by going to church. There are many good people out there who are not religious. Similarly, there are many high-performance teams who do not religiously follow Agile but still deliver perfectly well on the promise of Agile Principles.

This is where the second consideration comes into play. When insinuating a failure of Agile (if principles could actually fail at all, not just the implementation), why should there be a single winner? Surely, everyone is experienced enough to know that there are no silver bullets. All that matters is the context of a particular team and a specific super-problem challenge. A Systems thinking concept lens would be a good way to channel emotional views about Agile. The truth is that in order to be a true professional one has to respect complexity – it is simply there. Well-performing teams are empowered and skilled to deconstruct complex problems, and then supported in resolving those problems on their merit. This implies the right doses of fit-for-purpose approaches and correct timing. “The right amount of Agile is right up to the body rejecting the bacteria”—Peter Biddle. With Agile, one buys a promise of productivity. With what is presumed as the alternative, the behaviours are driven by the promise of schedule.

God will not strike you down (pragmatic Dave Thomas) if you choose to do something practical that does not necessarily match a purist definition of one or the other.

So, instead of succumbing to religious discussions about methodologies, I would encourage people to join the AMOR club (a.k.a. Anti-Mediocrity and Open Reasoning).

Updated as of 2023 - Good refresher chat about a fact that you cannot go out and "buy a pound of agility" - (Prag Dave Talks Agile, Waterfall, TDD & MORE (Dave Thomas)