there is no agile

There Is No Agile

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Nick McKenna, CEO McKenna Consultants, 2014

http://www.mckennaconsultants.com/

@mckennaconsult

@nickmckenna

Who Am I?

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• Nick McKenna MBCS (20 years)

• 1st Class Degree In Computer Science (University Of Hull 1998)

• Certified Scrum Master

• Certified Scrum Professional

• Certified Scrum Coach

• PADI Divemaster

• Black Belt 5th Dan Karate

Who Are McKenna Consultants?

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• Bespoke software developers

• Practical Agile

• Agile training

• Agile coaching

• Agile consultancy

What Is Agile????

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What Is Rock n’ Roll?

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Who Is This?

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Stephen Jay Gould

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Stephen Jay Gould

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• September 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002

• Paleontologist

• Evolutionary biologist

• Historian of science

• Harvard

• American Museum Of Natural History

• New York University

There’s No Such Thing As A Fish

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Who Is This?

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Bruce Lee

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• Movie star

• Master of Wing Chun

• Founder of Jeet Kune Do

• Agile / Lean Guru

Bruce Lee

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“Before I learned the art, a punch was just a punch, and a kick, just a kick.

After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick, no longer a kick.

Now that I understand the art, a punch is just a punch and a kick is just a kick.”

Shuhari• I Copy• I Innovate• I Transcend

Bruce Lee

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“Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it.”

The Agile Family

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• RUP• Agile• Wagile• Scrum• Scrum Plop• DSDM• XP• Crystal Clear• Lean• Lean Startup• Kanban• Personal Kanban• Scrumban• Xanban• SAFe• LeSS• Enterprise Scrum

• Enterprise• Enterprise Services Planning Kanban• Product Development Flow• FDD• ASD• ETF• Accelerated Agile• Agile Unified Process• Disciplined Agile Delivery• Squadification• Xscale• Devops• Mikado Method• Mob Programming

Bruce Lee

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“Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style or system.”

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

• Working software over comprehensive documentation

• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

• Responding to change over following a plan

Bruce Lee

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“Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” - Longstreet

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools• Working software over comprehensive documentation• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation• Responding to change over following a plan

What Is Agile?

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• Applied common sense

• What I have learned about software development

• Continuous improvement

• Empirical management

Common Agile Characteristics

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• Continuous improvement

• Evidence-based decisions

• Continuous Quality focus

• Continuous delivery of value

• Rapid delivery of value

• Disciplined processes

• Lower risk deployment

• Tight product ownership

• Visual management

• One size does not fit all

• Fail early

• Very little crunch time

There Is No Agile!

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We can’t define Agile!

Days Gone By

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“While heeding the profit of my counsel, avail yourself also of any helpful circumstances over and beyond the ordinary rules. According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one's plans.”

Sun Tzu – The Art Of War – 2500 BC





Days Gone By

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“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”

Charles Darwin – On The Origin Of Species – 1859 AD





Days Gone By

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“No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.”

Helmuth von Moltke – 1864 AD





Formula 1

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Russian Grand Prix

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• http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/29588016

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/29588016

Russian Grand Prix

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• What was the plan?

• Did the driver follow the plan?

• How did the driver react when the plan was failing?

• Is this Agile?

• Does Agile represent new thinking and new ideas?

There Is No Agile!

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We can’t define Agile!

There are no new ideas in Agile!

Do Not Be Afraid

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No Fear

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• People fear change

• Do not follow a plan believing it is absolute truth

• Do not follow a method believing it is absolute truth

• Waterfall / RUP / Scrum / DSDM / Extreme Programming are steps along the way, not the destination

Dogmatic Adherence Causes Stagnation

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• Following an Agile method dogmatically is little better than following a waterfall method dogmatically

How Can We Improve Scrum?

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• A method should set you free!

• Your needs will change as you experience more

• Your environment is unique

• How do you sell?

• Sprint Planning

• Daily Scrum (AKA Standup)

• Demo

• Retrospective

• Measure velocity

• Deliver software

There Is No Agile!

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We can’t define Agile!There are no new ideas in Agile!

Do not be afraid!Dogmatic Adherence Leads To Stagnation

Q & A

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there is no agile

Technology