Unbranded Agility
A member from California recently asked the community what they think about unbranded agility, meaning not teaching a specific method such as Scrum.
He said, “I know a lot of agile coaches who promote the idea of starting out with out-of-the-box Scrum, seeing how that goes and tweak/adjust from there. My response to that approach is … mehhh, I guess.”
The community members responded with a lot of perspectives on whether or not it is a good idea for agile coaches to know many methods and apply what works to the company, or begin with all elements of a framework and then pull additional tools out of their toolbox as the teams and organization mature.
Start By the Book (any book) and then Adapt
Mike Cohn responded with, “I advise new teams to do it ‘by the book’ at first. I tell them I don’t care what book. And I don’t even necessarily mean a book. What I mean is some proven way.”
He added, “That could be from a book or from a very experienced person inside the organization. But I want to start in a proven way. Otherwise teams drop something critical too often.
“I tell them something like, ‘C’mon. It’s 2019. We know agile works. What we don’t know is what successful agile looks like in this company. So let’s start with a known, proven way and then adapt from there after we’re able to better evaluate adaptations.’”
Another member from Richmond, Virginia, added, “I like the idea of starting with Scrum with new teams if the team can completely deliver something of value every sprint. If not, Kanban makes more sense, as it is more flexible in terms of handling stage-gated processes.”
He continues that at his current employer they release multiple times a day. His teams start by learning Scrum and than switch to Kanban if it is more applicable. “Mysteriously, everyone is much happier and the teams are much more productive,” he added.
The Out-of-the-Box Approach
Another community member said, “I’m among the group that prefers starting a new team with out-of-the-box Scrum, and then giving the team the autonomy to change, once they start to understand the underlying principles.
He added, “My opinion is that this gives the team a place to start and provides guidance. This doesn’t mean I would always start a team doing everything at once. I think it’s easier for some teams to transition by making incremental changes to the full Scrum and then learning to adjust to fit the team.”
Address The Company’s Pain Points First
A few members suggested reviewing the Value Proposition Canvas for identifying the company’s pain points. They said to find small, targeted improvements to move the company in a more agile direction.
One member added, “There is a lot of information out there on various frameworks that may help, and as agilists we need to always be on the lookout to at least know the basic value of the frameworks. This helps with identifying which practice from which framework may help, instead of Scrum versus something else.”
An agile coach from Texas added, “I used to be all on board and tried Scrum first. Now I have a little different approach; I interview. I have the team draw up a process flow, how work is received by the team, who’s involved, get in the weeds with how they do things today. Then, I get them to consider a vision two-to-three years down the road and what would they like the process to be.”
She adds, “Sometimes, Kanban makes a lot more sense than Scrum based on team’s work. Overall, I have meetings that are eerily similar to Scrum until a team has a good working relationship and is delivering software.
So whether or not you start by the book of Scrum, Scrumban or by a company’s pain points, we are all on the same mission of creating great products and services in a collaborative, customer-first way.
To join the conversation and to hear more comments from team members and leaders on unbranded agility, join the Agile Mentors Community. Visit https://www.agilementors.com for more information on membership.