Doing Agile vs. Being Agile
Agile is a way of thinking, continuous growth, and learning that embraces reality.
As we have conversations with organizations as to where they are at on their agile journey, it occurs to us that most are focused on doing agile versus being agile.
A stand-up or a backlog grooming session are valuable ceremonies to bring about transparency and the right conversations, however, the processes alone will not create an agile organization. It must start with the people and the mindset.
An easy way that we use to coach people and organizations on where they are in their journey of doing agile versus being agile is to revisit the Agile Manifesto and ask these simple questions:
Are we valuing individuals and interactions over processes and tools?
Are we valuing a delivered product over comprehensive documentation?
Are we valuing customer collaboration over contract negotiations?
Are we valuing responding to change over following a plan?
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Being honest with these questions is essential; agile isn't a one size fits all approach. We have found that organizations tend to index to the process or mechanics of agile versus doing what works or what makes sense for your team or organization.
Asking these questions at any point will help you to quickly locate where your team or organization is at in your agile transformation.
Not agile, yet?
While many organizations embrace agile, your department might not yet be there. The spirit of agile is to apply a collaborative growth mindset to your daily work. You don't have to use agile terms to begin your practice. Simply asking, "what did we learn from that project?" can spark new ideas for the future. Making a slight change in your regularly scheduled department meetings to ask what each person is working on can serve the agile purpose of stand-up, enabling you to see where obstacles may lie or opportunities for collaboration across your department. These small shifts in mindset, if done consistently, can assist your department in shifting from fighting fires and into more of a mindful approach to the work ahead.