Agile Matters

Jim Highsmith was one of the original authors of the Agile Manifesto (see previous post), and is recognised as being one of the leading practitioners and thinkers in the field of agile project management operating in the world today. He suggests that software development is a moving target, and for project management methodologies to be successful, they need to be adaptive - very much the way we see agile project management methodology.

Jim released a book - Agile Project Management - in 2004, in which he sets out his theories and practical advice on how to run agile projects. You can read more about Jim at his website - www.jimhighsmith.com.

The Agile Manifesto is a set of principles developed by Agile practitioners, originally in 2001. The basic framework for the principles is expressed on their website as:

“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.”

Whilst the Agile Manifesto is primarily aimed at improving the process of software development, it also has many applications in agile project management. You can read more at http://agilemanifesto.org.

OK, this might not be something that we’re all going to have to deal with in our everyday lives, but the ongoing BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico highlights how corporations have to be agile in order to deal with unexpected events.

It’s a situation where you might suggest that BP should have had more preparation, and that they should have had a contingency plan in place, but even if that is the case, they’ve still had to deal with things that nobody has ever had to deal with before.

And it’s certainly the case that their PR could have been a little better in the aftermath of the spill; but the way they’ve assessed the situation, prioritised their goals, built things up incrementally, and ultimately have worked with a large team of stakeholders, can certainly be seen to have been carried out in an Agile manner. There’s obviously no quick fix for them, so I’m sure we’ll see them continuing to be Agile for the foreseeable future, as they simply don’t know what’s going to happen next.

In an occasional series, we’re going to be giving you links to some of the “big beasts” within the Agile world, starting with the developer of Scrum methodology, Jeff Sutherland. His career has seen him as Vice President of Engineering and / or CTO for 9 different software companies, originally developing Scrum, then introducing it to the other companies he joined.

Jeff started his career in the military, flying over 100 missions in Vietnam, before getting his degrees from Stanford University and the University of Colorado. Together with Ken Schwaber, he first formalised Scrum methodology in 1995 at the OOPSLA conference.

We’ve written elsewhere about how the England team could have used Agile in the World Cup to extend their stay in South Africa. But what we’re thinking about here is the average fan’s approach to the World Cup, and how Agile practices can help with your enjoyment of watching the tournament from your armchair or local pub.

Essentially, it’s all about prioritisation. Even though you may be an England supporter (or whoever your team happens to be), it’s clear that, at some point, all but 2 of the teams in the tournament are going to be disappointed before the Final. So what you need to do is have a second, third, and even fourth choice of team - that way, as soon as your first choice goes out, you simply switch to your second choice and support them. Simple.