Agile Matters

We’re often asked what we consider to be the difference between Lean and Agile, and if you ask 5 different people around our office, you’ll get 5 different answers. (Actually, if you ask the same person 5 times you’ll probably get 5 different answers - depending on who it is you’re asking). So we thought we’d state explicitly our views on the topic.

Simply put, there is no difference between Lean and Agile. To put it more complicatedly, though, there are subtle differences that we would notice in order to define something as being either Lean or Agile, but at the root of their existence, Lean is Agile, and Agile is Lean.

So no need to ask us that question again….

Lead time - agile allows a project to begin with a much shorter lead time than conventional project management methodologies.

Lean - having evolved from the Just In Time principle, lean is the overarching methodology behind maximising business value through minimising waste.

Learning - it’s a crucial element of our service that we react to learnings about the project and its environment at every stage of the process.

Lifecycle - the primary processes required to complete the project within a pre-determined time frame.

Kanban - a system of workflow management that is at the heart of the Japanese Just In Time methodology. Essentially, it’s a system for signposting actions that need to be taken, originally through leaving a card in place at a point where it would become necessary to produce more items - eg at the bottom of a container.

Key elements - an essential component of agile practices is defining the key goals and objectives at the start of the project.