How to Sabotage Agile, Part II

Posted by Robert Merrill on November 12, 2009 under Agile BA, Agile Methods | Be the First to Comment

I got the idea for How to Sabotage Agile from a weather safety talk I once heard called “How to Get Hit By Lightning.” It’s more memorable and fun to read about what not to do.

• Tell the sysadmins, tech support folks, and in-house counsel that Agile means developers will be pushing code to production anytime they feel like it.
• Quote (or make up) inflammatory statements from famous Agilistas. “Sure, BAs, PMs, and QA people have a role on Agile teams–somebody has to make the coffee!”
• Tell the most introverted, opinionated developer in your shop that Agile will mean they will have to go out and gather all of the requirements themselves, with no help.
• Tell the most technophobic, opinionated business person in your firm that Agile will mean they will now have to talk to programmers, daily.

You’re in the middle. Don’t leave this to chance, do them all! See also How to Sabotage Agile, Part I and How to Sabotage Agile, Part III!

How to Sabotage Agile, Part I

Posted by Robert Merrill on November 9, 2009 under Agile BA, Agile Methods | Read the First Comment

(This is from The BA Role in an Agile Environment, presented on 9/15/2009 at the Madison chapter of the IIBA).

The most effective weather safety talk I ever heard was called “How To Get Hit by Lightning.” By telling us what to do if we wanted to get killed, it communicated what to do if we wanted to stay safe, only in a far more engaging way.

So, in that spirit, How to Sabotage Agile.

• Encourage compromise of one or more of the load-bearing walls of Agile. When someone warns against this, say, “I’m just being pragmatic here. I want us to go Agile more than anybody, but we’ll never get it in the door if we’re zealots—don’t worry, we’ll tighten this up later.” Read more of this article »

(T/F): Agile is to Software as Lean is to Manufacturing?

Posted by Robert Merrill on October 8, 2009 under Agile Methods, Software-Intensive Businesses | Be the First to Comment

If your firm hires or contracts programmers, and your business results depend on their work (and if your business results don’t, why did you hire or contract programmers?), this question is for you. Read more of this article »