The12KeyReasonsCompaniesAdoptAgile

WrittenbyMikeCottmeyer

SoImstartingtoseeapatternhere
SnowmageddoninAtlantaandIgoonaflurryofwritinggetbackintothegrooveofworking,andI
cantseemtomanageapostortwo.Imgoingtohavetofigureouthowtomustersomeseriousself
disciplineifthisbookiseverygoingtogetwritten.DennisandIgottogethertheweekbeforelastand
createdanoutlineforSectionTwo.Thatcontentwillshowupasanotherseriesoflistsoverthenextfew
weeks.Fortoday,IwanttogobackabitandtalkthroughsomethingIthinkwemighthaveleftout
whypeoplewanttodoagileinthefirstplace.
Afewofmyclientsrecentlyhavemenoodlingonthereasonsthatorganizationsandteamsdecidetogo
downthispathinthefirstplace.Ivementionedseveraltimesthatnoonereallycaresaboutagileall
theyreallycareaboutisbetterbusinessresults.Thatsaid,Ithinktheideaofbetterbusinessresultscan
bebrokendownalittlebit.ThatgotmethinkingaboutcreatingalistofthemainreasonsIhearfrommy
clientstheydecidedtogoagile.Sohereitisthe12KeyReasonCompaniesAdoptAgile.
1.FastertimetomarketLotsoffolksthatdecidetogoagileareprettyfedupwith18monthdelivery
cyclesthatquiteoftendeliverthewrongproductstomarketonesthatourcustomersjustarent
interestedinbuying.Theideaoftwoweekdeliverycyclesandquarterlyreleasecadencesispretty
appealing.Ourmarketsandourcompetitionarejustmovingtoofastwevegottogetbetteratgetting
workingproductoutthedoorfaster.
2.EarlyROITheotherdayIwasonsitewithateamthatwasstrugglingtoseethevalueinthinslicing
theiruserstories.Aftermissingafewsprints,theteamdecidedtogivethinslicingtheoldcollegetry.
Theydidntnailthesprint,butweresuccessfuldeliveringanincrementofworkingsoftwarethatwasof
valuetothebusiness.HereisaparaphraseoftheirProductOwnersreaction:
Eventhoughyoumayhavethoughtitwaslessefficienttosplittingstories,itmakesarealdifferenceto
thebusiness.Icanshowtheoutputofthissprinttoanexternalcustomerandsellbusinessbasedon
this.<<<Verycool!
3.FeedbackfromrealcustomersOneofmycustomerstoldmethatover50%ofthefeaturestheyve
builthavenoteverbeenusedbytheircustomers.ThatsprettyconsistentwithotherindustrystatsIve
seenrecently.Justimagineifwecouldtakeallthattimeweusetospendbuildingstuffourcustomers
didntwant,andfocusitonbuildingstufftheyllactuallyuse.Ihearargumentsallthetimethatsprint

planningorwritingtestsslowstheteamdowndoesanyoneeverconsiderhowmuchbuildingthe
wrongproductslowstheteamdown?
4.BuildtherightproductsThismayendupjustcollapsingthiswith#3,butfornowitfeelsslightly
differenttome.Evenifwearebuildingtheexactfeaturesthatourcustomersareaskingfor,incremental
deliveryhelpsusbuildthemthewayourcustomerswillactuallyusethem.Whenwedeliverinsmaller
increments,wehavetheopportunitytoletourcustomersseetheemergingproduct,respondtoit,and
tweakitastheygo.Agilehelpsthecustomerandtheteamconvergeonthebestpossibleoutcome.
5.EarlyriskreductionAgiledoesnttreatriskasaseparateareatobemanagedagileisrisk
management.Bydeliveringearlyandgettingfeedback,wereducetheriskofbuildingthewrong
product.Byfocusingonarchitecturalriskintheearlysprints,wereducetheriskthatwewonthavea
solutionthatcanbebuildintimeatleastwellknowitearly.Bycontinuouslyintegratingandbuilding
defectfreesoftware,wereducetheriskthatourstuffwasntbuiltrightjustbeforeweneedtobringit
tomarket.WasntitTomDeMarcothatsaidRiskManagementisProjectManagementforgrownups?
6.BetterqualityDevelopersaregenerallytiredofbuildingcrapandourcustomersareuniversally
tiredofgettingcrap.Whenbusinessesfixtime,cost,andscopetheonlythingdevelopershaveleftto
manageisquality.Agilefixestime,cost,andqualityandgivesusthetoolstovarythebusinessand
technicalscopeofthesolution.Youmightnotgeteverythingyouhopedfor,butyoucantrustwhatwas
delivered.
7.CultureandmoraleSomefolkswanttoadoptagilebecausethecultureintheirorganizationjust
sucks.Agileisaprettyhottopic,andmostdevelopersgetprettyexcitedaboutgivingitatry.Agileholds
thepromiseofcreatingteamsofempoweredindividualsteamsfullofpeopleworkingonthehighest
prioritiesofthebusinesswithasharedsenseofpurpose.Whenagileisdonewell,itcreatesreallyfun
placestoworkthereisnothingquitelikebeingpartofateamofpeopleworkinghardtowardshared
goals.
8.EfficiencyIalmosttitledthisonereducingwastebutthatsnothowthefolksIworkwithusually
communicateit,soIchosetocallthisefficiency.Peopleknowthatthebigupfrontplansusuallyturnout
uselessinthelongrun.Peopleknowthatthepeopleintheirfunctionalsilosarentworkingverywell
together.Theyknowthatthethrowitoverthewallhandoffsresultinchurnandbackandforth
behavior.Agileholdsthepromiseofhelpinguseliminatethestuffwedontneedandgetdowntothe
businessofbuildingworkingsoftware.
9.CustomersatisfactionBuildingproductsourcustomerscanusemakesthemhappy.Beingableto
frequentaddnewfeaturesbasedontheirfeedbackmakesthemhappytoo.Asasoftwarecustomer,Im
notsurethereisanythingworsethaninvestinginaproductthatdoesntwork,doesntdowhatweneed
ittodo,andnotbeingunabletoseeanypathforwardformakingitbetter.Imwillingtobuyafirst
iterationproductifIknowitisgoingtodonothingbutgetbetterovertime.Asamatteroffact,itcanbe
funseeingtheproductemergeasthedevelopmentteamgetsmorefeedback.Agilehelpsusbuildthis
kindofpartnershipwithourcustomers,onewhereweareworkingtogethertogetproblemssolved.

10.AlignmentIwanttoexplainthisoneabitbecuaeIdontthinkitsimmediatelyobvious.Whenwe
areorganizedinfunctionalsilos,whenourteamsarenotorganizedaroundeitherproductsorother
businessobjects,whenourtechnologyinfrastructureisownedinmorethanoneplacethatsbeingout
ofalignment.Agilesuggeststhatwehavecrossfunctionalteamsthatsupportproducts.Thisisreallya
simpleexpressionofalignmentandfolksgetittheywantit.Inpractice,sometimesthough,theone
teamoneproductrelationshipisntpossible.Thetrickistodeterminehowtoaligntheorganization
whenthesimplepatternbreaksdown.Peopledontusuallyaskforalignment,buttheywant
connectionbetweeneffortandrealbusinessresults.
11.EmergentoutcomesSomefolksarenttryingtodeliveragainstafixedtime,fixedcost,fixedscope
plansomefolksdontknowwhattheywanttobuildorhowtobuildit.Somepeoplearebuilding
productsformarketsthatdontexistyetusingtechnologiesthatarebrandnewandcuttingedge.Agile
isagreatwayofbuildingsoftwarewhenyouhavetoexplicitlyaccountforthefactthatyoullhaveto
learnasyougo.Buildalittleproduct,learnsomethingfromyourcustomer,adaptyourvision,builda
littlemoresoftware,andultimatelycreatesomethingthatisbetterthanyoucouldhaveeverplannedin
avacuum.
12.PredictabilityMostdevelopmentshopsareprettybadgivingthebusinessanyideaofwhenthey
aregoingtobedone,andwhattheyaregoingtogetfortheirmoney.Thebusinesshasgottentothe
pointwheretheyalmostdontcarehowfastyoubuildsomethingtheyjustneedyoutogetpredictable
doingit.ItsbecomeamantraofminelatelyItellteamsallthetimethatIneedthemgetgoodat
makingandmeetingcommitmentsandstabilizingtheirvelocityovertime.Intheabsenceof
predictability,Idontcareaboutspeed.Intheabsenceofpredictability,Ihavenoideawhattotellmy
customer.Intheabsenceofpredictability,Ihavenoideahowtocoordinateandaligntheotherpartsof
thebusiness.AtsomelevelIhavetobeabletomakeandmeetacommitment.
13.BecausesomeonetoldmetoThisisalastminuteadditionIguesswehaveabakersdozenof
sorts.IinitiallyleftthisoutbecauseIdontthinkitsarealreason.Attheendoftheday,thepersonin
powerhassomesortofreason,mostlikelydrivenbyoneofourprevious12.Thechallengethoughis
thatsometimesyougetteamswherethisistheonlyreasontheycare.Ifyouarefacedwithateamthat
doesntbuyit,andareonlygoingthroughthemotionsbecausesomeonetoldthemto,itwilldefinitely
influenceyouradoptionandtransformationstrategy.
Okaysothosearemytop12(13)Idlovetohearwhatyouguyshavetosay.WhathaveIleftout?
Whyelsedopeopledecidetoadoptagilepracticesandtransformtheirorganizations?