Blog

Agile Blog Posts

We’re interested in all flavours of Agile, whether it’s Extreme programming (XP), Kanban, Scrum or anything else that adopts Agile or Lean philosophies, we’re probably going to talk about it.

Here are some of our most recent posts:

1. Scrum – All the gear, no idea? (3/24/2016) - I have a problem with Scrum – although the problem isn’t really the Scrum methodology itself, but rather some of the people who (attempt) to adopt it. I’d liken it to Harley Davidson motorcycles or perhaps Gibson guitars – both great products, especially if they’re acquired by people who know what they’re buying and how to use them. …
2. Is your Minimum Viable Product actually viable? (1/18/2016) - Let’s examine one of the most-shared images relating to agile software development from last year. There are a few variants of the idea (and I apologise for not knowing who to cite as the original source), but the basic theme is the same. Instead of developing a car in progressive phases, they show the delivery of simple, …
3. Are all developers equal? (10/23/2015) - In Scrum, only 3 roles are prescribed; Product Owner, Scrum Master and Developer (Team Member). It suggests that we let go of our traditional roles (and job titles) to form an embedded team, that collaborates and cross-skills. “All developers are equal, but some developers are more equal than others” I have spoken to several project …
4. Responsibility inversion (10/20/2015) - Responsibility inversion is an extremely common management anti-pattern, present in many organisations. It occurs when a person in a more senior role (in terms of hierarchy or experience) does not delegate sufficient responsibility to those more junior than themselves, even though they possess the relevant skills, ability or experience. With the following diagram in mind, consider a …
5. Are Agile certifications worth it? (10/12/2015) - I recently came across this article on InfoWorld talking about “7 agile certifications to take your career to the next level”. I read it hoping to gain some insight on their opinion of how certification would benefit your career. Did they think the value came from the skills you learn from obtaining the certification or are there certain …
6. The role of an Agile architect (10/7/2015) - “Architecture is about the important stuff. Whatever that is.” That’s what Martin Fowler told us way back in 2003. If you’re interested in the field of software architecture, it’s probably a quote you’re already familiar with. It’s often repeated, but it doesn’t really help explain what architecture is – or why it’s important. If we continue reading …
7. Agile team communication (10/2/2015) - Encouraging good communication within a team is one of Agile’s key areas of success. From daily stand-ups to pair programming, refinement and retrospective meetings, working in an open and collaborative way is a core tenet of Agile, whichever framework or methodology you subscribe to. No hierarchy? Many Agile approaches attempt to instigate flat organisational structures, where …
8. We are not chickens, nor are we pigs! (9/29/2015) - I frequently see Scrum teams continuing to use “Chickens and Pigs” to describe someone’s relationship to the team. Despite the potential negative connotations, I often read new articles and documentation still using this terminology – and there doesn’t seem to be much sign of this slowing down… Now, for some, it may surprise you to …
9. Managing technical debt (9/24/2015) - One common question I hear from teams new to Agile is “How do you manage technical debt?”. Agile is often blamed for producing more technical debt than more traditional approaches – whether or not that’s true, everyone should have a mechanism for tackling it. What is technical debt? For anyone unfamiliar with the term, very …
10. Common problems adopting Agile (9/15/2015) - How not to introduce Agile into your organisation.
11. Agile with deadlines using time-boxing (9/11/2015) - In an excellent article from Mike Cohn, where he talks about budgeting when you can’t estimate, he touches on an important but often overlooked Agile practice, time-boxing: Instead of asking a team, “How long will this take?” the business thinks, “How much time is this worth?” In effect, what this does is create a budget for …
12. Was Bruce Lee the first Agile practitioner? (9/10/2015) - Let’s take a look at some well known quotes from the legend that is Bruce Lee: “All fixed set patterns are incapable of adaptability or pliability. The truth is outside of all fixed patterns” “Obey the principles without being bound by them” That sounds like Bruce Lee was strongly in favour of responding to change. …
13. Effective backlog refinement meetings (9/9/2015) - This video from CollabNet provides a great insight into how a model backlog refinement meeting should be run (and how it shouldn’t…). Importantly, although not the primary aim, the video also demonstrates Agile collaboration and negotiation done right. This is exactly the right attitude towards Agile development: Originally sourced from http://scrummethodology.com/scrum-effort-estimation-and-story-points/
14. Are you authentically Agile? (9/9/2015) - “That’s not Agile” is a phrase I’ve often observed, usually from people espousing specific methodologies. What they usually mean is that you’re no longer following a specific approach exactly as written. That may be a good thing… Whatever Agile software development methodology you have adopted, if you want to claim you’re being (authentically) Agile, you …
15. What is Agile? (9/9/2015) - Since the original Agile Manifesto was published back in 2001, “Agile” has become an increasingly fashionable buzzword, championed by many. So what is “Agile” in a more concrete and tangible form?