Agile Enough

Dmitri Zimin(e), Opalis Software

Bruce, April 2004

WHY AGILE?

IT ALL BEGANIN APRIL 2004

WHY AGILE?

• MATTER OF SURVIVAL– “Are you agile, or are you fragile?”

Scott Ambler

• WAY TO SUCCESS– Ship software and feel good

CONTEXT• VC BACKED “STARTUP”• SHRINK WRAPPED SOFTWARE

– Joel Spolski, Five Worldshttp://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/FiveWorlds.html

• SIGNIFICANT INSTALL BASE• LEGACY MAIN APPLICATION

– significant evolutionary development

• NEW DEVELOPMENT– multiple small components for main app.

• No JAVA

FIRST CUT• Daily status• Iterations • Team planning• Cut documentation• Fix engineering practices• Focus in Development • …WORKING DEMO IN 30 DAYS!

SET BACK

LESSONS LEARNED

• The biggest obstacle –- obsession with Agility

• Success in isolation is impossible• TRUST is the foundation

– Trust your team and earn team trust– Deliver consistently and win stakeholders

• It takes time…– and there will be ups and downs

SET BACK“If they knock you down, you get up. If you knock you down again, get up. No matter how many times they knock you down, get up again. That is how you should go”

Dainin Katagiri Roshi, Zen Master.

WHAT’S NEXT ?• RHYTHM

– Deliver working software consistently & continuously

• TEAM – Build and grow agile team

• ORGANIZATION– Work with QA– Win Product Management and Execitive

• RESULTS

Standard Disclaimer

“Process is only a second-order effect. The unique people, their feelings, qualities, and communication are more influential.

Some problems are just hard, some people are just difficult. These methods are not salvation”

Craig Larman

R H Y T H M

courtesy designladen.com

R H Y T H M

Alistair Cockburn, “Crystal Clear” 2005

R H Y T H M

• Daily status• Daily build• Iterations • Deliveries• Sustainable pace• Retrospectives• Show-offs

PRACTICES:

R H Y T H M

Daily status• Daily build• Iterations • Deliveries• Sustainable pace• Retrospectives• Show-offs

PRACTICES:

“Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment

and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.”

Principles behind the Agile Manifesto

T E A M

T E A M

• COACHING– Deliver working software

– XP Game: http://www.xp.be/xpgame/download.html

• WATCHING– Team dynamics

T E A M“You can change your organization,

or change your organization.”Martin Fowler

• AGILE HIRING• AGILE FIRING

T E A M

• Pair programming• Shadows• Test Driven Development• Bounding with technology• Lean Documentation

– Wiki– Whiteboards

PRACTICES:

T E A MThe model of team developmentBruce Tuckman, 1965

• Forming • Storming • Norming• Performing

http://dennislearningcenter.osu.edu/references/GROUP%20DEV%20ARTICLE.doc

OFFICE SPACE

ORGANIZATION

• Problems– Organization Separation– Industry “legacy”

• Approach– Deliver consistently & continuously– Understand– Work together

• Challenges

TEAM UP WITH QA

ORGANIZATION

• Problems– Organization Separation– Industry “legacy”

• Approach– Deliver consistently & continuously– Educate– Provide visibility

• Challenges

WIN PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

RESULTS

ARE WE AGILE YET ?

RESULTS

• SURVIVAL– Thee teams: one agile, two gone

• SUCCESS– We ship software and feel good

• CHALLENGES– never ending battle…

RESULTS

“I TRUST your team can carry out my vision. And you earned that trust through results, and you still earn it everyday with results. And that, to me, is what the essence of XP is about. Building confidence in management that the development team can execute on the plan.”

GP, Product Manager at Opalis.