Agile Isn't Just Something the Developers Do

If your business is asking the IT groups to "be agile" but are not, themselves, living by the Agile Values as laid out in the Agile Manifesto, the impedance mismatch between Business and IT will fast become untenable.

If the development team values Individuals and interactions over processes and tools, but the business mandates the use of multiple systems for time reporting, the creation of complete, pre-project, exact time and cost estimates and gant chart project plans, and monolithic, unautomated change control processes, then the team will be unable to work with Agility.

If the development team values Working software over comprehensive documentation, but the business mandates full, upfront design documentation creation and constant written status reporting, the team will be unable to work with Agility.

If the development team values Customer collaboration over contract negotiation, but the business requires Fixed Bid, Complete Scope, Fixed Time contracting, the team will be unable to work with Agility with their partners.

If the development team values Responding to change over following a plan, but the business penalizes teams for not exactly following an original project plan, or is unable or unwilling to adapt goals and work to the current business or technical environment, the team will be unable to work with Agility.

Are you asking your organization to be Agile, or is it just something you think the developers do?


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