Month: August 2012

Agile Fluency

Diana Larsen first told me about the Where Are Your Keys language learning game that Willem Larsen and Evan Gardner were playing in early 2009. I was initially intrigued, but when I experienced it with Willem later that same year, I became enthusiastic. My interest lay not in learning languages, but in applying the same techniques and framework to teaching Agile techniques. I immediately began thinking how to make that application, and I’ve been thinking along those lines ever since.

Thus, it was with tremendous expectations when I saw that Diana and Jim Shore had published Your Path through Agile Fluency on Martin Fowler’s website. Having read it, I’m both greatly encouraged and slightly disappointed. Read More

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Categories: Responding to Change

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Bad Scrum, but Pretty Good RUP

Most metals have a bit of springiness to them. If you want to bend them to a certain shape, you have to bend them further than that. When they spring back a bit, they’ll take the shape you want.

Today, I was looking at a milestone chart for a project transitioning from a serial lifecycle to an Agile one in a large organization. At first, I despaired at the picture it painted. There are Requirements and Design phases for the release, and a “hardening sprint” before release. Don’t get me wrong. Things are much better than they were before the transition started, but there is quite a way to go before this effort reaches what I would call truly Agile.

Then it struck me. Read More

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Categories: Responding to Change

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