The pitfalls of Agile approaches
Although they can sometimes seem simple to implement, it’s not always so easy to take advantage of Agile methods. So here’s a list of common mistakes to avoid in order to ease your transition. Putting the Agile Manifesto aside The Agile Manifesto contains the essence of Agility in terms of …
An Agile enterprise? Okay, but what is it?
What are we talking about when we talk about an agile enterprise? Some elements of definition are needed to better understand the state of mind and the different solutions brought by Agility. What’s the definition of an agile enterprise? Before answering this question, it’s important to share a common vision …
What is SAFe exactly?
The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) was developed in the mid-2000s by Dean Leffingwell to help organizations develop better software products and bring them to market faster using Agile, Lean and Systems Thinking practices on scale of the whole enterprise. The idea is to develop an overall vision of how work …
Product Owners: where to begin?
The Product Owner’s skills and contributions are key factors for the success of Agile software development teams. Here is how the Product Owner’s role is described in the Scrum Guide: The Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product resulting from work of the Development Team. How …
Sorry the new Champlain Bridge can’t be built using Agile…
Agility is now indispensable for developing products and services. Indispensable? Really? Perhaps not always. Agile approaches are not the answer to all our woes, and it would be interesting to ask ourselves in which contexts they are most relevant. Why is building a bridge using an Agile approach not a …
Top 3 Impediments to Product Agility
Agile transformations are often initiated by production teams that believe Agility will empower them to deliver better products in a shorter time. Organizations speak of “faster time to market” and “higher quality.” They look at the cost and green-light the proposed transformation. Reality is that often these teams successfully decrease …
The Project Manager is dead; long live the Project Manager!
Agile approaches generally do not talk about Project Managers, though it’s a role found in many organizations that use these approaches. I am certain that they are not there merely as figureheads! I would like us to take the time to reflect on the Project Manager’s place within an Agile …
Is the Project Manager still necessary in a Scrum Team?
When the Scrum framework is introduced within an organization or a team, I often notice a lack of understanding regarding the Project Managers’ role. What do they become in an Agile organization? Do they still have a place? Over a few weeks, several people have asked me these questions. During …
5 Beliefs That Predict Enterprise Agile Success
As anyone who has tried to do it knows, changing an organization is painful. Though Agile is intellectually quite simple (the application of empirical principles to software delivery), it can fundamentally challenge deeply held beliefs that have gone unchallenged for years. Challenging these beliefs can be deeply unsettling; it can …
Performing in an Uncertain World: 5 Essential Keys for Organizations
Mission, values and meaning Professional environments are more and more characterized by uncertainty and the unexpected. If I have understood the work of business managers correctly, their job is just about the simplest in the world because we only ask one thing of them: to guarantee results. The only problem is …