Agile – It’s Not Just for Software Development Anymore

2011 marks the 10 year anniversary of the Agile Manifesto, and it's a good time to examine where the movement is headed. In February, 2011, there was a gathering at the Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah, sight of the original Manifesto creation, to do just that. While I understand that there were some views at that event that Agile is really just about software development, there were thankfully other voices that endorsed Agile as values and principles applicable in general terms, and not just in the area of software.

My view? The Agile Genie is out of the bottle.

Agile is not a methodology, it is a way of thinking and being. The values of the Manifesto articulate where to focus attention and effort to make sure we create product that provides maximum business value the quickest. Agile's simple, but elegant, tenets are inspiring the Agilists among us (of which I am one) to look for new ways to apply them and engineer new solutions in areas, I suspect, were not even on the radar in Snowbird in 2001.

Scrum is by far the most popular Agile methodology in use today, and is technology agnostic. It is a lightweight Agile project management framework that focuses on building a releasable increment of product (not just software) frequently. Working in short increments, an empowered, creative, cross-functional team collaborates with a business owner, and each other, to ensure they are producing quality product while constantly adapting to the changing world around them. Why does it work? Agile embraces a simple concept that we all accept as fact in our lives: "The Only Constant is Change." The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said that about 100 years before Plato was in his prime. I use that quote in each presentation I do on Agile, and every time, every head in the room nods. However, for a notion that is so universally accepted as a truth, we traditionally practice project management techniques that try to predict, measure, and engineer that constant out of our reality, and ultimately often fail in the attempt. To me, it only makes sense to practice management techniques that not only accept change, but capitalize and thrive on it.

The notion of using Scrum outside of software development isn't new; Scrum co-founder Jeff Sutherland and his wife described how she used Scrum to run her church. There are success stories of marketing companies utilizing Scrum to deliver marketing initiatives, indeed to address "marketing crises." People have even used Scrum for wedding planning. At my firm, we use Scrum practices and Agile principles to run not only our development projects, but internal operations and our own marketing efforts as well. And in the interest of full disclosure, the favorite anecdote about me around the office right now is that I used Scrum to help my family prep to host company for Christmas this year. Yes, it's true.

The Agile Genie is out of the bottle. Like a platoon graduating from basic training, we have learned what our instructors had to teach, incorporated the values, and are now taking it to the next level and growing beyond their control. And this is a good thing. The Agile "revolution" is kicking into high gear, crossing boundaries to new horizons, and people are beginning to jump on board.

So why not you? Why not now? Come check out what Agile can do for you.

As always, I welcome your comments.