Agile Outside of Software
by Nica Pourfallah, 4 October 2011 | The Agile Blogosphere
This post is from Agile Advice - Working With Agile Methods (Scrum, OpenAgile, Lean) by Nica Pourfallah. Click here to see the original post in full.
The manifesto for agile software development (http://agilemanifesto.org) consists of 4 basic values:1. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools?
2. Working software over comprehensive documentation?
3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation?
4. Responding to change over following a plan
I’ve been thinking about how this manifesto applies outside of the world of software, for which it was originally created. These concepts are so engrained into various agile methodologies, which these days don’t explicitly refer to software any longer, that it begs the question: how does a team apply these four values to their work outside of software development; specifically, what would replace delivering ‘working software’? The other three values translate more fluidly to differing spheres of work. For example, whether in the field of business, sales, medicine, etc. placing greater value on all the items on the left over those on the right will produce a transformed culture and working environment. But what does ‘working software’ translate into in these various realms? Particularly relevant for non-profit organizations, the next possible question would be: what if we are not creating a ‘product’ or something that is ‘shippable’? What I’ve found to be the methodology which most aptly addresses this question is OpenAgile.
On its website: www.openagile.com it is noted...read more
