A presentation I did for the Agile Profesionals Network (APN) Wellington branch. Even if we have a recipe the context of the situation can mean we can\’t replicate a successful dish in a different environment. The key are Principles. Know your system, know your customer and desired output. Like a good chef have practices but understand the base principles of why things work.
Start with some Christmas photosI decided to cook Christmas dinner – chose Gordon Ramsey recipe – list of ingredients and exact timingsI was all setHad all ingredients, timings – I was all set to repeat and have my family enjoy the results
I had all the ingredients, well close enough the local dairy didn’t have a few things– but the kitchen was small, we didn’t have an oven, the stove top was the order of the day.Didn’t have time to let the turkey rest for 2 hoursI still followed the recipe and the result was well…. A little different from the picture in Gordon Ramsey’s book
In agile and lean we have lots of ingredients. Agile BuffetWarning don’t try and take everything as it will make you ill ! It’s knowing what to choose, when it’s appropriate
How do we know what practices to choose?Why does a practice work? When should we use it, is it right for us?There is help, we need to go back to cooking basics. Core Values
a Principle comprehensive and fundamental law, Principles Guide what you do, tactics show you howdoctrine, or assumptionAs Ash Mauraya states – we should separate principles from tactics – “Principles guide what you do. Tactics show you how”Tactic – definition is a device for accomplishing an end – that to me is a practicePrinciples apply in all contexts – wheras practices only apply in someHow many people know how many agile principles there are?
Agile and Lean can be seen as cousins, with a set of values but different origins.Lean arose from manufacturing, whilst agile came from software developmentThe Principles underlying lean are applicable almost anywhere. Mary and Tom Poppendieck have been instrumental in mapping these principles to software development
Agile and Lean can be seen as cousins, with a set of values but different origins.Lean arose from manufacturing, whilst agile came from software developmentThe Principles underlying lean are applicable almost anywhere. Mary and Tom Poppendieck have been instrumental in mapping these principles to software developmentHere is there summary:
Use the Principles to Guide you in what practices to use, don’t implement a practice without understanding the reason for doing so – the principle that underpins it.But where do we start? Principles without practical practices is vapourware. What do we do with all the agile-lean indeed industry good practice ingredients we have?Lean is a journey not a destiination – people like Scrum as some framwork to start with
Actually primary features link back to the agile principles….
DonReinersten approaches lean on the basis of appreciating the system that people are working on – fostering the skills of those people you have in the system and attending to time by seeing how work flows through the systemsApproach: Value Stream, KanbanApply principles at each stage, there are process patterns that I look for at each step
Build in tests at each stagee.g. Output – does the customer know what they are getting
Remember, agile practices are only tactics there to support underlying principles Don’t be driven by your practices – use them in the context of your organisation/situationAlways stick to your principlesLike a Restaurant, know your customer, understand the principles of putting the correct dish together at the right time, seemless handoff bewteenstataions – tries and tested well undertoodpracices. Each restuatrnt is diffectent. The dishes are al a carte
We started with the Agile evolution, turning time on its side Now we have recapped let’s have a quiz