I blogged much of the Serena Tag 2008 conference. This was post eight about Serena’s moves into Agile led by Jeff McKenna and the Agilistas. While waiting for the start, I listened to the Stones mashed up with Queen. This mashing up of music greats was constant theme of the conference music. Nice job. Now there is a video of some local high school kids creating graffiti style backgrounds for the event. Serena also gave us cow bells with the More Cowbell! label. Rene Bonvanie kicked off the program designed to squash some Agile myths.
Jeff McKenna (see above) came on to the sound of cow bells to deal with these myths. He introduced the Agilistas from Valtech and Serena. Myth one: Agile means you never have to write documentation. Both sides were briefly covered. The audience was asked and 79% said it is false. This is also the position of Serena and Valtech. However, documentation can be produced at the right time when the system is ready. There is less editing and revisions.
Myth Two: Agile is more disciplined than other methods. Again, both sides were briefly covered. The audience was asked. 43% - false and 41% true. The panel believes that Agile is more disciplined but it is bottom up discipline rather than imposed discipline. There is more feedback and engagement. This is a common, and counter intuitive, aspect of enterprise 2.0. With transparency you get accountability and more discipline. It results in greater productivity. I have seen many examples of the switch to more transparent project management leading to significant increases in productivity. Below is a panel debate.
Myth Three: Agile means I can change my mind whenever I want to. Both sides were briefly covered by the panel. The audience was asked and 79% said it is false. This is also the position of Serena and Valtech. There needs to be some stability. Within the sprints in development, change needs to be on hold. Then there can be times for change.
Myth Four: Agile works on all sizes of projects. Both sides were briefly covered. The audience was asked and 59% said true. This is the position Serena and Valtech but you need to recognize that there are greater needs for large projects for them to succeed. The key differential is that you can keep Agile teams small and link together these teams to handle size. One large project had 27 teams successfully linked together.
Myth Five: Agile means teams cannot be controlled by management. Both sides were briefly covered. The audience was asked and 72% said false. Serena and Valtech agrees with this. Agile is about control through planning, monitoring, and adapting. Management is about getting more done by removing obstacles. There is a different style of management.
Myth Six: Agile requires detailed architecture and design. Again, both sides were briefly covered by the panel. The audience was asked. 55% said true but Serena and Valtech disagree with this. There is less architecture and design. You need architecture but it is not the driver. Architecture comes out in dealing with the problem and should not be a guiding factor. Let architecture emerge and be open to change.
Myth Seven: Agile is just the latest hype. Both sides were briefly covered. The audience was asked. 62% said false and Serena and Valtech agrees with this. It has been around for a while. There are demonstrated successes. Most employees like it and there are productivity improvements.
Myth Eight: Agile works on complex projects. Both sides were briefly covered. The audience was asked and 71% said true. Serena and Valtech agree with this. However, it does require more management.
Myth Nine: Agile teams do not work hard, they just play foosball. Both sides were briefly covered. The audience was asked and 75% said false. Serena and Valtech agree with this. There is a balance of work and fun required. Focus is key.
Myth Ten: Agile is only used for mission critical projects. Both sides were briefly covered. The audience was asked and 95% said false. Serena and Valtech agree with this.
