There Be Agile Dragons!

I just returned home from Agile 2009 with too many ideas buzzing around in my head. One thing I noted was an increase in high-level managers and execs who are open to considering Agile adoption.

Actually, there was perhaps a simple increase in the number of decision-makers overall. Of course, that also means a statistically proportionate increase in the number of people deeply entrenched in the command-and-control management style which dominated the software industry until a decade or so ago.

What Do I Tell Them?

I always speak optimistically to people interested in "going Agile," but I don't even care whether or not I use the term "Agile" anymore (not that I'm going to change the name of the company just now...).

Of course, I was at an Agile conference, so it shouldn't have been a shocking word when I did use it. I try to help teams examine and alter their development processes by identifying bottlenecks, looking for root-causes, finding ways to ease those constraints, and delivering valuable software.

XP practices, Agile management, Lean leadership, and an overall "Theory of Constraints" approach; all these we bring forth to keep the software-dependent organization healthy. What we call "Agile" is a subset, because what we call "software development" is usually viewed as a subset of the organization's function.

I spent over an hour with one chap. Apparently, my 30-second "elevator pitch" needs some work.

Reactions Vary

Some folks may take my enthusiasm for naivete. I often explain that I've been writing software for money for over 25 years, and I've seen my share of disasters and successes. I don't care about buzzwords; I have some idea of what made those successful projects work.

Others may see me as an idealistic proselytizer. I'm not dogmatic about anything (except perhaps some form of automated regression safety-net, if you're planning to release a version after v1.0). I do encourage the team to select (and follow) actual practices (dare I call them disciplines?) at every level in order to provide exceptional value and quality. (Good news: It's actually easier and more fun to sincerely follow a discipline than to pretend to follow one for the sake of a poorly-formulated metric.)

But I understand those folks. They're wary, with a healthy dose of skepticism towards new (or seemingly new) techniques. They pick things up somewhere between the early adopters and the late adopters. It may even be a corporate survival trait.

Those aren't the folks who exhaust me. And at Agile 2009 this year, there was a larger-than-usual set of attendees who really don't believe their team can do anything right without constant oversight and carrot-and-stick incentives.

"Not That There's Anything Wrong With That..."

Sure, I have learned how to uncover what it is that's worrying folks, and I can talk until I lose my voice; describe the latest findings, and even patiently let them realize their own conclusions. (When I have an hour of time to kill standing in the hallway on my way to the men's room...)

Except that they don't always come to any conclusion. There are the select few who will not let you "win" the discussion (even if you didn't know you were in an argument), and aren't willing to leave you alone until you concede.

I know why: These are the folk who try to build a mental model of something, and then run virtual scenarios in their minds, rather than committing themselves and others to real risk. These are the people who are afraid to fail. Unfortunately for them, their mental model can never be complete.

To them I now say: "Meet The Dragon."

The Boy and the Dragon

There's a story (very old, but I can't find a handy reference, so I'll bring it up-to-date) about a boy who loved dragons. He drew pictures of dragons, wrote poems and stories of dragons, and read books about dragons. He even dressed as a dragon for Hallowe'en, and his Twitter-name had "dragon" in it (there, now the story is updated).

One day a great, wise dragon heard about the boy, and thought that she would delight the boy by visiting him at his home. "Imagine," she thought, "how excited he will be to finally meet a real dragon!"

She appeared one night in his room and began to speak...

The boy saw the dragon in his room and was so terrified, he could neither move nor reply. His eyes were wide, his heart pounded, and he was in such a state of shock that he could not even scream. The terror was so great that he died of fright right there and then!

(Okay, okay, the dragon gives him CPR and he lives. In fact, the dragon, let's call her "Puff,"and the boy--I think his name was "Jackie Paper"--become fast friends. Better? Sheesh! Remember the good old days when children's stories used to be truly scary? ;-)

DM: Dear @AgileCoach, Do Dragons Really Exist?

Yep. There are many successful Agile teams around, actually doing Agile stuff because they want to; because they produce high-quality, high-value software quickly; because they enjoy working in an environment that encourages them to learn and to succeed; and because it seems the most professional way that we know of--so far--to build real software.

I have met many real Agile dragons of all shapes and sizes. I have assisted dozens (perhaps over 100) of transitions, and many of those have adopted Agile far enough to leap beyond mediocrity. I have been an actual long-term, full-time player (internal coach/TDD developer/project manager) on at least four exceptionally successful teams: Small teams, larger teams, applications handling millions of dollars, life-critical applications (yep, even one of those).

"I'm Not Your Life-Coach, But Since You Asked..."

Do you have a friend who wants to be a great actor, a supreme-court judge, an astronaut? (Not someone simply greedy for fame and fortune, but a sincere, interested, even talented individual.) How many of his friends are supportive, but secretly think he's foolish? Do they encourage him with vaguely positive platitudes, yet privately think he should take that accounting job at his father's firm?

I would tell this person (if asked): "The odds are against you, and you may have to 'settle' for less than a bullseye, but there are indeed famous actors, supreme-court judges, and astronauts in this world. Who is to say you won't be one of them? Seeing is believing, so [quit telling me about your fantasies and] go find one to talk to!"

But assembling an exceptional software team is so much easier. You're not competing for a finite number of roles/seats/launches. There are plenty of problems that software can solve, that it hasn't. You don't have to have only the best programmers. You don't have to have Steve Jobs as the Product Champion and Ken Schwaber as the coach.

Mick Jagger, the Agile Coach

I'll give the aspiring actor and the aspiring Agile team the same advice: Identify your weaknesses, work to reduce their impact. Identify your strengths, and leverage them. And don't be discouraged by an apparent lack of progress. You may never get to where you though you wanted to be, but you will be much happier with the results than if you just kept doing what you were doing. You'll "get what you need."

Visit the Dragon's Lair

I think Pivotal Labs in San Francisco will give you a brief tour, and will describe what they're doing. I know that Menlo Innovations in Ann Arbor will give a two-hour tour, and in fact their tours are so popular that they've published a book and posted video on the web for those who cannot make it out to Ann Arbor. And next time the tiny-but-brilliant Bay Area company called Outformations has their team fired up and roaring through a client's project, I'm sure they'll show you around, too.

The Wise Dragons.

At all of these places, you can watch real software being made using Agile management and development techniques.

And rather than falling for the cynical belief that it can never work at your shop, let me bring in my executive coaches, Lean/Theory-of-Constraints experts, and Agile Mentors (me and others), and we'll help you reveal the Wise Dragon lurking within your teams.

You don't have to believe, you just have to get over the shock.