Agile Development Blog

It’s clear, there is not a one-size-fits-all way to define Agile success. Every organization is different, every Agile team is different, and every software development project is different. Each organization has to figure out how to pilot, extend and excel at Agile. Distinct Agile teams within the organization also have to determine how to move to performance in their own ways and make the most effective use of team members to meet their commitments. Full participation from everyone involved is critical to move the organization, process and infrastructure to a better place. The successful approach to adopting Agile acknowledges Agile is not just fad or a quick fix, it is part of an ongoing dialogue of what’s working, what’s not and what are we going to change.

Bringing the Agile community together is a great way for both new and mature Agile teams to share best practices, pain points and success stories. Rally hosts regional events, called Agile Success Tours, to bring the Agile community together for just this purpose. At a recent event in Dallas, we asked participants how they defined Agile success and posed the same question to Twitter. We caught some great answers on video and got some nice, succinct tweets defining Agile success:

These answers illuminate that Agile is a different way of thinking and working for organizations. It’s a smarter, more skeptical and fun craft that addresses the systemic issues found in our increasingly complex and interconnected world. Through Rally’s work over the years helping organizations both large and small adopt Agile, we’ve come to figure out some fundamental components of what success looks like. Agile success comes down to creating the yearning to continue to ratchet up your agility and discipline as a team.

There truly is a simplicity behind Agile adoption when you create the shared commitment and vision that drives your organization – then you begin to see the beauty and the possibilities attainable in an Agile business.

Making New Agile Teams Successful breakout with Erika Peace of ICS and Chris Browne of Rally

Having now returned to Boulder and unpacked my bags, I wanted to reflect on the great experience I had moderating our most recent Agile Success Tour event in DC.

Our 5 executive panelists provided such great insight into their Agile adoptions, each with a different perspective.

The Q&A session that followed brought out puzzles and challenges from the participants, and it was great to feel their energy and passion to learn more. This flowed so wonderfully into the 5 breakout sessions that no one even wanted to take a break afterward!

In fact, the energy stayed so high through our final remarks and lunch that it fed even more insights from our panel. And, the audience was so highly engaged that many chose to stick around after the event to continue one-on-one as well as group discussions.

It was a pleasure and an honor to once again be a part of an Agile event that provided such genuine value to its participants.

One other note from DC: as usual, Israel Gat did a great job with his pre-event engagement work with the panelists. And, he has continued his tradition of capturing pivotal moments and pithy insights in his post-event blog entries. I encourage you to read his Threads from Washington, DC post for a breakdown of some of his favorite discussions from the event.

Stay tuned to the Agile Blog for videos from the DC event as well as details about our next round of FREE Agile Success Tours!