Dan describes how the Agile impact in software is similar to the Lean impact in manufacturing of the 90’s. I initially struggled with the analogy until I realized he is not saying that software development is like manufacturing. He is saying that the concepts and techniques applied in Lean manufacturing are coming to large-scale software development.
I completely agree and believe the model of how we build software is changing just like Dan describes. Using the model from the Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, the change looks like this:
Lean Software Concept
That was a great decade – I see much of the last decade of improvement coming from a real effort to take responsibility for how we perform our craft. The ground up work in Agile, Scrum, XP and Lean has increased velocity, increased quality and increased the quality of life for many in our industry. I am personally in a much better working environment; how about you?
So what’s ahead for 2010?- With Agile software development hitting the mainstream, the guiding ideas on how to design and deploy software is changing for most software driven organizations. As more teams and organization make the transition to the Agile/Lean triangle, I see us increasing our investments in skills training, teaching, experimenting and innovating with an increasing number of new tools, techniques and methods. As a result, I see this decade moving us past the Lean models of Toyota to something uniquely our own. I am really excited about the improvement this decade could bring to our industry and all the industries that we impact with our software.
I’ve written previously about my allergic reaction to process maturity models for Agile development. Based on 5 years of empirical feedback being a part of or watching what succeeds versus falls back, I do not believe their is a “cookbook” for Agile adoption. Of course, the question then becomes:
If there is no cookbook, then what is the best approach to succeed with my Agile adoption?
Enter the crib sheet for Flow-Pull-Innovate, which is a guidepost for the key transitions in Agile organizations based on proven bottom-up success. Because the hurdles and challenges are unique for each organization and code base, this is not a prescriptive approach. It’s a framework to thinking about how to approach Agile adoption incrementally and iteratively and is essential to establishing quick wins that create a virtuous cycle of success to keep the ball rolling.
The three phases of Agile maturity are based on work by Jim Womack in his book Lean Thinking. However, Jean and I thought it was appropriate to substitute “Innovate” for “Perfect” in Agile organizations. In IT/high-tech, it seems more about continuous innovation than the ultimate pursuit to “resource” efficiency.
Getting Over the Hump - Critical Step #3
Over the past 5 years, our focus at Rally has been getting our customer’s successful at Step 3, which we call Multi-Team Program Pull. (See our whitepaper on Leaning IT and moving to Program Pull.)
We focused on this step because at Program Pull, whole software products or major IT systems come to market typically 50% faster, according to the QSMA studies included in the Agile Impact Report. However, in this tough market and with mainstream Agile adoption, more and more organizations are adopting Agile at scale, making it important to light the path beyond Program Pull and into Organizational Pull and Organizational Innovate.
What do think of the crib sheet for Flow-Pull-Innovate? Do you agree with the key metrics? Are these failure signs you’ve experienced? Would your organization be willing to stand behind items in the commitment needed column?
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