Blog of a Boston-based IT Consultant

A few years ago I was first exposed to some agile practices. A year and a half or two years ago I had confrontations with agile practitioners as well as exposure to and involvement with agile projects. I even led some, without having bought in. If you look back at my blog posts, as it was pointed out to me today, I didn’t always agree with some agile practices. In fact, I was very much against some of them. I think this makes me a better PM and a better manager, because I can truly see the value in a variety of approaches and can adapt my techniques to suit the client, the team, and the unique project.

It is interesting to me, because I can see how my opinion has changed. It is also embarassing that I did not figure out this earlier: PMI and RUP and MSF and the like are the immediately obvious methodologies with large use bases because they have been productized. They are nice little packages, complete with certification and just happen to work better if you buy this piece of software or join this organization. There is money behind these schools of thought. They have a lot of exposure. Clients have heard of them and I have seen “PMP desired” on job descriptions for shops that practice purely agile techniques. It is as much marketing as anything else. More, maybe. This is not to say that I think they are worthless. Truly. It is just to assert that sometimes answers are obsfucated by things that appear to being clarity. It is funny to me, in an odd way.

This took me some time to realize, some more time to process and struggle with, and then it all just clicked. Project Management is about managing tasks. It is about getting things done. Yes, there is budget and human interaction, but they are all a part of the effort. This stuff is not brain surgery. As much as I love the discipline and am as anal as anyone about the way my projects are run in regard to sticking to an (always custom) method, I recognize that fluidity is mandated, and agility is really more than the name of a kind of SDLC/PLC.

There is ScrumMaster certification, yes. But Scrum <> Agile. It is one form of Agile. It is one possible way to manifest Agile in a way that can be taught from a book (which are available in many titles). There is also ScrumWorks, a nice piece of software that there is a free version of, for a limited time, and then the Danube salespeople start calling.

I guess what I am trying to say is that sometimes, the most elegant and efficient paths are the simplest paths. IT is an industry, and that which supports IT is productized. It is only normal, truly. It just kind of sneaks up on you if you think the answer is out there more than it is within your team.

It is very simple, really, as laid out in the Agile Manifesto (and none of these things cost money):

Individuals and interactions OVER processes and tools

Working software OVER comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration OVER contract negotiation

Responding to change OVER following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

These things simply require commitment, discipline, and quality people who care about what they do and share values. What do you value? What does your Client value? I bet, if it is not the above, it is at least results.

That’s all for today. Thanks for reading.

Best,

Josh

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