Agile is not enough! Be Anti-FrAgile

Agile is not enough! Be Anti-FrAgile

Some time back I wrote about the idea of being FrAgile rather than Agile, in which one seeks out complexity and chaos rather than the traditional route of avoiding them at all costs.  Back then I wrote that:

This is very new and I’m still…

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Typical withdrawal symptoms of Agile coaches

Typical withdrawal symptoms of Agile coaches

It seems some Agile coaches are getting withdrawal symptoms from having to manage self-organizing teams who, how shall we say… don’t exactly self-organize.  So what’s the solution?  According to this article on InfoQ, just…

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The Agile Paradox: Necessary evil or evil necessity of having managers?

The Agile Paradox: Necessary evil or evil necessity of having managers?

“Ninety-five per cent of changes made by management today make no improvement.”

Dr. Edward Deming – “The New Economics” 1994

It is no secret that Deming often chided upper managers as being the cause of bottlenecks, revenue…

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Is a Holarchy more conducive to Agile, or is just a bunch of malarkey?

Is a Holarchy more conducive to Agile, or is just a bunch of malarkey?

Last year Zappos made big news by announcing that they would get rid of job titles, managers, and the infamous functional hierarchies.  For as this article from Quartz outlines:

During the 4-hour meeting, Hsieh talked about how Zappos’ tr…

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Like taking candy from a baby: Kanban's 90% problem

Like taking candy from a baby: Kanban’s 90% problem

I had written previously about Agile 90% problem, in that once you gain a wide adoption of Agile in your organization, it becomes harder and harder to squeeze more productivity gains from it.  Kanban which has its roots in manufacturing is now on…

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The 90% problem of Agile

The 90% problem of Agile

This article in Bank Systems & Technology states that Capital One is now using Agile methods for 85% of software development projects.  The indications seem to be that it has been quite successful for them, as the article states:

 

W…

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Be Fragile not Agile

Be Fragile not Agile

It is dawning on me that in the world of project management (and business management in general), that we are too obsessed with managing complexity and reducing chaos which are becoming more inevitable in our increasingly dynamic and hyper-connected w…

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The Commerce of Agile

The Commerce of Agile

I have written extensively on this blog about the adoption of the Agile mindset to industries outside software development.  I find this trend interesting as it indicates that the profession we are involved with comes equipped with tools, techniq…

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HealthCare.gov and Agile revisited

HealthCare.gov and Agile revisited

Last November I wrote a post on the initial botch up of HealthCare.gov’s use of Agile techniques on the front-end that didn’t help them deploy the site more efficiently, nor effectively.  So it was with interest that I ran into this T…

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The Dept of Defense is boxing in Agile

The Dept of Defense is boxing in Agile

I found this article on the Defense.gov website and it seems they made a decision to go Agile with how they procure and deploy IT:

So, based on recommendations contained in the 2009 Defense Science Board Report, the department is working to speed up…

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