Agile Methods: Facts and Myths - 1st Agile Cyprus Meetup

Agile methods: Facts and myths1st Agile Cyprus Meetup

Vangelis Monochristou, Co-Founder of Agile Cyprus

Facts about Agile

• Project Management Institute - Pulse of the Profession 2015:• 38% of organizations report using agile frequently• 75% of highly agile organizations met their goals, 65% finished on time, and

67% finished within budget. Compared to organizations with low agility,where only 56% met their business goals, 40% finished on time, and 45%finished within budget• Agile organizations grow revenue 37% faster and generate 30% higher profits

than non-agile companies

Facts about Agile

• Project Management Institute - Pulse of the Profession 2016:• 9% of organizations report using agile always• 28% of organizations report using agile often• 31% of organizations report using agile sometimes

Facts about Agile

• HP online survey of 601 development and IT professionals (2015)• Agile is the new normal• Two-thirds described their company as either "pure agile" or "leaning towards

agile, regarding the primary development method used in their organizationacross projects• A hybrid approach is used by 24 percent of respondents, meaning that they

incorporate at least some agile principles into the management of theirsoftware development projects• Only nine percent describe themselves as using "pure waterfall" or "leaning

towards waterfall“• Driven by the young, but felt by all

Facts about Agile• Actuation Consulting - The study of product team performance (2015)• Which of the following methodologies best describes the way your organization develops

products?

Facts about Agile• Actuation Consulting - The study of product team performance (2015)• Which of the following methodologies do you associate with increasing your product’s

profitability?

Facts about Agile

• VersionOne – 10th Annual State of Agile™ Survey (2016)• 3,880 respondents• Agile methodologies are no longer solely the domain of startups and small

development shops• Agile is going global• The pool of talent and agile experience continues to grow• Only 1% of the 3,880 respondents said that their agile implementation was

unsuccessful

Facts about Agile

Source: 10th Annual State of Agile™ Survey

• Company Experience and Adoption

Facts about Agile


• Percentage of teams using Agile

Facts about Agile


• Reasons for adopting Agile

Facts about Agile


• Top 3 benefits of adopting Agile

Facts about Agile

Source: 10thAnnual State of

Agile™ Survey

• Actual Improvements for implementing Agile

Facts about Agile


• Agile methodologies used

Facts about Agile


• Top 5 Agile techniques used

Facts about Agile


• Leading causes of failed Agile projects

Facts about Agile


• Barriers to further Agile adoption

Myths about Agile

• Myth #1: Agile is new• the Agile manifesto was published in 2001• the Scrum Pattern Language was introduced at PLoP (Pattern Languages of

Programs Conference) 1998• the Episodes Pattern Language (the forerunner of XP) was presented at PLoP

1995• Tom Gilb’s Evolutionary Delivery Method dates back to 1976

Myths about Agile

• Myth #2: Agile development is a methodology• It is a set of shared values and principles (http://www.agilemanifesto.org) that

guide a set of technically rigorous development methodologies

James Shore and Shane Warden, “The Art of Agile Development”

Myths about Agile

• Myth #3: Agile = Scrum

Myths about Agile• Myth #4: Agile is undisciplined

• Agile promotes self-organization. This often leads to the misconception thatwork in an agile project is chaotic. The opposite is true. Mature agile methodslike Scrum require a high level of discipline by outlining a clear process andset of rules to be followed• Successful Agile implementations are often more process-driven and

coordinated than traditional waterfall implementations

Myths about Agile

• Myth #5: Agile means “no planning”• Planning occurs throughout the development cycle and is spread across the

entire team• Planning takes place in:• Product level (Product Backlog)• Release Plan• Iteration (Sprint) Plan• Daily Stand-up Meeting

• Agile Planning Onion

Myths about Agile

• Myth #7: Agile means “no documentation”• As at the beginning of a project things are not accurate by nature, there is

little upfront documentation, it’s rather ‘as required’. During iterations /sprints, plans and requirements are continuously challenged and refined. Thisresults in continuous extension and adaption of documentation• Agile does not prevent any development team from generating as much

documentation as the project requires• The natural process of Agile development tends to generate a greater amount

of documentation than traditional methodologies

Myths about Agile

• Myth #8: Agile means “no design”• Agile probably means more design. Design is inherent all the way through

development, at every planning meeting and more• Agile development stresses simple upfront design to focus on the foundation

and general structure of the software, instead of big-up-front design which isinvalidated five minutes after someone starts coding

Big Design Up Front (BDUF) is “harmful” but little upfront design (LUFD) is“absolutely essential”, Robert C. Martin (one of the founders of the AgileManifesto)

Myths about Agile

• Myth #9: Agile requires that stakeholders and developers work in asingle location• Agile emphasizes heavy stakeholder involvement throughout a development

effort. As a result, many assume that team members must all work in thesame location (co-located) for Agile to be successful• With modern technology, this is no longer the case. It’s real-time

communication and collaboration that matter, not where or how they occur

Myths about Agile

• Myth #10: Agile does not scale – Agile is only for small projects• The one thing Agile does bring to the conversation, is instead of looking for

ways to scale up your project, look for ways to scale things down• Agile encourages breaking large, complex projects into many small,

manageable pieces• This means that it can indeed scale – even for big projects

Myths about Agile

• Myth #11: Agile is easy• It is not easy at all to successfully transform an organisation or team to

become agile• It is usually not easy to change a complex systems delivery lifecycle to a

simple one• Understanding agile is not something that can be achieved by simply reading

a book. It requires practical experience and the help / guidance / coaching ofan expert

Myths about Agile

• Myth #12: Agile is a silver bullet• Agile is not the answer to all IT problems• There's nothing inherently magical about Agile. You can fail just as

spectacularly on an Agile project as you can using any other traditionalmethod• Agile may not be the best approach in projects that cannot be broken down

into small units of work that can be completed in one- to four weekincrements

Myths about Agile

• Myth #13: Agile gives instant benefit• While a transformation to agile can deliver huge benefits, the reality is that

the majority of transformations go through a learning curve• Lack of experience / dedication can also lead to poor performance

Myths about Agile

• Myth #14: Agile is faster• While it may be true that Agile as a whole makes development process faster,

the initial process might be anything but fast• Agile methodology ensures there are lesser bugs to fix and the software is

sustainable• Agile also aims to minimize waste, which helps to make sure that the process

is not stuck with the tasks that do not have a “value”

Myths about Agile

• Myth #15: Agile is only for software development• It is true that the Agile Manifesto describes agile in the context of software

delivery, but agile can be applied successfully in business environments thatare not exclusively software-related• Agile is suited to any dynamic business environment that experiences

variability, such as product development, marketing or business change

Thoughts

• Agile brings better results• Agile sells• Agile is trendy (that’s not always good)• Customers love and ask for Agile ….. but at the same time they:• prefer fixed priced contracts• want heavy upfront analysis documentation• don’t like changes in the scope• try to avoid constant customer involvement

Let’s discuss it in one of our next meetups!!!!

Thank you!!!!

Vangelis [email protected]

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Agile Methods: Facts and Myths - 1st Agile Cyprus Meetup