“Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.” The first value stated in the Agile Manifesto is the one which most intrigued me about Agile. I have been part of large organizations where everything was driven by the process. As such, it commonly felt like the processes were getting in our way and slowing us down.
For example, I submitted a design document for peer review. The majority of feedback was concerned with whether I followed the approved “style guide.” The approval process contained formalized steps with the stated purpose to verify that we followed our standard documentation management system and storage process. Few of these steps had anything to do with whether the design was any good or not.
So this first Agile value seemed like a good one to me. Later, a chat with a colleague opened my eyes that the balance scale may fluctuate between the two values based on where you are in the stage of development and deployment.
The Agile Restaurant: My colleague asked, “If you own a restaurant, is it more important to have a good chef or a good recipe?” I immediately replied “good chef!” keeping with my newfound Agile value beliefs. If you have a startup or lean restaurant and believe in Agile, clearly a good chef is critical. A good chef can create dishes by adding pinches of ingredients based upon the consistency or taste at the moment. A good chef has ability to tweak and change
. The fastest way to attract customers is for the chef to create and enhance dishes in order to generate early positive reviews.
What happens when the restaurant grows? Suppose you want to develop a common menu and brand and expand to multiple locations. We now need to have more processes in place which can be followed by the kitchen staff at each restaurant. These processes will need to provide a common style, level of menu and quality, and compliance with health standards. We must have the right processes to meet the business needs and brand. And we must have backup processes and recipes in place to handle the situation when our great chefs decide to leave our restaurant.
The Agile Software Company: Likewise, the value of people over processes may depend on where you are in the software development cycle. At the beginning of projects, we are often seeking speed and creativity which people and autonomy can better deliver. At the end we are concerned about support, maintenance, correctness, and compliance. As organizations expand, we are looking for common ways of working and sharing knowledge across multiple sites. This last stage requires more process and tools.
Alistair Cockburn, a co-creator of Agile Manifesto, told of asking someone when would you want “to value processes over people?”. The person replied “avionics.” I thought “medical devices.” Think about this the next time you fly or have a surgical procedure. In each of these examples, I would need to know that the software has met rigorous standards to ensure that it is working as intended.
For startups, find that good chef. Creativity and speed definitely come from people. For sustaining and growing organizations, you will need good recipes. Processes and tools define common and minimum operating standards. Inspect and adapt continuously to make sure you have the right level of processes and tools to ensure correctness without suffocating creativity, speed, and “happiness.” Find that balance in your organization. Strive for both good chefs and good recipes.
