“Since we are Agile, we choose not to be really Agile.” This the Agile Paradox.
Many organizations claim to have adopted Agile Software Development. But most organizations will then tell you that they are not really Agile. They have decided to pick and choose those things from Agile which they want to adopt and ignore the others.
Although some argue that they are simply “adapting to their environment”, it may be that they are not getting the full benefit from a commitment to be more Agile. Agile is more than simply “saying you are Agile”.
Agile Software Development originated as a mindset or philosophy guided by the values and principles in the Agile Manifesto. In summary, these encompass various approaches where solutions evolve in short increments through self empowering, motivated, and collaborative teams. The highest priority is to satisfy the customer and progress is measure through working software. The approaches encourage change through inspection, adaptation, and reflection on how to become more effective.
Ask yourself, “could we make better choices for living these values and implementing the principles”? Make a quick measurement of your agility based upon how well you are meeting these two statements:
- Delivering value to the customer while meeting business goals
- Creating an environment where team members are motivated and enjoying their work
Here are some examples of activities that are not Agile choices but are typically dysfunctions which can be improved upon:
- Teams deliver software that is known to lack quality
- Teams regularly do not complete work at the end of an increment
- Management dictates the work and solutions relinquishing empowerment
- Quality and development are separate organizations which do not work together (usually implies testing takes place at end)
- Documentation is valued over working software
As a side note, many often confuse Agile with Scrum. Scrum is a framework defined by the Scrum Guide. Team members will often say they are Agile because they work in sprints, have a Scrum Master, or have daily stand up meetings. These are good practices but by themselves do not mean the organizations are really Agile.
Yes, you can be Agile and pick and choose your way of working. But make sure your choices are not decided by dysfunctions which should instead be corrected. Use the values and principles from the Agile Manifesto as a guide and measure to avoid the Agile Paradox trap.
