This week's podcast: The Future of Agile

#1

Curious to hear what everyone’s thoughts are…we covered a ton of ground in a short amount of time.

Have we reached peak agile? Turtles all the way down?
What’s coming around the corner?

#2

This graphic adds to my statement that we’re on the cusp of something new…we’ve reached the synergy stage of “Agile” IMO…

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#3

I just finished it during my commute last night… it was a bittersweet episode for me. I’ve been in the agile movement since 2005 and have heards this cycle of “agile is dead” every few years… but the last 2-3 years have truly felt like this time might be it. The rise of SAFe and other commoditization schemes, seeing the majority of people use the word “agile” or “scrum” incorrectly, and seeing more large companies doing it wrong (for the sake of doing it)… it’s starting to feel time to move on. Too many people are “scaling” without even understanding it on one team.

I don’t want to move on from the ideals of the original spark… just move on from the labels, misapplications, and association with the confusion as the misinformation is starting to drown out the truth. I don’t know how long I’ll be in my current role where agile is central to it (could be years), but if I were to guess, my next role will be a shift into what we currently call the product owner role. I believe that role (bridge between business and technical) has a strong impact on the ability for teams to deliver great software, but is distanced enough from the SM/agile coach role to move beyond this crested peak we may be pushing through right now.

As for the podcast recording… 1/9th of a baby? a reference to pornhub? I’ve always enjoyed the authenticity of the group’s bantor, but almost regret pointing a few peers to this specific episode… might want to put a cap on the pre-gaming moving forward!!! :wink:

#4

Thanks Kevin for the honest feedback. It’s typically me that pushes us over the “R” rating edge, so apologies if anyone was offended as it was not/never is the intent.

I listened to an interview with Arie van Bennekum yesterday where he remarked some of the same observations all of us are making…we’ve reached the late adopter phase, etc. I think everyone is seeing it, and I for one am super excited and curious as to what comes next.

#5

I’ve been listening to your podcasts for the past year during my 4 hour commute to a client and have often shared the content with my teams and classes. I feel this episode was a brilliant why to kick off 2020. The observations align with many of our experiences…and about 3/4ths of the way through when you got to the part about energy, people and mindset being next, I literally squealed with joy.

In 1992, I started holding IT PM roles and could never understand why my projects succeeded when others failed. I stepped out of IT consulting to begin a four-year stint helping the department of education and charter schools in my state, then became a life coach working with people around the world. I came back to IT as a PM in title, but really acting as a SM for teams in 2011. I had missed all the buzz, but now realize why my teams were successful…we were practicing the Agile values and principles before they were all the rage.

Last summer, I launched a pilot program for some of my SMs from various clients. The results were amazing. Not only did their teams thrive after the SMs worked on the interpersonal skills, but so did their personal lives and each one of them have either been promoted or gotten new opportunities…all in less than 6 months. With that, I agree that people and mindset is next. IMO, it’s the people that will make any effort successful regardless of framework or methodology based on personal experience. It’s going to be awesome!

Thanks for another fun show!