When Kanban folk talk to Scrum people the conversation can often get heated with recriminations and finger pointing. Personally I’ve got a pragmatic, or eclectic, style of Lean-Agile. None of the published methods are the silver bullet. But they all have something useful to offer.
My eclectic style of Lean-Agile has elements of all the published Lean-Agile methods. I like aspects of Scrum e.g. product ownership. I like aspects of Kanban e.g. one piece flow. I like aspects of XP e.g. developers doing automated testing. I will probably like aspects of the next big Lean-Agile thing to come along.
I’m also willing to abandon these practices if they don’t serve me in a particular organisational, programme or project context. If my developers are old school and I don’t have a technical person to champion automated testing, then I won’t push automated testing. If I’m working with an established Scrum team who are working well then I won’t push one piece flow. If responsibility for the product is split between a business representative and a product manager in technology then I’ll not insist on labelling one or other the product owner – we’ll figure out how to populate the product backlog and set priorities.
I pick and choose from the various methods. But to do that I have to Go Deep on Agile Practices.
For most of us the whole point is to deliver software. The methods can help us do that more effectively, but the methods are not the point. The fanatics seem to forget that it’s a delivery thing.
Spot on, Steven. The main focus should always be delivery – and in many respects they best way to delver is to use any tools that work for you – not just the latest fad. Some of the best tricks are the simplest – and oldest. We must all remember there are always better ways of doing things – so as Programme Managers, Project Managers and POs we have to remember to apply those basic lean an agile principles to ourselves as much as we do to our teams.