Agile has no Projects or Programs

To really understand Agile we needs to understand where it came from.

Agile Problem Statements – what were the issues that agile was created to solve?

1. Alternative to document driven, heavyweight development processes
   • Throwing work over the fence
   • Work around for bureaucracy impeding the delivering gain
   • Work around for distant decision making
   • Work around for fixed process mindset
   • Work around for time management (micro) towards outcomes (macro)
2. Alternative to huge deliverables with too many opportunities to go off course and ultimately fail too late in the day to fix
3. Being too detached from clients as contract negotiations define working dynamic
4. Having no relationship to end customers so End Customer requirements not prioritized – The end customer may not be your customer
5. Unable to react to innovation or emergent solution ideas because of strict contract and predefined delivery plans
6. Work had lost its humanity with platitudes around people being the greatest resource where no one listens or learns from each others’ experiences

Agile is Not

• a project management methodology
• a way to reduce headcount
• a way to increase speed of delivery *
• a way to remove documentation
• a way for executives to better control work

* It is not mystical or magic, waste activity is stopped, but only if value slicing, economic ordering and planning/prioritization is constantly happening – see Agile Mandalorian Equation

Agile is

• a way of working
• a way of thinking
• a way to structure work to eliminate waste
• a way of problem solving
• a way to establish a new work culture

Agile has no Projects or Programs

Agile is a way of working that is relevant to any circumstance, activity or domain.

Agility is defined by teams, who iterate on their way of working as they do it.

Agile Mandalorian Equation

Agile Ecosystem

Problem solving, Mitigation Allocation, Risk Management and Status Reporting.

Agile is about removing Projects, Programs and Management replacing them with continuous integration and delivery from a self-service backlog