Industry

Simply put, Agile is dead. Then again—is it?

It all began with a group of independent-minded software professionals who got together to “talk, ski, relax, and try to find common ground.” They agreed on a common set of values in the pursuit of better ways of developing software, published them on a website, and so the “manifesto for agile software development” was born.

This was 2001.

Fast forward to today and it’s true: “Agile” has become an industry—an industry that sells consulting services, certifications, conferences, tools, and more.

Yet this industry falls short of delivering on the promise of working better, faster, cheaper.

This should come as no surprise, really, because this Agile industry puts traditional processes and tools before people, flying in the face of the very first value in the original manifesto.

As a result, not a week passes without experiencing or hearing about “Dark Scrum” (a term coined by Ron Jeffries), “faux-agile” (Martin Fowler), “Agile is Dead” (Dave Thomas), or similar sentiments.

So there we are. What’s next?

As I see it, there are two ways we can go from here: (a) operate within the industry, or (b) double down on agile thinking.

Operating Within the Industry

Let’s face it, agile has grown into an industry of its own because it serves other industries that still gravitate toward traditional processes, tools, and top-down management.

Industry begets industry.

So, how difficult is it to transform an industry?

There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in introducing a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new.”
—Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

All things considered, operating within the industry may be a reasonable choice after all.

Do you want to operate within a system and be successful? Or do you want to dream you can change it and be left behind?”
—Industry (Max), Season 2, Episode 8, “Jerusalem” [10:00]

This choice doesn’t mean completely surrendering to the status quo. It means learning to navigate the system with, let’s be honest, some level of cynicism.

This is one way to go.

The other way? Doubling down on agile thinking.

Doubling Down on Agile Thinking

To begin, let’s return to the roots of the manifesto for agile software development.

The first value of the manifesto—“Individuals and interactions over processes and tools”—is arguably the most important, yet it’s often misunderstood.

To grasp its significance, consider the manifesto’s opening line: “We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it.”

This sentence articulates a crucial part of what agile thinking is about: the deliberate pursuit of better ways of working.

Agile thinking is the deliberate pursuit of better ways of working. (core principle)

Indeed, ways of working, including processes and tools, are central.

The first value of the manifesto doesn’t diminish the importance of processes and tools. It simply underscores that the primary ingredient is the people who do the work—and that we should empower them to own and continuously improve the way they work.

Agile thinking is the complete recipe: competent, motivated individuals who deliberately pursue better ways of working through collaboration and practical application.

Agile thinking is competent, motivated individuals who deliberately pursue better ways of working through collaboration and practical application. (applied principle)

Martin Fowler reinforces the importance of ways of working when reflecting on the creation of the manifesto: “[It] was basically a gathering of process weenies. […] We were all process guys to some extent or other.” “Process weenies” who were creating or experimenting with frameworks and methodologies including Adaptive Software Development, Crystal Clear, Extreme Programming, and Scrum.

And Jim Highsmith emphasizes the importance of values and collaboration: “We all felt privileged to work with a group of people who held a set of compatible values, a set of values based on trust and respect for each other and promoting organizational models based on people, collaboration, and building the types of organizational communities in which we would want to work.”

Now the question is: how do we apply this agile thinking at scale?

But first, let’s talk terminology.

Vocabulary

At this point, it’s unclear what vocabulary we should use to champion and apply agile thinking at scale.

Many believe that it’s time to abandon the word “agile” altogether—that it wasn’t a noun to begin with, let alone a noun we should use with a capital letter.

Others would say that a good term is worth fighting for.

Personally, I’d be inclined to go with the latter: instead of tip-toeing around “agile” and cautiously trying “agility,” why not claim—or rather reclaim—these words?

The term “agile” has made its way into dictionaries, and by continuing to use it, we acknowledge the founders of the agile movement and the pivotal shift it represents toward better ways of working.

Let’s proudly own Agile and Agility—then we can stop talking about it.

Having settled the language, let’s return to the question: how do we apply agile thinking at scale?

Agile Industrial

True, in the traditional sense of the word, “industrialization” goes against the very spirit of agility.

Here, though, the agile-industrial way is not about creating yet another industry that relies on heavy machinery to mechanically scale how people work.

It’s about preserving the essence of agile thinking while applying it at scale—methodically, not mechanically.

More specifically, the agile-industrial approach builds on the “deliberate pursuit of better ways of working” principle and champions a modern management practice on a large scale:

Agile thinking at scale is competent, motivated individuals who deliberately advance a modern management practice to meet the demands of large organizations. (agile-industrial approach)

The essential task is to create and refine this modern management practice as an overarching practice—with practice areas such as organizational structure, management frameworks, and enabling tools—from the very top of the organization.

This way, you’ll see the big picture and keep finding ways to simplify and improve as you zoom in.

The following articles delve deeper into the approach: Agile Industrial and Agile at Scale Using Containers.

And back to terminology for a moment: by all means, be as creative or traditional as you wish when choosing job titles. Start with the head of the practice: Chief Agility Officer, Chief Super Normal Officer, Head of Product Operations, or choose any other title you can proudly call your own.

One last point, and it’s the most important one: you might say this agile-industrial approach is idealistic—and you would be absolutely right.

The Choice Is Yours

The question keeps coming up: Is Agile dead?

The way I see it, it boils down to one choice: cynicism or idealism.

And the choice is yours.

You can operate within the industry with some degree of cynicism, or you can pursue better ways of working at scale, fueled by a healthy dose of idealism.

To quote Jon Favreau:

It is really difficult to maintain your idealism today and I completely understand why cynicism can seem like a logical response to problems that can’t [easily] be solved.

But here’s the truth:

So long as institutions are created by human beings with all our faults and imperfections, they will frustrate us, and they will disappoint us, and they will let us down.

Cynicism is one response to this reality. But cynicism isn’t the only response to humanity’s inadequacies and limitations. Cynicism is a choice. It is just as much of a choice as commitment to a worthy cause.

Cynicism is just as much of a choice as hope is.”

If we have any hope of advancing how we work at a human level—much less meeting the real demand for organizations to be more productive and effective—it’s going to take all the will and goodwill we can muster.

So here’s the real question: with or without the “agile” label, can we hold fast to the idea of thinking and acting in an agile way?

I, for one, sure hope so.