The parable
Ever heard the story about the blind men and an elephant? In various versions of the tale, a group of blind men touch an elephant. Each man feels a different part, but only one part, such as the leg, the tail, or the trunk. They then compare notes and learn that they are in complete disagreement. Agile, my friends, is an elephant.
The first blind man
I just completed an initial engagement with a client. Some of the people I interacted with were newly minted Certified ScrumMasters, some experienced developers, and some executive management. In the mix, I met UX designers, architects, and more functional roles than this blog post should list. The catalyst of this post happened on the first day of the engagement. To set the stage, the organization was very clear the team is to “do” Scrum. Due to user stories not being quite ready, the team pushed back at Sprint Planning and refused to estimate or commit to the work to be done. I recommended the group visualize the workflow and maturation of user stories by way of a Kanban. I’ve made this recommendation before and it worked out quite well. The response from one of the newly minted ScrumMasters was, “That sounds like waterfall!” When I corrected him, confirming that it was not a waterfall approach, he came back with an even better response. “Well, it’s not Scrum. If it’s not Scrum, it’s not Agile”.
If it’s not Scrum, it’s not Agile
A few days ago, I read a really great post by Joel Bancroft-Connors titled A Gorilla Primer: What the heck is Agile? Maybe this question is more common than I initially thought! What I liked about Joel’s post was it exposed the fact that Agile is different for so many people. When asked what Agile is, I tend answer the question with a question. Are you being Agile or doing Agile? If you are being Agile, then how? If you are doing Agile, then how? Before I even attempt to answer the question, I want to know your perspective. Why? Because as with the parable and also reality, it’s going to depend on your touch points. Go read Joel’s post. I think you’ll enjoy it. When you’re done, I’m sure you’ll agree that if it’s not Scrum, it can still be Agile. Image Source: Pictofigo (Go get one. They’re free)
