We’ve
trained up on Agile, now let’s get back to work.
There’s not a minute to lose!
This can’t be right, say Executives and Product
Managers. We’re supposed to be able to tack from
minute to minute because the market calls for reactivity and hairpin
turns.
This can’t be right, say the developers. We’re supposed to
be able to develop in a dark corner until we deliver the full product you asked
us to built. We should be left alone for
the next two years, if need be.
At first it may seem a disappointing compromise to both the "business" and development, but Agile finds the healthy intersection of the two
extremes. Development DOES take time and
focus. If an organization does not allow
for that, only the smallest implementations, and very little truly innovative
work can be developed. The market DOES
require adaptivity and quick shifts. If
that doesn’t happen, viable products aren’t delivered, revenue isn’t generated,
companies fold.
So, what would happen if we time-boxed development cycles so
that every 2-4 weeks, we could depend on developers to built a Minimally Viable
Product (MVP)? Not the whole kit and
caboodle with all the bells and whistles, but just the essentials. Let’s say we were developing an app for
finding the best business blogs? We
might first build a simple search interface using Google that tracked down most
trafficked sites with the top three keywords.
That’s it. Nothing more. Developers would have 2 business weeks to
focus only on that small manageable development task. Then Product Owners and management would have
a complete and deliverable product to get out to the consumers after 2
weeks. Is two weeks fast enough to
deliver a product to market? Most would
say yes. Is 2 weeks of uninterrupted
development time long enough to do some version of valuable work? Most would say yes.
Your team will likely be initially uncomfortable adapting to the Agile paradigm, but stick with it. Everyone will be feeling the benefits soon enough.
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