With over 15 years of usage in the software development industry, the Agile methodology continues to mature as its adoption rate grows. We’ve talked about fairly recent innovations, like DevOps, Scaled Retrospectives, and Tribes, as companies transform Agile techniques to make their technology operations run more efficiently.
This time out, our eyes turn towards Modern Agile, an evolution of the original Manifesto, focusing on a simpler process with the hope development teams are able to accomplish more in less time. Maybe implementing some of its principles makes sense at your shop? Let’s check it out.
Modern Agile positions itself as a simpler alternative to the classic Agile methodology. The creators of this movement feel traditional Agile is “drowning in a bloated tangle of enterprise tools, scaling frameworks and questionable certificates that yield more bureaucracy than results.” As such, Modern Agile doesn’t define roles, practices, or related responsibilities, with the hope that simplification returns Agile to the roots that made it popular in the first place.
Modern Agile’s only true definition comes from its four guiding principles. They are Make People Awesome; Make Safety a Prerequisite; Experiment & Learn Rapidly, and Deliver Value Continuously. Let’s take a closer look at each of these principles.
“Make People Awesome” relates to designing and building software applications with the express purpose of empowering the users of those applications. The development company is also expected to transform its operations based on this principle. Amazon followed a similar concept with their “Customer Obsession” mission when they first started in 1997.
“Make Safety a Prerequisite” raises the issues of quality and safety to a “foundational ingredient for success,” according to the Modern Agile creators. Fear of failure tends to stifle the efficiency of software development teams. Under this principle, attaching blame is never a focus; everyone works together to solve problems. This “safe” environment leads to an overall higher quality level in software delivery.
“Experiment and Learn Rapidly” turns the removal of the fear of failure into a system where experimentation and learning are championed. This is especially vital considering the rapid rate of change in the software industry, with new innovations happening on a monthly basis. Speed is of the essence with experimentation. If an experiment doesn’t work, the developer simply moves on to another idea.
“Deliver Value Continuously” is a key principle for Modern Agile, and is highly relevant for companies with a Continuous Delivery program. The focus is getting value into the client’s hands as quickly as possible. All three other principles of Modern Agile combine to make this final principle possible.
Modern Agile is a relatively new concept and opinions on it are mixed. Some feel it is simply a vague “vapor methodology.” Others feel the concepts are a breath of fresh air, giving a necessary reset to the increasingly bloated Agile movement. Implementing some of the principles as part of a traditional Agile or DevOps program makes perfect sense, especially for companies already doing Continuous Delivery.
Stay tuned to the Betica Blog for additional news and insights from the software development world. As always, thanks for reading!
Posted on November 18, 2016 | Categories Quality Assurance | Tags Agile, Modern Agile Movement, Quality Assurance, Software Development, Software Testing, Software Testing Laboratory