Agile 2011 Attended Sessions

At this year's Agile 2011 conference in Salt Lake City I attended following sessions.

• Workshop: Fear-Driven Impediments
  by Ralph Miarka and Marc Bless
• Workshop: Introduction to Behavior Driven Development
  by Liz Keogh and Katherine Kirk
• Special Event: The Agile Manifesto 10th Anniversary Reunion: The Big Park Bench
  with 15 of the 17 original authors of the agile manifesto
• Keynote: Why Care about Positive Emotions?
  by Barbara Fredrickson
• Talk: Exploring Enterprise Agile Transformation Strategies
  by Mike Cottmeyer and Dennis Stevens
• Workshop: Release your team's intelligent energy through five powerful conversations
  by Declan Whelan and Bryan Beecham
• Tutorial: Scaling Software Agility: Advanced Practices for Large Enterprise
  by Dean Leffingwell
• Workshop: Lean Procrastination - How to Identify the Last Responsible Moment
  by Marc Bless and Dave Sharrock
• Tutorial: Agile Education by Object Game - most HISSATSU way to understand it
  by Tsuyoshi Ushio
• Workshop: Flirting With Your Customers
  by Jenni Jepsen

At the Open Jam I hosted a session to play the "Fearless Journey" game with Linda Rising, Martin Heider, Portia Tung, and two other guys (sorry I forgot your names). The game was created by Deborah Preuss and is based on Linda Rising's book "Fearless Change".

Also at Open Jam I joined the "Lean Flow" card game by Nancy van Schooenderwoert. With a team of 14 people it was a highly interesting experience to see chaotic alpha-male behavior turn into controlled collaboration -- and we could observe that longer planning does not lead to higher performance.

I will write some more details to several of these attended sessions in the next days.

Preparing for Agile 2011

Only 32 hours from now and I will take my plane from Frankfurt to Salt Lake City. Agile 2011 is arriving and I'm really looking forward to it.

There will be two sessions co-hosted by myself.

On Monday morning together with Ralph Miarka I'm going to host a three-hours workshop on Fear-Driven Impediments. Join us to learn and discuss how to recognize fear and how to deal with it in individual, team, and organizational contexts.

The second session will also be a highly interactive gaming session. We're going to play the Last Responsible Moments Game created by Olaf Lewitz and me during the last nine months. Dave Sharrock will co-host the session with me. Join us to play the game and learn some concepts of Lean Procrastination.

See you in two days in Salt Lake City.

Agile Principle 12: Inspect and Adapt

Let's take a look at the twelfth underlying principle of the agile manifesto:

"At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly."

What does that really mean? What are the implications for our daily business? Let's analyze this principle and see where this gets us.

• "At regular intervals" - It's not enough to take a look at the project after it is finished. We are not able to change our project development habits afterwards. So even if a worst-case "post mortem analysis" could bring up severe issues and action items for the next project, we can't change what already happened. Therefore we have to take a look at our current behaviour in an iterative way.
  Values: Commitment
  Principles: Iterative
  Practices: Iteration, Sprint, Weekly Cycle
• "the team reflects on how to become more effective" - Neither the team's manager, nor the Scrum Master, nor a quality manager is in charge to define the development team's workflows and processes. Only the team is able to inspect its own habits and to decide what and how to change. Of course it is not forbidden to get a retrospective facilitator from outside the team--this may help the team members to focus on getting insights rather than holding the meeting.
  Values: Openness, Feedback
  Principles: Reflection, Inspection
  Practices: Sprint Retrospective, Root-Cause Analysis, Seeing Waste, Value Stream Mapping
• "then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly" - The worst reflection is a reflection without any insights and action items. There have to be actionable results for the team so that it is possible to take charge of these actions.
  Values: Commitment
  Principles: Improvement, Eliminate Waste, Amplify Learning, Adaption
  Practices: Sprint Retrospective

To say it in three words, the twelfth principle is about Inspect and Adapt.

Also read in this blog post series:

• Agile Principle 1: Satisfy the Customer
• Agile Principle 2: Embrace Change
• Agile Principle 3: Frequent Delivery
• Agile Principle 4: Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Agile Principle 5: Support and Trust
• Agile Principle 6: Face-to-Face Conversation
• Agile Principle 7: Working Software
• Agile Principle 8: Sustainable Pace
• Agile Principle 9: Technical Excellence
• Agile Principle 10: Keep it Simple
• Agile Principle 11: Self-Organization
• Agile Principle 12: Inspect and Adapt

Agile Principle 11: Self-Organization

Let's take a look at the eleventh underlying principle of the agile manifesto:

"The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams."

What does that really mean? What are the implications for our daily business? Let's analyze this principle and see where this gets us.

• "The best architectures, requirements, and designs" - We talk about discovering product ideas, as well as finding the challenges they offer and exploring appropriate solutions. These artifacts must not be approached each on its own, but as a whole system belonging together and building the resulting product.
  Values: Simplicity, Focus
  Principles: Diversity
  Practices: Whole Team
• "emerge" - The artifacts can not be planned up-front but will be discovered and created in an evolutionary way. Don't think too long about the right way to do something. Just do it in an iterative-incremental way and improve that way by reflecting afterwards.
  Values: Simplicity, Feedback, Courage
  Principles: Decide as late as possible, Baby Steps, Adaption
  Practices: Test-Driven Development, Refactoring
• "from self-organizing teams" - The team does not need a single responsible person "on top" of it to decide who is going to do what, when, and how. If teams have all the necessary roles and skills to create the wanted product, they are able to decide and organize by themselves.
  Values: Communication, Commitment
  Principles: Diversity, Accepted Responsibility, Empower the Team, Humanity, Supportive Culture
  Practices: Whole Team, Osmotic Communication, Servant Leadership

To say it in two words, the eleventh principle is about Self-Organization.

Also read in this blog post series:

• Agile Principle 1: Satisfy the Customer
• Agile Principle 2: Embrace Change
• Agile Principle 3: Frequent Delivery
• Agile Principle 4: Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Agile Principle 5: Support and Trust
• Agile Principle 6: Face-to-Face Conversation
• Agile Principle 7: Working Software
• Agile Principle 8: Sustainable Pace
• Agile Principle 9: Technical Excellence
• Agile Principle 10: Keep it Simple
• Agile Principle 11: Self-Organization
• Agile Principle 12: Inspect and Adapt

Agile Principle 10: Keep it Simple

Let's take a look at the tenth underlying principle of the agile manifesto:

"Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential."

What does that really mean? What are the implications for our daily business? Let's analyze this principle and see where this gets us.

• "Simplicity" - As already mentioned in the principle, we talk about "the art of maximizing the amount of work not done". Always think about unnecessary tasks in your todo list. Think about requirements no one needs fulfilled to do her job. Think about methods, classes, and your software design in general - you will find various things to be skipped as they do not contribute to your sprint goal or acceptance tests.
  Values: Focus, Simplicity
  Principles: Limit Work in Progress, Decide as late as possible, Self-Similarity, Opportunity, Eliminate Waste
  Practices: Product Backlog, Refactoring, Seeing Waste, Simple Design
• "is essential" - The essence is what really creates value. All other things are nice-to-haves, gold plating, and pure technical bits and pieces. We need to focus on the essence to reach the goals we are committed to.
  Values: Focus, Courage
  Principles: Eliminate Waste, Decide as late as possible, Economics, Business Value
  Practices: Seeing Waste

See also my blog post on "Focus on the Essence".
To say it in three words, the tenth principle is about Keep it Simple.

Also read in this blog post series:

• Agile Principle 1: Satisfy the Customer
• Agile Principle 2: Embrace Change
• Agile Principle 3: Frequent Delivery
• Agile Principle 4: Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Agile Principle 5: Support and Trust
• Agile Principle 6: Face-to-Face Conversation
• Agile Principle 7: Working Software
• Agile Principle 8: Sustainable Pace
• Agile Principle 9: Technical Excellence
• Agile Principle 10: Keep it Simple
• Agile Principle 11: Self-Organization
• Agile Principle 12: Inspect and Adapt

Agile Principle 9: Technical Excellence

Let's take a look at the ninth underlying principle of the agile manifesto:

"Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility."

What does that really mean? What are the implications for our daily business? Let's analyze this principle and see where this gets us.

• "Continuous attention" - Beware of routine in your daily business! Keep your concentration high, stay focused on the things you're working on. This also implies to take a break when you are not able to do so. Do not force yourself to go on if you're distracted and powerless.
  Values: Focus
  Principles: Opportunity, Accepted Responsibility, Reflection
  Practices: Motivation
• "technical excellence" - Gather the right staff with the right skills to create the product. Cultivate life-long learning to acquire new knowledge and improve your skills.
  Values: Courage, Simplicity, Focus
  Principles: Reflective Improvement, Amplify Learning, Accepted Responsibility, Quality
  Practices: (agile) Testing, Sprint Retrospective, Motivation
• "good design" - Don't create a product which looks nice outside but is a piece of crap inside. Follow a professional honor and build your software product in a way you could be proud of in every detail.
  Values: Simplicity
  Principles: Improvement, Quality, Baby Steps, Incremental
  Practices: Pair Programming, Test-Driven Development, Refactoring
• "enhances agility" - If we do not have the right skills and the right attitude, we will get stuck in our agile journey. This is the reason why many teams do not proceed after their initial agile success.
  (An extreme situation of this principle is when people completely refuse the agile values at all. In this case the best way for both these people and the rest of the team is to break up.)
  Values: Openness, Courage
  Principles: Reflective Improvement
  Practices: Sprint Retrospective

To say it in two words, the ninth principle is about Technical Excellence.

Also read in this blog post series:

• Agile Principle 1: Satisfy the Customer
• Agile Principle 2: Embrace Change
• Agile Principle 3: Frequent Delivery
• Agile Principle 4: Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Agile Principle 5: Support and Trust
• Agile Principle 6: Face-to-Face Conversation
• Agile Principle 7: Working Software
• Agile Principle 8: Sustainable Pace
• Agile Principle 9: Technical Excellence
• Agile Principle 10: Keep it Simple
• Agile Principle 11: Self-Organization
• Agile Principle 12: Inspect and Adapt

Agile Principle 8: Sustainable Pace

Let's take a look at the eighth underlying principle of the agile manifesto:

"Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely."

What does that really mean? What are the implications for our daily business? Let's analyze this principle and see where this gets us.

• "Agile processes promote sustainable development" - This is not a principle but rather a presumption which has to be proven by applying agile practices. In my point of view this sentence should be removed from the eighth underlying principle or at least be rephrased.
• "The sponsors, developers, and users" - It's again a cross-functional approach which includes the whole team and all people involved in the product creation chain.
  Values: Communication
  Principles: Collaboration and cooperation between all stakeholders, Diversity
  Practices: Real Customer Involvement, Whole Team
• "should be able to maintain a constant pace" - The people involved in the product creation chain must neither suffer from excessive labor nor sit around idling and waiting. An important practice especially for the team is collective ownership of both code and responsibility. Let's call it shared commitment.
  Values: Commitment, Focus, Courage
  Principles: Frequent Delivery, Flow, Baby Steps
  Practices: Energized Work (Continuous Pace)
• "indefinitely" - It's not enough to keep a constant pace at the start of the project or for just a few iterations. Especially at the end of a project all people should keep calm and just "flow" with that constant pace.
  Values: Commitment
  Principles: Humanity, Flow, Limit Work in Progress
  Practices: Motivation, Energized Work (Continuous Pace)

To say it in two words, the eighth principle is about "Sustainable Pace".

Also read in this blog post series:

• Agile Principle 1: Satisfy the Customer
• Agile Principle 2: Embrace Change
• Agile Principle 3: Frequent Delivery
• Agile Principle 4: Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Agile Principle 5: Support and Trust
• Agile Principle 6: Face-to-Face Conversation
• Agile Principle 7: Working Software
• Agile Principle 8: Sustainable Pace
• Agile Principle 9: Technical Excellence
• Agile Principle 10: Keep it Simple
• Agile Principle 11: Self-Organization
• Agile Principle 12: Inspect and Adapt

Agile Principle 7: Working Software

Let's take a look at the seventh underlying principle of the agile manifesto:

"Working software is the primary measure of progress."

What does that really mean? What are the implications for our daily business? Let's analyze this principle and see where this gets us.

• "Working software" - it does not matter how many modules, interfaces, and documents we have in progress. The only thing that counts is completed, fully functional pieces of the wanted product.
  Values: Commitment, Focus
  Principles: Quality, Active User Involvement, Build Integrity In
  Practices: Definition of Done, Acceptance Tests, Real Customer Involvement, Customer Tests, Product Demonstration
• "is the primary measure of progress" - no one is interested in the number of work hours, lines of code, or any other technical metric. Only done and releasable features are important.
  Values: Simplicity, Commitment, Feedback
  Principles: Business Value, Frequent Delivery,
  Practices: Incremental Deployment, Small Releases, Release Burndown, Product Demonstration, Measurements

To say it in two words, the seventh principle is about Working Software.



Also read in this blog post series:

• Agile Principle 1: Satisfy the Customer
• Agile Principle 2: Embrace Change
• Agile Principle 3: Frequent Delivery
• Agile Principle 4: Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Agile Principle 5: Support and Trust
• Agile Principle 6: Face-to-Face Conversation
• Agile Principle 7: Working Software
• Agile Principle 8: Sustainable Pace
• Agile Principle 9: Technical Excellence
• Agile Principle 10: Keep it Simple
• Agile Principle 11: Self-Organization
• Agile Principle 12: Inspect and Adapt

Agile Principle 6: Face-to-Face Conversation

Let's take a look at the sixth underlying principle of the agile manifesto:

"The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation."

What does that really mean? What are the implications for our daily business? Let's analyze this principle and see where this gets us.

• "The most efficient and effective method of conveying information" - it is not enough to make information available in a passive way but it should be pushed actively to the target audience.
  Values: Communication, Openness
  Principles: Transparency, Make Work Visible, Tell don't ask
  Practices: Osmotic Communication, Informative Workspace
• "to and within a development team" - do not only expect active communication from the outside of your team but also foster active communication with your own team members.
  Values: Communication, Openness
  Principles: Humanity, Transparency, Make Work Visible, Tell don't ask
  Practices: Osmotic Communication, Informative Workspace, Servant Leadership
• "is face-to-face conversation" - do not open inefficient communication channels like writing things down on paper, emails, and bug-tracking systems. Rather talk to the receiver of your message directly via phone, video, or in the best case in front of a white board from person to person.
  Values: Focus, Feedback
  Principles: Tell don't ask, Mutual Benefit, Collaboration and cooperation between all stakeholders
  Practices: Sit Together, Team Room

To say it in four words, the sixth principle is about Face-to-Face Conversation.



Also read in this blog post series:

• Agile Principle 1: Satisfy the Customer
• Agile Principle 2: Embrace Change
• Agile Principle 3: Frequent Delivery
• Agile Principle 4: Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Agile Principle 5: Support and Trust
• Agile Principle 6: Face-to-Face Conversation
• Agile Principle 7: Working Software
• Agile Principle 8: Sustainable Pace
• Agile Principle 9: Technical Excellence
• Agile Principle 10: Keep it Simple
• Agile Principle 11: Self-Organization
• Agile Principle 12: Inspect and Adapt

Agile Principle 5: Support and Trust

Let's take a look at the fifth underlying principle of the agile manifesto:

"Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done."

What does that really mean? What are the implications for our daily business? Let's analyze this principle and see where this gets us.

• "Build projects around motivated individuals" - search and hire Drive-Driven Personalities who love their job and are passionate about what they're doing. Get rid of unskilled or even destructive people as they will have a major negative impact on the project's success.
  Values: Commitment, Courage
  Principles: Opportunity, Amplify Learning, Humanity, Accepted Responsibility
  Practices: Motivation, Energized Work (Continuous Pace)
• "Give them" - as the Holy Bible already mentions "give, and it will be given to you". Do not demand results from the team but give them what they demand for their private and professional life.
  Values: Respect
  Principles: Empower the Team, Humanity, Supportive Culture
  Practices: Servant Leadership
• "the environment" - the team needs a proper workspace and the best equipment available to do its work in a professional manner. This is also about the team's processes from a larger organizational point of view. Surround the team with lean structures, try to avoid beaurocratic structures impeding the team's performance and pace.
  Values: Simplicity, Openness
  Principles: Empower the Team, Supportive Culture
  Practices: Whole Team, Team Room
• "and support they need" - help the team instantly as they get stuck. Clear their path and remove any obstacles. Show them alternative ways to go.
  Values: Courage, Focus
  Principles: Improvement, Adaption, Supportive Culture
  Practices: Servant Leadership
• "trust them to get the job done" - if you have motivated individuals on the team, you also have to trust them. They are the people knowing exactly how to do their job. Do not let anyone else decide and plan how the team should work and who is going to do what and when.
  Values: Respect, Courage
  Principles: Self-organizing Team, Empower the Team, Humanity, Diversity, Supportive Culture
  Practices: Whole Team, Team Room, Team Continuity, Personal Safety, Energized Work (Continuous Pace)

To say it in three words, the fifth principle is about Support and Trust.

Also read in this blog post series:

• Agile Principle 1: Satisfy the Customer
• Agile Principle 2: Embrace Change
• Agile Principle 3: Frequent Delivery
• Agile Principle 4: Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Agile Principle 5: Support and Trust
• Agile Principle 6: Face-to-Face Conversation
• Agile Principle 7: Working Software
• Agile Principle 8: Sustainable Pace
• Agile Principle 9: Technical Excellence
• Agile Principle 10: Keep it Simple
• Agile Principle 11: Self-Organization
• Agile Principle 12: Inspect and Adapt

Agile Principle 4: Cross-Functional Collaboration

Let's take a look at the fourth underlying principle of the agile manifesto:

"Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project."

What does that really mean? What are the implications for our daily business? Let's analyze this principle and see where this gets us.

• "Business people" - there are people with a vast knowledge of the product's target markets, its users and customers, and its needed features. These people should not be the developers of the product as they normally tend to implement developer-centric, fancy things. The 'business people' should be the ones grooming and prioritizing the product features of the largest customer and business value.
  Values: Respect, Communication
  Principles: Active user involvement, Economics
  Practices: Real customer Involvement, Whole Team
• "Developers" - in terms of "product developers" not solely coding software developers. This includes also testers, technical writers, interface designers, business analysts, and whatever role is necessary to give input and create a working software product.
  Values: Respect, Communication
  Principles: Diversity, Humanity
  Practices: Whole Team
• "must work together" - it is not helpful to let experts work on their own and pass over their finished results to the next expert in a process chain. Their output rather should be the result of strong collaboration and communication.
  Values: Communication
  Principles: Diversity, Mutual Benefit, Collaboration and cooperation between all stakeholders
  Practices: Whole Team
• "daily" - collaboration and communication do only work well on a continuous basis. The Product Owner has to be present and available to the team during the whole iterations, not just at the planning and review meeting.
  Values: Focus, Commitment
  Principles: Flow, Iterative
  Practices: Sit Together, Osmotic Communication, Daily Scrum, Whole Team
• "throughout the project" - collaboration and communication do not happen during specific project 'phases' only. They need to happen right from the start until the end of the project.
  Values: Commitment, Focus
  Principles: Frequent Delivery, Flow, Iterative, Collaboration and cooperation between all stakeholders
  Practices: Team Continuity, Energized Work (Continuous Pace)

To say it in three words, the fourth principle is about Cross-Functional Collaboration.

Also read in this blog post series:

• Agile Principle 1: Satisfy the Customer
• Agile Principle 2: Embrace Change
• Agile Principle 3: Frequent Delivery
• Agile Principle 4: Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Agile Principle 5: Support and Trust
• Agile Principle 6: Face-to-Face Conversation
• Agile Principle 7: Working Software
• Agile Principle 8: Sustainable Pace
• Agile Principle 9: Technical Excellence
• Agile Principle 10: Keep it Simple
• Agile Principle 11: Self-Organization
• Agile Principle 12: Inspect and Adapt

Book: Lyssa Adkins - Coaching Agile Teams

The definitive must-read for every Scrum Master, agile manager, and agile coach!

Author: Lyssa Adkins

Title: Coaching Agile Teams

Rating: highest recommendation!

This is one of the most valuable books I've ever read in my agile life. More than 300 pages full of practical advice with many examples make this book a perfect reference on the desk of every Scrum Master, agile manager, and agile coach.

Lyssa has a very nice and easy to read style of writing and yet offers so many insights. Following topics are covered in her book:

• You and your mastery as a coach
• Coach as Coach-Mentor
• Coach as Facilitator
• Coach as Teacher
• Coach as Problem Solver
• Coach as Conflict Navigator
• Coach as Collaboration Conductor
• Agile Coach Failure, Recovery, and Success Modes
• Your Journey as Agile Coach

There's nothing more to say about this book other than: buy it, study it, and live it!

It may sound pathetic but this book deeply changed the way I think about and practice agile methods. It probably even changed my life.

Thanks, Lyssa, for writing this book!

Agile Principle 3: Frequent Delivery

Let's take a look at the third underlying principle of the agile manifesto:

"Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale."

What does that really mean? What are the implications for our daily business? Let's analyze this principle and see where this gets us.

• "Deliver" - actually have something finished that is worth being given to the users.
  Values: Courage, Commitment
  Principles: Deliver as fast as possible
  Practices: Incremental Deployment, Small Releases, Sprint Review, Product Demonstration
• "working software" - the results of our efforts must not be theoretical concepts or prototypes, but a functional software product the user is able to work with effectively
  Values: Focus, Commitment
  Principles: Quality
  Practices: Definition of Done, Acceptance Tests, Sprint Review, Product Demonstration
• "frequently" - give an usable product more often to the users than just once at the end of the development project
  Values: Focus, Courage
  Principles: Frequent Delivery
  Practices: Incremental Deployment, Small Releases
• "from a couple of weeks to a couple of months" - keep the iterations short so they are easily manageable and clearly arranged
  Values: Focus
  Principles: Deliver as fast as possible, Iterative
  Practices: Iteration
• "with a preference to the shorter timescale" - create results early and often so the customer is able to react and decide quickly
  Values: Focus, Simplicity
  Principles: Iterative, Limit Work in Progress, Deliver as fast as possible, Eliminate Waste
  Practices: Incremental Deployment, Small Releases, Sprint Backlog, Iteration

There's not much to summarize here but to say it in two words, the third principle is about Frequent Delivery.

Also read in this blog post series:

• Agile Principle 1: Satisfy the Customer
• Agile Principle 2: Embrace Change
• Agile Principle 3: Frequent Delivery
• Agile Principle 4: Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Agile Principle 5: Support and Trust
• Agile Principle 6: Face-to-Face Conversation
• Agile Principle 7: Working Software
• Agile Principle 8: Sustainable Pace
• Agile Principle 9: Technical Excellence
• Agile Principle 10: Keep it Simple
• Agile Principle 11: Self-Organization
• Agile Principle 12: Inspect and Adapt

Agile Principle 2: Embrace Change

Let's take a look at the second underlying principle of the agile manifesto:

"Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage."

What does that really mean? What are the implications for our daily business? Let's analyze this principle and see where this gets us.

• "Welcome" - creates a positive and open feeling/invitation.
  Values: Openness, Respect
  Principles: Opportunity, Humanity
  Practices: Sprint Planning, Planning Game
• "changing requirements" - do not take any requirement granted as reality is not a static system. People, markets, demands, all things in general are in a constant flow and change. We have to accept this in every aspect of our work.
  Values: Openness, Courage
  Principles: See the whole, Reversible changes during development, Adaption
  Practices: Real Customer Involvement, Product Backlog, Sprint Review
• "even late in development" - there is no valid time to fix a set of requirements even if the project's end is a few weeks in the future. Things may change at any time.
  Values: Openness, Courage
  Principles: Decide as late as possible, Opportunity
  Practices: Real Customer Involvement, Product Backlog, Sprint Review, Planning Game
• "Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage" - As in the first principle (Satisfy the Customer) our goal is to help and serve the customer/user. Let the customer always be the center of everything we do.
  Values: Openness, Commitment, Focus
  Principles: Mutual Benefit, Opportunity, Economics
  Practices: Frequent Delivery, Sprint Review, Product Backlog, Real Customer Involvement

In summary we have to be open to any changes and need the courage to help the customer adopting to these changes. To say it in two words, the second principle is about Embrace Change.


Also read in this blog post series:

• Agile Principle 1: Satisfy the Customer
• Agile Principle 2: Embrace Change
• Agile Principle 3: Frequent Delivery
• Agile Principle 4: Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Agile Principle 5: Support and Trust
• Agile Principle 6: Face-to-Face Conversation
• Agile Principle 7: Working Software
• Agile Principle 8: Sustainable Pace
• Agile Principle 9: Technical Excellence
• Agile Principle 10: Keep it Simple
• Agile Principle 11: Self-Organization
• Agile Principle 12: Inspect and Adapt

Agile Principle 1: Satisfy the Customer

Let's take a look at the first underlying principle of the agile manifesto:

"Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software."

What does that really mean? What are the implications for our daily business? Let's analyze this principle and see where this gets us.

• "Our" - who is us? At least a bunch of people forming some kind of team. We can't define this in more detail, so let's skip the answer for now and analyze some more first.
  Values: Communication
  Principles: Diversity, Accepted Responsibility, Empower the Team
  Practices: Whole Team
• "highest priority" - the team should not be distracted and keep its focus on the most important things. To help the team not to be distracted, it should be guarded in a secure environment so that no external influences are able to grab its attention.
  Values: Commitment, Focus
  Principles: Limit work in progress, Economics
  Practices: Product Backlog
• "satisfy" - how can the team know if its results are satisfying? A definition of "done" and passing acceptance tests of every requirement of the software are necessary for the team.
  Values: Commitment, FocusPrinciples: Active User Involvement, Business Value, Quality, Failure
  Practices: Definition of Done, Real Customer Involvement, Acceptance Tests, Sprint Review
• "the customer" - who is this? In an ideal world this customer is all different kinds of users of the resulting software. As it is not always possible to have all these personas on board, the customer could also be represented by a Product Owner.
  Values: Communication, Respect
  Principles: Active User Involvement
  Practices: Real Customer Involvement
• "early delivery" - the first results of the wanted software have to be given to the users as soon as possible so that they can give their feedback and generate more insights about what they really need and want.
  Values: Feedback
  Principles: Frequent Delivery, Incremental
  Practices: Incremental Deployment, Small Releases
• "continuous delivery" - it is not enough to show the first result of the software but it is necessary to show intermediate results on a short regular basis.
  Values: Commitment, Feedback
  Principles: Flow, Iterative
  Practices: Product Demonstration, Iteration
• "valuable software" - who can define the value of the software? It is the "customer" again who is able to prioritize requirements by their business value.
  Values: Commitment, Focus
  Principles: Economics, Business Value
  Practices: Product Backlog

Now let's get back to the first part of this principle: who is the team? The team contains all people required to create working software out of requirements, to test the software, to prioritize the requirements and to define their values, and to concentrate on focus and commitment. If these people all work together, the first principle can be realized.

If we summarize all roles and practices this first principle reveals, we find a fully functional team working with an incremental-iterative approach on the most important things for the user. Sounds like heaven.

To say it in three words, the first principle is about Satisfy the Customer.


Also read in this blog post series:

• Agile Principle 1: Satisfy the Customer
• Agile Principle 2: Embrace Change
• Agile Principle 3: Frequent Delivery
• Agile Principle 4: Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Agile Principle 5: Support and Trust
• Agile Principle 6: Face-to-Face Conversation
• Agile Principle 7: Working Software
• Agile Principle 8: Sustainable Pace
• Agile Principle 9: Technical Excellence
• Agile Principle 10: Keep it Simple
• Agile Principle 11: Self-Organization
• Agile Principle 12: Inspect and Adapt

Principles behind the Agile Manifesto

All people working in an agile environment should reflect on the principles behind the agile manifesto from time to time. What do these principles really mean? What impact do they have for my daily business? Do my habit follow these principles?

There's a nice exercise for agile teams to summarize each of the principles down to 3 or 4 words. An agile team needs to have a shared understanding of the principles and what they imply for the team's behavior.

I'm going to start a blog series on all twelve of the agile principles. Following goals I'd like to achieve:

• Extracting the essence of the principle
• Determining values, practices, and other principles as sources of the principle

For cross-referencing I'll focus on the values, principles, and practices of Scrum, XP, and Lean just to cover the current mainstream methods.

If you find more or better of values, principles, and practices please drop me a line or a comment so we can add your input accordingly.

Table of content:

• Agile Principle 1: Satisfy the Customer
• Agile Principle 2: Embrace Change
• Agile Principle 3: Frequent Delivery
• Agile Principle 4: Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Agile Principle 5: Support and Trust
• Agile Principle 6: Face-to-Face Conversation
• Agile Principle 7: Working Software
• Agile Principle 8: Sustainable Pace
• Agile Principle 9: Technical Excellence
• Agile Principle 10: Keep it Simple
• Agile Principle 11: Self-Organization
• Agile Principle 12: Inspect and Adapt

[German Version of this article: http://agilecoach.de/2011-09-26/prinzipien-hinter-dem-agilen-manifest/]

Book: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

The definitive must-read for everyone having anything to do with teams!

Author: Patrick Lencioni
Title: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Rating: highest recommendation!

Have you ever wondered why weekly team meetings become meaningless rituals without any results? Have you ever had the feeling that important topics were not discussed and severe conflicts not surfaced?

This book offers a very simple model of five dysfunctions of a team. The model explains typical anti-patterns of behavior you can recognize in many teams:

1. Absence of Trust
2. Fear of Conflict
3. Lack of Commitment
4. Avoidance of Accountability
5. Inattention to Results

Some nice exercises to overcome these dysfunctions are described as well.

The first 90% of the book are written as a novel which is easy to read and understand but still highly exciting and insightful. The latter part of the book contains the pure description of the model and the exercises. But it's much more fun to read the novel and see how Kathryn--the main protagonist--is analyzing and guiding the team away from its old habits and dysfunctions.

In the real world you could use the model for team building events or retrospective meetings. Explain this simple model to your team and confront them with their habits. As simple as it is to understand, as hard is it to live it in a team. Just do it and give it a try!

I give this book the highest rating possible. Buy it, study it, apply it, share it with your peers!

Book: Fearless Change

If you need to get some activities to drive change, read this book.

Authors: Mary Lynn Manns, Linda Rising

Title: Fearless Change

Rating: recommended

You work as a change agent? You have a new idea for your organization and want to change processes and interactions? This book may be helpful as it presents 48 patterns for introducing new ideas.

The first part of the book describes a general approach with many examples how to apply all the different patterns. The second part contains detailed descriptions of the patterns with many cross-references between them.

Although the majority of the patterns should be well known to change agents, there might be many insights how to initiate and maintain changes inside an organization. In my point of view there are no brand-new approaches presented in the book. The highest value this book provides is giving an elaborated pattern language so people involved in change are able to talk about the same things with the same wording.

This review may sound as the book would not be worth its pages. Don't get me wrong. It contains a very nice reference and map of change patterns to look up. I'm going to take a look at a random pattern from time to time just to get a reminder and maybe new insights.

Read it so we can talk about it!