Evolving the Agile Organization [1]: Organizational Design and Culture - 20 Unagile Things to Avoid Saying and Some Better Alternatives Flashcards
twenty small things which you might be tempted to say or to silently agree with, and which are perhaps rather better to avoid
(1) Explain: Avoid describing a Sprint Backlog as a “commitment”
It’s a “plan” or “forecast” of work for meeting a Sprint Goal. Remember that team members ought to commit to goals, not to forecasts.
How can we avoid an Agile crash?
exert small corrections, early and often, before they build up and we face a crash
twenty small things which you might be tempted to say or to silently agree with, and which are perhaps rather better to avoid
(2) Explain: Avoid language which suggests Story Points are “delivered”, or in some way constitute value or otherwise proxy for value.
The purpose of story pointing is to help a team forecast how much work it believes it can take on. In agile practice, value is only to be found in the delivered increment itself.
twenty small things which you might be tempted to say or to silently agree with, and which are perhaps rather better to avoid
(3) Explain: Avoid talking about an “ideal velocity” when making forecasts
Instead, talk about the ideal value which can be released in current and future Sprints. Speak of work done in terms of innovation accounting not story point accounting
twenty small things which you might be tempted to say or to silently agree with, and which are perhaps rather better to avoid
(4) Explain: Avoid talking about “Sprint Goals” when those supposed goals have not yet been planned and agreed by the team.
If they aretentativeSprint Goals, call them that. During refinement, discuss how well they might align to features and Minimum Viable Products
twenty small things which you might be tempted to say or to silently agree with, and which are perhaps rather better to avoid
(5) Explain: Avoid describing stages of work as “Sprints” unless they are time-boxed and produce an increment of functionality, however small it may be.
“Special” sprints like “sprint zero”, “integration sprint”, “testing sprint” and so on are coded terms for stages or phases. If stages or phases are to be used, call them so honestly, and avoid devaluing agile terms of reference.
twenty small things which you might be tempted to say or to silently agree with, and which are perhaps rather better to avoid
(6) Explain: Avoid describing a Sprint Review as a “Show and Tell” or “Demo”.
A demonstration of work might very well formpartof a Sprint Review. However, the essential purpose is to consider the work which has been done and which remains to be done, and to inspect and adapt the Product Backlog.
twenty small things which you might be tempted to say or to silently agree with, and which are perhaps rather better to avoid
(7) Explain: Avoid talking about a “Kanban” unless there is evidence of a closed economy of work.
If there is merely evidence of a “to-do” list, call it that.
twenty small things which you might be tempted to say or to silently agree with, and which are perhaps rather better to avoid
(8) Explain: Avoid describing Acceptance Criteria as the “Definition of Done”
They may represent a certain level of “Done” for certain Product Backlog items, but the Definition of Done, as an assertion of release quality, properly refers to the entire increment.
twenty small things which you might be tempted to say or to silently agree with, and which are perhaps rather better to avoid
(9) Explain: Avoid referring to a collection of people as a “team” unless there is evidence of their collaboration and teamwork.
If those people are working in silos which are largely independent of each other, then there may instead be evidence of a “workgroup” engaged in craft production.
twenty small things which you might be tempted to say or to silently agree with, and which are perhaps rather better to avoid
(10) Explain: Avoid referring to an agile initiative in terms of its supporting tools.
Achieving agile practice is not the same thing as “having Jira” or “using TFS” or indeed any other technology.
twenty small things which you might be tempted to say or to silently agree with, and which are perhaps rather better to avoid
(11) Explain: Avoid talking about “DevOps” as though it were distinct from agile practice and cultural change.
If you are referring to technical practices such as automation or continuous integration and deployment, use those terms instead.
twenty small things which you might be tempted to say or to silently agree with, and which are perhaps rather better to avoid
(13) Explain: Avoid talking about a “Release Plan” if certain Sprints are not planned to result in a release at all
What you actually have is a plan fornotreleasing. In Scrum, each Sprint must yield an increment of value however small it may be. The decision to release or not to release ought to be made on aJust in Timebasis. A true Release Plan should outline what is likely to be delivered, to whom and when…notifa release will happen.
twenty small things which you might be tempted to say or to silently agree with, and which are perhaps rather better to avoid
(12) Explain: Avoid talking about “technical debt” when there is no plan to pay the accrued deficit back, or the liability incurred thus far is unmanaged and unknown.
If they are in truth unquantified losses, call them that.
twenty small things which you might be tempted to say or to silently agree with, and which are perhaps rather better to avoid
(14) Explain: Avoid talking about “bugs” or “defects” as if they are separate from other work which remains to be done.
They must still be accounted for as work remaining, and planned and budgeted for. The urgency of the repair and the speed with which it is expedited does not obviate the need for this quality of transparency.
