This page is a work in process. Many of the articles here need to be rewritten or updated.
Lean-Agile for executives and transformation agents
An Overview of Guardrails: Keeping Aligned and on Track
Solution Delivery is a complex process. However, it is possible to see if one is on track in a relatively straightforward manner. In essence, Lean-Agile methods are about achieving the highest level of Business value realization in the shortest amount of time in a predictable and sustainable manner. This requires working on the most important Business value requests within the proper capacity to implement them quickly. This is often complex and difficult; however, it is less difficult to assess if you are staying on track. To help with this, we have defined a set of guardrails. These guardrails take the form of non-negotiable agreements made across the organization. Each agreement has a set of questions to consider to ensure that everyone is doing what was agreed to. The guardrails are grounded both in the intention of realizing Business value and in following known principles of Lean-Agile software development. The purpose of the guardrails is both for alignment and to keep people on the right path. They provide guidance to ensure that you are on course and to allow you to make decisions at a local level while ensuring you are still aligned to the rest of the value stream.
The five most important reasons for going Agile and how it is that understanding the whys of Agile helps you with this transition. This article also discovers our breakthrough approach to managing requirements which we call the Minimum Business Increment (MBI). (Al Shalloway. 11/2016)
The Essence of FLEX (FLow for Enterprise Transformation)
There can be no one-size-fits-all framework. A framework must give enough structure must be given so that people know what to do while also giving guidance on how to adapt it to the organization’s dynamics. FLEX is designed to provide both.
FLEX is not a normal framework detailing a set of practices. Instead, it is designed to help you make better decisions and to coordinate all aspects of creating value for clients, both internal and external to the organization. The goal is to help an organization achieve business agility, the quick realization of value predictably, sustainably and with high quality. (Al Shalloway. (12/2018)
Lean-Agile Transformation from the C-Suite to DevOps
What you must do to transition to Lean-Agile methods in an organization. It describes the three common challenges faced, the activities to resolve these challenges, and the approach we take to become effective. (Al Shalloway. 3/2016)
Net Objectives Approach to the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)®
While Agile has worked well for small teams it has achieved mixed results as one attempts to scale it. This article discusses the challenges of Agile at scale and some effective ways to achieve success. (Al Shalloway. 1/2017)
Aligning Multiple Teams with Lean-Agile Thinking
Three key principles of Lean Thinking for software development. This article describes how they apply to the value stream (the name Lean gives the workflow from “concept” to “consumption”). It also describes three disciplines Lean-Agile teams will need to follow to keep value flowing. Finally, it illustrates how Lean Thinking guides Agile enterprises in addressing challenges in their context. Lean-Agile lays out a different, more disciplined approach for scaling Agile. (Al Shalloway. 11/2016)
The Net Objectives Approach for Fast Growth and Mid-Scale Organizations
Many companies are looking at large scale Agile solutions because they’ve been unable to get teams to work together. While Scrum-of-Scrums has proven to be ineffective, there are other methods that can have multiple teams work together effectively without heavy overhead. This paper discusses several issues of Agile at mid-scale and several techniques that can be used that allow more Agility and greater pivoting when necessary. These methods work both for fast growth companies that are wanting to keep their levels of innovation up while they grow as well as companies in the mid-scale range (150-1000) people that are looking to rejuvenate their methods. (Al Shalloway. 1/2017)
Advanced Scrum Master and Kanban Online Workshop.
It takes time and experience to become a great Lean-Agile coach at the team level. The Advanced Scrum Master and Kanban Online Workshop is designed for people who will be providing coaching support at the team level. The essence of Lean-Agile is that it is a combination of both systems thinking to understand what to do and kaizen to improve your ability to do it. The Net Objectives Coaching Academy is designed to help novice coaches expand their experience in Lean-Agile methods so that they know how to guide teams in applying Lean-Agile principles and to give them tools and approaches to teach and mentor teams in these practices. Net Objectives is the only consulting company that has been at the forefront of the adoption of XP, Scrum, Lean, Kanban and SAFe®. This enables us to provide your coaches with the skill sets that are appropriate for your organization regardless of the practices you are using.
Management
Art of Action: How Leaders Close the Gaps between Plans, Actions, and Results
We highly recommend The Art of Action by Stephen Bungay for executives, management, and leadership who are responsible for transitioning their enterprises with Lean and Agile. We have created an authorized summary of the essential concepts from each chapter of this important book. Download the article (PDF).
Becoming Lean-Agile
Becoming Lean: The Why, What and How
A different way of looking at Lean Software Development, one that is independent of Lean’s manufacturing heritage. It begins by presenting Lean as a collection of a body of knowledge applying Lean principles to software development. It then shows how this creates a new paradigm of management, one that does not inevitably lead to micro-management or chaos. Finally, it concludes with a discussion about how organizations can use Lean to improve their ability to learn. (Al Shalloway. 12/2010)
Essential Aspects for Training New Scrum Teams
This paper describes the characteristics of effective training that gets Agile teams up to speed in Scrum. It is an approach we have used time and again with many organizations. As you evaluate alternatives for Scrum training, be certain that they have these characteristics. (Al Shalloway. 10/2018)
Evolving Your Business With Lean-Agile
How to achieve the promise of Lean and Agile methods by integrating the two approaches in a way that manifests the promise of each. In particular, Lean suggests we should focus on delivering business value quickly by creating a system for effective and efficient development. Agile informs our design of this system by attending to teams, creativity, and collaboration. Both advocate a continuous improvement of methods via feedback and reflection. Al first presents the key concepts and approaches for accomplishing this and then examines the impact on management when implementing them. (Al Shalloway. 3/2015)
How to Adopt Scrum Effectively
As you approach adopting Scrum, you must consider how teams fit into the bigger picture of the organization. This informs the entire process of Scrum adoption. There are three phases: preparation, workshops and supporting the adoption. This has informed the approach at Net Objectives. It begins with a focus on the complex skills needed to master Scrum while leaving some of the details of Scrum’s ceremonies to later. Some of these skills include how to tailor Scrum to your context and using Acceptance Test-Driven Development the ability to write clear, well-scoped, and small stories. In addition, instead of requiring expensive on-site team level coaches, online, self-paced, programs to support all of Scrum’s roles needs to be provided. In particular, Scrum Masters need guidance on their journey from a two-day class to true mastery. (Al Shalloway. 6/2018)
Lean-Agile Transformation from the C-Suite to DevOps
What you must do to transition to Lean-Agile methods in an organization. It describes the three common challenges faced, the activities to resolve these challenges, and the approach we take to become effective. (Al Shalloway. 3/2016)
Lean-Agile Product Management is a key part of Business Agility: the quick realization of value predictably, sustainably and with high quality. It is primarily focused on the agile Business Discovery of value to turn goals and objectives into appropriately defined and scoped requirements of those aspects of a system being built. These higher level, but well scoped and defined requirements feed business delivery by providing thinly sliced segments that can be quickly developed, providing quick feedback and the ability to pivot. Product management therefore holds business owners as its primary customers and guides business delivery to meet the expectations of its customers. (Luniel de Beer. 7/2018)
Lean Anti-Patterns and What to do About Them
A discussion of a few common Lean Anti-Patterns. Anti-Patterns are commonly recurring practices that are counterproductive. We call them “Lean” Anti-Patterns because these anti-patterns result from violating Lean principles. Lean principles form the basis for Scrum practices. Looking at how Lean Anti-Patterns violate lean principles gives us insight into how we need to modify our practices to be more effective. (Al Shalloway. 8/2007)
Overview of Guardrails: Keeping Aligned and On Track
The purpose of guardrails is both for alignment and to keep people on the right path. They provide guidance to ensure that you are on course and to allow you to make decisions at a local level while ensuring you are still aligned to the rest of the value stream. This article introduces the idea of guardrails and describes each one. (Al Shalloway. 9/2015)
Having well-defined outcomes and a plan for achieving those outcomes is key to keeping the transformation effort on track. (Alex Singh. 1/2017)
Test-Driven Development: ATDD and UTDD
A question that often arises in our consulting and training practices concerns the relationship between Test-Driven Development (TDD) and Acceptance Test-Driven Development (ATDD) and, what we might call Unit Test-Driven Development (UTDD).
The reality is that they are all “Test-Driven Development.” They are not conducted in the same way nor are the done by the same people and the value they provide is different. But at the end of the day, TDD is the umbrella under which they fall. TDD is a software development paradigm. (Scott Bain)
Using Lean-Agile to Provide the Real Value of ALM
How to use Lean Thinking to guide Agile transitions. (Al Shalloway. 10/2010)
Why Tailored Agile Transformation Solutions Are More Effective, Less Expensive, and Less Risky
Our contention and experience is that solutions tailored to an organization’s current situation, challenges, and culture can be more effective and less costly than predefined ones that are applied out of the box. While there are risks to the former, these can be avoided. The different set of risks to taking predefined solutions, ironically, can only be avoided by tailoring them. This article discusses the values and risks of both approaches and how to get the benefits of both. (Al Shalloway. 11/2016)
A critical aspect of the focus on achieving business agility includes identifying what is of value to build and then manifesting it in an efficient manner. Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) are a hot topic in the Lean Startup community. They have a different purpose than most of the work done by established companies. Even mid-size companies must attend to enhancing existing products that have an established marketplace. As companies mature, they usually spend a significant amount of effort rewriting software. To address this, this article describes MVPs, MBIs, and the Minimum Viable Replacement (MVR). (Al Shalloway. 1/2010)
Product Portfolio Management
Driving Enterprise Agility from the Program Management Office
An experience report from one of our clients that discusses how they improved their IT effectiveness by focusing on the Program Management Office. (Guy Beaver, Kelley Horton. 7/2010)
Using Product Portfolio Management to Improve the Efficiency of Teams
How organizations often fail in rolling out Agile methods to the organization because they never truly address the real impediment their development organization is facing: too many projects, projects that are too large, and/or projects that are poorly understood. (Al Shalloway. 4/2010)
Team Agility
Challenging Why (Not If) Scrum Works
Why does Scrum work? The answer may surprise you. It also opens up why you must always go beyond practices and look at the principles on which they are built. (Al Shalloway. 9/2007)
Kanban is a systems approach to software development that affects many different types of behaviors. This article mentions a few of the common misconceptions people have about Kanban in order to help clarify what Kanban is and is not. (Al Shalloway. 3/2011)
Introduction to Commonality/Variability Analysis
Design patterns do not exist in isolation, but work in concert with other design patterns to help you create more robust applications. In this book, you will gain a solid understanding of twelve core design patterns and a pattern used in analysis. You will gain enough of a foundation that you will be able to read the design pattern literature, if you want to, and possibly discover patterns on your own. Most importantly, you will be better equipped to create flexible and complete software that is easier to maintain. (Al Shalloway, James R Trott. 10/2004)
The Role of Quality Assurance in Lean-Agile Software Development
This chapter covers several critical issues surrounding the role of quality assurance in Lean-Agile software development. (Al Shalloway. 10/2009)
This white paper describes two important mindsets that have long informed Net Objectives’ approach to software development, training, and coaching. (Al Shalloway. 10/2009)
Aligning Multiple Teams with Lean-Agile Thinking. Three key principles of Lean Thinking for software development. This article describes how they apply to the value stream (the name Lean gives the workflow from “concept” to “consumption”). It also describes three disciplines Lean-Agile teams will need to follow to keep value flowing. Finally, it illustrates how Lean Thinking guides Agile enterprises in addressing challenges in their context. Lean-Agile lays out a different, more disciplined approach for scaling Agile.
Technical Agility
Acceptance Test-Driven Development: An Introduction
A short introduction to Acceptance Test-Driven Development (ATDD). (Ken Pugh. 5/2011)
Avoiding System Bankruptcy: How to Pay Off Your Technical Debt
This reprint from Agile Product and Project Management introduces the concept of technical debt, what practices and attitudes cause it, and what we can do to prevent it or pay it off. (Amir Kolsky. 11/2016)
Patterns are an effective thought process, not merely solutions to recurring problems in a context. (Al Shalloway. 9/2003)
This reprint from Chapter 4 of Essential Skills for the Agile Developer: A Guide to Better Programming and Design, discusses how to truly avoid redundancy. (Al Shalloway, Scott Bain, Ken Pugh, Amir Kolsky. 9/2011)
Software Development Skills Roadmap
The roadmap is a proven path for roll-out of technical skills in your organization. This roadmap provides a straightforward, effective path to follow which allows teams to focus on adopting one skill at a time and considers management concerns, like how long it will take for each investment to pay off. (Scott Bain. 5/2018)
Test-Driven Development: ATDD and UTDD
A question that often arises in our consulting and training practices concerns the relationship between Test-Driven Development (TDD) and Acceptance Test-Driven Development (ATDD) and, what we might call Unit Test-Driven Development (UTDD).
The reality is that they are all “Test-Driven Development.” They are not conducted in the same way nor are the done by the same people and the value they provide is different. But at the end of the day, TDD is the umbrella under which they fall. TDD is a software development paradigm. (Scott Bain)
DevOps
The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win
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