Agile Otter Blog

Let me tell you the two weirdest things about being home when you are a "road warrior:" Directions: I've lived in this area almost 10 years and don't know more than five or ten roads by name. I can barely get around without GPS. People describe places by approximation to local landmarks and I have no idea what they're talking about. When they talk about intersections it usually means nothing to me.  I've probably seen more of Europe than Lake County. I know how to get to a few restaurants and stores, my house, and the local airports. Otherwise, it's all unknown territory. I'm a stranger everywhere, but I'm pretty used to being a stranger. I think I've approached living in this house the same way I approach living in a hotel when I'm out on a gig, learning only enough routes and places to meet my needs while I'm there.  Roads I don't take, I don't know by name and don't know where they go or what they run past. Her...

Agile's teaching of "thin, vertical slices" doesn't apply just to features. Organizations move forward in thin vertical slices too. Story mapping teaches us to do incremental, value-first programming and integrate the "threads of functions" all the time from end-to-end.  CI teaches us that integrating thin slices frequently avoids pre-release integration nightmares (and post-release nightmares).  Likewise, we leave room for learning and growing, because what we learn in iteration N may give us different options and opportunities in iteration N+1 and onward. We have an idea of where we want to go, but we are always seeking best value. However, too few agile transitions are done in an agile way. It's only reasonable that a pre-agile company would want a waterfall, Big-Design-Up-Front plan with staffing and milestones for an agile transition. But we, as post-transition coaches and consultants know better and are supposed to be ...