Agile is an abstract concept, often confused with Scrum, post-its, or the use of Jira. When I recently explained it to a seasoned professional, they grumbled, “So Agile is just working smart.” As if I was telling them something they didn’t already know. And I couldn’t disagree with them. Working smart is as old as humanity. However, in modern times, it has become increasingly complex to determine what ‘smart’ really is. Agile to the rescue! Here’s a quick explainer.
Delivering Value is Complex
Working smart is essentially maximizing the amount of value and minimizing the effort. A simple idea, but complex in practice. There is no linear plan towards most value. Instead, proposes Agile, you create a reasonable plan and start as soon as possible. Spending a lot of time planning is wasteful when the plan is likely to change soon.
Agile suggests that the first step is a great learning moment. You either got lucky, and built something useful, or you learned a lot when reality hit you. The first step teaches how to work smarter, and what delivering value exactly means. Furthermore, you encounter new constraints and requirements. The sooner you discover these, the less time you waste on the wrong approach.
Agile is Continuously Steering Towards More Value
After each small step, you steer again. The more frequently you steer, the smaller the required adjustments and the faster you accelerate. If you can steer skillfully and frequently, you are agile. It’s like working on a car while it’s driving. You get the car to the track as soon as possible so you learn what to improve.
Agile is often confused with flexibility. This leads many people to think that it means you can’t make commitments and everything has to remain flexible. But the opposite is true. Flexibility is just a means to achieve your goals more effectively. Making commitments and maintaining a clear direction often help you achieve results faster. Steering less and more frequently, remember?
Agile is People Work!
Perhaps most importantly, in unpredictable environments, people are key. Agile recognizes that delivering value is people work. Diversity, different perspectives, and interaction play a crucial role in solving complex problems. Processes and tools are important to support this people work, but they should not become rigid frameworks.
A Plan as a Tool, Not a Control Mechanism
An example of support and rigidity is the plan. The plan is a tool to organize your work smartly. It is valuable if it helps with alignment and enables efficient and quick progress. But if the plan takes over and becomes a rigid framework, you lose sight of delivering value. This happens, for example, when someone uses the plan as a control mechanism.
The Agile Manifesto: The Essence of Agile
The principles of Agile work are captured in the Agile Manifesto. Although originally written by software developers, it is also relevant to a broader group of people. Below you will find a translation into English and a broader context beyond just software. The Agile Manifesto contains the following four statements:
- Processes and tools support individuals and their interactions, not the other way around.
- Knowledge and documentation are valuable, but they are secondary to delivering real value, such as working products or services.
- Clear agreements – contracts – are important, but they should not hinder collaboration with colleagues, suppliers, and customers.
- Working in a planned manner is efficient, as long as it doesn’t prevent you from responding to change.
The Fifth Cornerstone of Agile: Working with Facts
Unfortunately, an indispensable cornerstone of Agile has been overlooked in the Agile Manifesto: empiricism. Empiricism means basing knowledge and decisions on observable facts, not opinions or assumptions. Working with data and facts plays a crucial role in our successful approach. Therefore, you can make a fifth statement:
- Opinions and assumptions provide direction, but they should not blind you to observable facts.
Would you like to “Just Work Smarter”?
If you are eager to discover what Agile can mean for your team or organization, feel free to contact me. You can also read the book “Sturen op Resultaat” (Managing for Results), which provides practical guidance on implementing the above statements. It is a proven approach to creating significant value for your organization and its customers.