I would
like to start with the old saying, "Don't reinvent the wheel." And
really, it is an important message! When the wheel was invented, it was made of
a simple wooden log. The requirement increased and gradually there were many
value additions, such as spokes, rims, tires, alloy wheels, tubeless tires,
etc. And that's what we do at our workplace on regular basis: put value
additions onto our work.
For
example, we use the same libraries already used by thousands of programmers
earlier, but we extend these, make some tweaks for specific requirements as and
when needed. Hearing this, I know some of us smiled and murmured,
"Inheritance?"
Recently
I had a talk with a group of IT professionals. I was trying to understand their
views on agility and especially on Scrum. (Being a big proponent of Scrum, I
love to get involved in such discussions and guide people toward the benefits
of Agile and Scrum -- benefits they are not always aware of.) To my surprise,
they straightaway remarked that Scrum was not going to help them produce their
product. They had already discussed this extensively with other Scrum
practitioners.
Later I
came to know that their product was reported with many defects, most of them
due to not understanding the requirements correctly -- and of course there were
a few change requests as well. The product was out, and till the existing
defects were resolved there was no plan for next releases. So do you think that
coaching them on Scrum was the right step, when there was a sheer need to deal
with the current situation? The alternative Agile approach to suggest to them
was Kanban. I discussed the way they were handling things and proposed that
they follow Kanban principles of visualizing, limiting the work in progress,
and managing the flow. They tried Kanban and, as expected, it worked well.
Kanban helped them manage the work flow fantastically. And now they were
interested in discussing Scrum for their next release. There are still lots of
challenges to face, but at least the start has been made, and made well.
This was
one such case. The big misconception about Scrum is that it is a tool that can
develop products rapidly, inexpensively, and with quality. No! Scrum is not
such a tool. Scrum is a framework that helps teams work differently, think differently,
and develop products with the goal of the satisfaction of all involved. There
are no hard rules in Scrum to follow, and there can't be. Product development
is too complex for a single set of rules to fit in all circumstances. Scrum is
a proven framework that suits most domains and most situations. To experiment
with and enjoy Scrum, you have to identify the requirements of your
organization and, if required, tailor the Scrum practices to suit those
requirements, while ensuring that the essence of Scrum does not get vaporized.
As a next step, your tailored Scrum may lead to Lean Agile practices for your
organization. Enjoy it!
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