Presenter: Jurgen Appelo
Objective(s) of the session
- Better understanding of agile principles for managers
- Learning concepts that might be new and refreshing, even for agilists
- Gaining practical management advice, by mapping complexity theory to agile practices
Intended audience and prerequisites
Everyone who is interested in agile concepts, and going a little further than what the standard books say. But in particular managers responsible for agile software development projects
Contents
In this session I link complexity science with agile software development. Complexity science is the study of complex systems, like ecosystems, biological systems, economic systems, etc. "Complexity science" is the scientific approach to "systems thinking". It can be used to understand and explain why complex systems behave the way they do. Both Ken Schwaber and Jim Highsmith have explained in their books that a lot of agile concepts have been copied from the study of complex systems and systems thinking.
In this session I attempt to show why there is no such thing as a best software development method, why managing scope is a too simplistic interpretation of the principle of “embracing change”, why corporate standards for processes are a bad thing, and why you will never get things exactly right. In this I will go a step further than what has already been described in the well-known agile books, linking some of complexity theory with down-to-earth practices from the trenches of my own experience as a software development manager.
I will also explain how one can implement an agile process improvement initiative. The result of this session will be a number of practical tips for managers of agile software development.
The session is intended for those who already know most of the agile concepts and practices, and want to hear some additional ideas that they can try to translate to their own agile projects.
Format and length: Presentation, 45-60 minutes