What Agile isn't
-
It is not a shortcut. You won't get that project done any faster with agile, you will put in the same effort and the same time but you will end up with a better product because it's had the opportunity to evolve from any initial requirements.
-
It's not the complete absence of a plan. You still need to plan, but plan differently. In an agile environment you do not necessarily have all the details worked out before a project begins. The plan will evolve as the project does. Each sprint has specific requirements, these can change within a sprint but the timeline will not. A retrospective after each sprint leads to the planning for the next one. Small steps.
Why an Agile life?
"Jack of all trades, master of none,
Certainly better than a master of one"
In the past, I have chosen to pick one thing, and do it really well. To focus on school, or work, or whatever and commit all my time and effort to being the best 'whatever' I could possibly be. Blinders on, all my focus on one long term goal, everything else falls away. In hindsight, this was a mistake.
This kind of focus is good in a very small, specific context but not when it takes all of your time and energy. It would work well if we only had one thing to do, but who among us has a to do list that short? And it's not about just plowing through the list, it's about enjoying every single second of it because we do not get to do this forever. And when our focus is on that test, or that project we miss the important stuff that's happening right in front of us.
We aspire to be good wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, chef's, home makers, professionals, teachers, writers, photographers, hikers, organizers, bakers, drivers, decorators, mechanics, technical support and a million other roles. And ironically we perform better in any single role when all the others are in balance.
So this is an effort to apply agile methodologies to our lifestyle. Because I believe it's not enough to just strive for the best job, or the best house, or the best car (or whatever floats your boat) but to build, and appreciate, the best life. And to do that, I will take small, iterative steps to improve each piece of the puzzle, remembering to come up for air and enjoy the ride.
J
Because this geek girl occasionally takes things too literally.
In the winter of 2001 a group of software engineers got together to collaborate on software development practices and they came up the the agile manifesto. This manifesto outlined a set of guidelines intended to streamline and enhance the software development process. And it works. When implemented properly it works extremely well. It was a significant departure from the accepted norms at the time (waterfall/cascade etc) and those of us in the field who made the switch were left a bit dazed and confused by the whole process for a while. But it was worth it. This is infinitely better.
After working in an agile development environment for years I found myself applying those same methodologies in my home life to try to meet goals that have nothing to do with software.
Google 'Agile' or 'Scrum' and you'll find a world of sometimes technical/sometimes infuriatingly vague definitions but for the purposes of this blog the relevant points are:
What Agile is
-
Agile encourages small, iterative steps (sprints). Don't get lost in a sea of requirements, just focus on this one step, this one improvement. Then assess what worked, what didn't and go from there.
-
A departure from a 'Grand Plan'. Quit waiting until you have all the answers. Get he best information you can now and know that the plan will evolve with the project. You'll work out the details as you go.
-
Test early & often. Try it. Try it before it's ready. Try it and fail. You'll learn from the experience and change it for the better.
-
Apply the 80/20 rule. You'll never make everyone happy all of the time. Quit trying. If 80 percent of the people involved are happy 80 percent of the time, call that a win and stop trying to push for perfection. Enjoy what you've got.