Notes.md

Titles (and Subtitles)

• Effective Agile
• A Toolbox of Agile Practices
• Feedback-Driven Development
  • FDD already exists: Feature-Driven Development
• Basic Agile Framework
• Basic Agile Toolbox
• Agile Starter Toolbox

Dave Thomas from This Agile Life

• Need to get Dave Thomas' TAL podcast transcribed, and make sure we incorporate most of his ideas.

• Agile is in some ways a set of advanced techniques.

  • At least Dave Thomas seems to think so.
  • But everyone can find some benefits.
  • A good team will always have a better chance of succeeding than an average team, no matter what the methodology.

• Make a small change.

  • Lean toward changes that will lead to more flexibility in the future.

• There is no magic bullet.

  • But we've found these practices to help in most cases.

Diagrams

• Time/cost versus scope as constraints.
  • Slide 10 - http://www.slideshare.net/dimka5/introducing-agile-scrum-xp-and-kanban
• Iterative nature (concentric loops).
• Kanban boards.

Other

• People are not "resources".

  • If the worker bees are called "resources", then the managers should be called "overhead". (Amos)

• Lots of good stuff in that Agile Product Owner video.

• Theory Y versus Theory X.

• Agile can't make up for bad developers.

  • Good developers can partially make up for bad methodologies.
  • Agile can help encourage developers to become better.

Kanban

• Basic tenets:
  • Visualization
  • Flow (pull)
  • Limiting WIP

Estimation

• "There is a geometric relationship between the length of an estimate and its inaccuracy."
  • http://mikehadlow.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/coconut-headphones-why-agile-has-failed.html
• "Hard deadlines, especially micro-deadlines will result in poor quality software that will take longer to deliver."
  • http://mikehadlow.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/coconut-headphones-why-agile-has-failed.html

Bad Agile

• Coaches who add/do very little:
  • http://www.agilecoach.co.uk/Articles/DoAllDay.html
  • Go with Agile practitioners instead.
    • They will "do" Agile with you, showing you by doing actual work on your product.
    • More of a player/coach.
    • They need to have experience "in the trenches".

Ideas from Andy Hunt

• We need to counteract a lot of biases that we have: https://pragprog.com/magazines/2011-01/guru-meditation
  • These biases basically create inertia to keep doing what we're already doing.
    • Even if what we're doing is counter-productive.

https://pragprog.com/magazines/2011-01/guru-meditation