Agile Adoption: Does it Have to be All In or Fold?

Talk, by Rebecca Wirfs-Brock
Wednesday, June 22, 11:00 – 12:30 @ B 003

Adopting Agile approaches can have a huge impact on software development teams. Agile practices can help teams yield more accurate assessments of project progress, better ensure that what gets delivered will be useful, and lead to higher quality products that are more maintainable.

Yet it can be difficult to successfully transition to an Agile approach. Taking an all-or-nothing approach to adopting recognized Agile practices rarely succeeds. As a result, the pragmatic Agile change agent learns to adapt Agile practices to their organization’s unique context. This requires courage, convictions, and experimentation. Successful Agile adopters need to know when to push for changes to the “standard way we do things” and when to adapt or discard ill-fitting Agile practices. This talk will share lessons learned from experiences of those who’ve successfully adapted Agile practices presented by experience reporters that Rebecca shepherded at past Agile conferences. Not willing to leave it at that, Rebecca will conclude by challenging you to examine what it will take for you to succeed with Agile adoption.