Agile mindset

Respect enables teamwork

Mutual respect is necessary for teamwork to take place. The team comprises people of different personalities, skill sets, and backgrounds. If we respect each other’s diversity, only then can we empower a self-managing, self-organizing team. Reciprocal respect boosts team’s morale and motivation and helps to focus on the joint goal. Agile puts emphasis on comfortable working environment. Collaborate, and not compete

This element springs from respect. We won’t be collaborating with someone whom we perceive our enemy. Team members collaborate and not compete. Individuals compete, but Scrum teams collaborate. It’s the latter that the Agile mindset goes for, as it’s a small group of people that provides value and it’s value itself.

Transparent communication

The way people communicate in the Agile world is a little bit different from that of a traditional project. Communication is informal and formal ways that people discuss the project. The Agile philosophy favours a face-to-face communication. While having a coffee break, the people responsible for the project can exchange the information that make the project more transparent. As opposed to traditional project methodologies, business people and developers talk with one another daily. The Scrum Master’s role is to get rid of any communication interferences that are in between the business world and the ‘technical’ world. Meetings on Agile projects are as quick as possible and include only those involved. What makes communication easier is that documentation and artefacts are simple, succinct and visualized.

Openess to try new solutions

Thinking an Agile way entails a zest for experiments and acceptance that something might not go according to plan. An Agilist regards failure as something that they can learn from. As the growth opportunity. An Agile driven team doesn’t follow one already trodden-path unless it works, of course. The Agile phiTlosophy is based on a conviction that we live in the VUCA world. The term VUCA stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. It’s the concept that was brought up in the times of the Cold War. It was the description of the world that folks used to live. The Agile practicioners claim the software development world is likewise, that is changeable, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Hence, agility entails flexibility in terms of the changes the business world is making all the time.

Focus on something that’s right

Time is money, isn’t it? Since the reality might be changing hour by hour we should focus on the most important elements first. The Pareto Principle that Agile follows says that 80% of the software value is in 20% of its features. Hence, first we focus on the elements of the highest value, and of the highest risk.

Time is money, isn’t it? Since the reality might be changing hour by hour we should focus on the most important elements first. The Pareto Principle that Agile follows says that 80% of the software value is in 20% of its features. Hence, first we focus on the elements of the highest value, and of the highest risk.

Inspect and Adapt

The ability to inspect and adapt is a massive change in comparison to traditional project methodologies. In traditional methodologies like Waterfall changes were seen as blockers. The essence of empiricism in Agile is laid out below:

Whenever you start a project, why not regularly check in, see if what you’re doing, is heading in the right direction, and if it’s actually what people want? And questions whether there are any ways to improve how you’re doing what you’re doing, any ways of doing it better and faster.

Jeff Sutherland