Scrum is a great team process.  However, many companies have had troubles scaling scrum across an enterprise.  Scaling Agile doesn't just mean having teams be Agile.  It means having predictability and consistency of your practices across your value stream and the organization.  It means incrementally delivering business value in a regular and predictable manner.  This requires more than effective teams. Our experience has been that scaling Agile with Scrum (or other methods) is greatly facilitated through the use of Lean Software Development.  read more »

There has been a lot of debate about which is better, Scrum or Kanban. We believe an integration of methods is best.  Having seen literally hundreds of teams learn Scrum, both those we’ve trained and those trained by others, we’ve seen patterns of success and challenge.  We believe many of these challenges can be mitigated by properly arming the teams with concepts they would otherwise have to figure out on their own.  Our belief is if it is likely a team is going to run into a problem it is better to arm them with the knowledge required to solve it.  read more »

Many people equate Agile with Scrum.  This was actually never true and is even less true now than ever before.  There are many Agile methods available.  These include eXtreme Programming, Kanban, Lean, Crystal and several others.  Even the PMI has their own Agile methodology now.   The first thing to understand in making a transition to Agile is what are some of the options available.  Here are some articles/blogs you’ll find useful in doing this:

The Scrum Clinic

Welcome to the Scrum Clinic. We've worked with hundreds of Scrum teams.  Unfortunately, we've seen most teams struggle with Scrum because they were not aware of basic principles and practices that could solve many of their problems. This page is a collection of insights to help such teams. Most of the entries here have originated as blogs, webinars or articles that Net Objectives’ consultants have written that describe ways we’ve either extended Scrum or solved troubles that people have had with it.  read more »

Acceptance Test-Driven Development

The short version:

Trim Tabs In Software Development

I have always admired and been inspired by R. Buckminster Fuller, author of the ground-breaking book “Critical Path”. He was the person who created the term “Spaceship Earth” and invented the geodesic dome among many other things. I remember him reflecting once on trim tabs. Trim tabs are used in aviation and shipping. Literally, they are attached to a large control surface which would otherwise be difficult to move.

We at Net Objectives believe that many people and organizations struggle in software development not so much due to bad attitudes or lack of motivation or even lack of skill.  But rather, they struggle because they are unaware of certain information or believe in things that aren't true.  Unfortunately, in our opinion, a large amount of the Agile community speaks vociferously on their experience but neglect to mention that their experience is at the team or small organizational level.  

Example 21-1

• Tax
• USTax

Example 21-2

• Tax
• USTax

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Of course the title to this page is an over-simplification. As with all concepts, one must keep in mind the foundational beliefs on which the work is based. Elimination of delay to eliminate waste is a lean concept. The foundations of lean are:

• Respect people
• Systems thinking
• Just-in-time
• Have smooth running systems that people attend to as needed (autonomation)

So everything on this page is, of course within the context of the above foundation.

The main kinds of delays we want to eliminate:

One of the services we provide is doing an assessment and subsequent coaching for Scrum teams that others have trained.   We've recently formalized our service into Scrum Clinic Coaching Workshop because we've seen so many patterns of Scrum stagnation and challenge. Some of the symptoms that many Scrum teams exhibit are: