Sunday, June 01, 2014

The adoption lifecycle of Agile adoption

In the beginning "Agile" (this was before the term was used) was used by people on software delivery teams to either save a delivery that was failing or simply because they wanted to do something better.

Innovator jobs for Agile:
  • Save a delivery that is failing OR recover from a delivery that failed
  • Try things that are better
After a while, other people started noticing that these deliveries were particularly successful and wanted to learn the approach to improve other teams within their organisation. At this point, organisational issues, that could be worked around or ignored for a one-off delivery, also needed to be addressed.

Early Adopter jobs for Agile:
  • Spread something that has been demonstrated to be good to the rest of the organisation
  • Show how to deal with relevant organisational issues
After a while, other people from other organisations hear about this new approach and think that it would be good to try it. They may or may not have any teams who have already tried Agile but it was not the success of the teams themselves that triggered the desire. This typically meant that the organisation needed to be convinced that Agile was worth doing, not just how to do it.

Early Majority jobs for Agile:
  • Help convince an organisation that Agile is worthwhile
  • Provide confidence that the adoption of Agile will be successful
After a while, most organisations in the industry are already adopting Agile. People in the remaining organisations notice this and feel that they need to catch up. They do not necessarily know what Agile means but they have a sense that they should be doing something. This typically means that even the person who sponsors the Agile adoption needs convincing of the specific details of Agile, not just the organisation.

Late Majority jobs for Agile:
  • Help to understand what Agile is so it can be used
  • Simple and easy way to adopt Agile

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