More than practices are required to be agile

Over on InfoQ, Amr Elssamadisy says successful agile teams are predominantly characterized by their culture and not their practices.

Agreed. Team culture grows out of the values people share, their behaviour and the chemistry their personalities create and the fun they have when they work together, the friendships they form and their combined sense of belonging. Sadly, a team's culture is often limited by the culture of the wider organisation. But, it's not enough to just have a great culture. Without disciplined application of practices a team is likely to deliver poorer quality.

Agile teams that just do the practices are mechanical and the rote application of practices is not being agile; you might call it 'doing Agile', maybe. Whatever. It misses the point and the full potential of a team will never be realised. Practices are tools and they are more effective in the hands of a craftsman. A craftsman is a master of his tools. His mastery is borne out of his personal discipline when using the tools, his awareness of context, the factors in play and what's going on around him, and his thought processes. Without personal discipline, awareness and the inculcation of values and principles, it is easy for people to regress to bad habits.

Tags: culture, practices, craftsmanship, values, principles

posted by Simon Baker @ permalink
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