Are you doing Agile or Being Agile

Often, you hear from your friends or ex-colleagues or people from any Agile meetups groups saying that "Agile fails or it didn't work for us". You will hardly hear the other way around.

Once you get into the conversation then you hear that, we are following scrum and doing daily stand-ups but we don't see any difference. Sometimes you can hear people asking what is really Agile ? They say that we are doing stand-up, scrum, using JIRA. Is that considered as Agile. Finally you hear this - "all these are bullshit".

An organization practicing Agile without internalizing the mindset is same as having democracy under the dictatorship.

The answer is that you are doing Agile but you are not being Agile. In other words you are doing Agile practices without embracing Agile mindset rather than internalizing Agile mindset and implementing the practices. This mindset has to be built from the individual level to team level and then organizational level. If you are part of a bigger organization then creating the mindset in organizational level is not that simple or you might not have the control. An organization practicing Agile without internalizing the mindset is same as having democracy under the dictatorship. To create an Agile mindset at the individual and team level is still feasible. 

The first step to achieve is to make everyone understand the Agile manifesto and the principles. As a scrum master or an Agile coach or even as a Manager internalize the mindset and create examples for the team to realize or feel the difference. Finally keep remind the them about the Agile manifesto and Principles whenever necessary.

If you are reading this and you don't know or don't remember the Agile manifesto and principles here it is,

Agile Manifesto

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others to do it. Through this work we have come to value:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan

Please do remember that the manifesto doesn't say you do only A over B or ignore B. You should fully understand the manifesto and should be able to determine how much effort you can put on B.

Principles behind Agile Manifesto

1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.
3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
4. Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
7. Working software is the primary measure of progress.
8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
10. Simplicity — the art of maximizing the amount of work not done — is essential.
11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly