program selection system

When we try to improve our organizations, we inevitably meet resistance. This session is about how to turn resistance from a frustration into a resource. Whatever else it may be, resistance is information — about the people we are asking to change, about the environment in which the change will happen, about the changes we recommend, and about ourselves. You will learn how to interpret people’s responses as valuable information, and how to translate that information into effective action to move your organization toward agility.

For the last several years, a number of companies have begun to position themselves as users of Agile. The real question, of course, is why? Is there preliminary data that substantiates the considerable investment involved in making this transition? Are the risks warranted? Also, will Agile methods work for some of the very large scale projects that are characteristic of commercial software projects? In this presentation, Sue McKinney will discuss how Agile methods and practices are emerging as essential to commercial software development.

BMC is a global provider of enterprise management solutions that empower companies to automate and align IT with the needs of the business. It also has one of the largest deployments of distributed Agile development with 95 people on 7 teams spread across 4 locations.

In a landmark study, BMC opened its doors to allow QSM Associates, a consultancy for software development measurement, estimation, and planning (www.qsma.com), to evaluate its Agile deployment and measure/quantify the benefits of agility. The QSM Associates’ study concluded that:

Agile methods, and Scrum in particular, are enjoying a surge in popularity. Forrester Research’s “The Truth About Agile Processes” states that 17% of North American and European companies are now using Agile. Yet Forrester tells us that “many of these shops (companies adopting Agile) aren’t completely clear about what Agile adoption really entails” (2). Introducing Agile, a better process, causes an immediate improvement in productivity of 30 to 100%. This improvement is seen as a major win for the projects. Unfortunately, this is often where the adoption stops.

90 Word Summary:

In February of 2002 in Snowbird Utah, the Agile Manifesto was written. It was intended to be provocative, to cause upheaval in an entrenched system of thinking. It targeted the brave and few mavericks willing to let go of a myriad of software development security blankets and instead create value through new dynamics. It is now August 2008 in Toronto Ontario. Are we holding onto too constricted views of that 2002 statement in a way that could be holding us back from continued systems innovation?

Agile is now on most CV’s, so beyond the hype what is the future?

WHAT HAVEN’T you noticed lately? Like a magician’s audience, we are distracted by what we are directed to see, and relatively unaware of much else, including the way we think. In 1964, Marshall McLuhan predicted the world of 1994, including everything from telecommuting to the reshaping of education, politics, and economics. Join Mark Federman as he uses McLuhan’s thinking tools on everything from cartoon characters to online services. Learn to see hidden effects of the world we actively create, gaining new awareness of the everyday things seen, and mostly ignored.

Research shows culture is the single most important factor in organizational success. Four culture types have been identified: Control, Collaboration, Competence, and Cultivation. This session explores how Agile fits within each, including when it synergizes with the culture’s natural tendencies, and when like a virus it spreads unwanted “germs”, undermining the natural balance. With this context, we explore how Agile can change cultures, when it is advisable to try to do so, and how to make the best of the corporate culture you find yourself in.

As the popularity of agile development spreads, more and more companies are discovering that simply breaking down projects into small iterations is not sufficient. Agile methods require changes in management, analysis, architecture, design, testing, quality assurance as well as project management. Given the large adjustments required, where can a team or enterprise look for guidance in its transition? The principles of Lean Software Development provide such guidance.