I have a new book: Project Lifecycles: How to Reduce Risks, Release Successful Products, and Increase Agility. I wrote it because I'm concerned about what I see in too many supposedly agile teams:
- Crazy-long backlogs and roadmaps. Those create a serial lifecycle approach with too little experimentation. Worse, sometimes the team doesn't demo or deliver. Why? Because no one cares until they deliver “all” of it. (An example of how much instead of how little thinking.)
- Too little joy or ease, often because the team's WIP is too high.
- A focus on a “standard” agile approach, regardless of how much agility is in that approach. (See Manage Unplanned Feedback Loops to Reduce Risks and Create Successful Products.)
Worse, even though I wrote all the lifecycle posts, too few people took advantage of the information there. So I wrote a book.
Almost all efforts require some experimentation, which is why teams iterate over a feature set. Sometimes, teams can use internal feedback, especially if they work in an organization with component teams.
More often, I prefer external feedback. That's because no product survives contact with the customers. So teams need to choose how often to release externally.
Instead of thinking about “agile,” consider agility in your efforts.
With Planisware, I'm offering a short workshop on November 30 to launch the book. (Yes, I'm experimenting!) Please register at Project Lifecycle Workshop: How to Manage Project Risks to Release Successful Products. (The 5 pm CET time is correct. The Eastern time is 11 am, etc.) I hope to see you there.