Why (Agile) Projects Collapse

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Why Do (Agile) Projects Fail? Eberhard Wolff Head of Architecture https://swaglab.rocks/ https://ewolff.com/

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State of Agil •1986 Spiral Model (Barry Boehm) •1993 / 1995 Scrum •1996 / 1999 Extreme Programming (XP) •2001 Agile Manifesto

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State of Agile •If Agile was so much superior, it should have taken over the world by now. •But most project use broken agile processes. •Sugar coating what has always been done. •Missing empowerment, reflection, improvement •There is still a market for agile coaches. •I.e. we are not there yet.

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My Start with Agile •I participated in one of the first XP workshops with Kent Beck 1998 (?) •…and later in a training run by the first XP practitioners in Germany 2000(?). •It felt much better than plan-driven projects. •This was the future!

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State of Agile •I have seen agile projects become unagile. •Anyone talking about that? •How do you explain that if agile is so much better?

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What is Agile? •Details later. •Developing in iterations. •Embracing change: New requirements are welcomed. •Therefore: Welcome feedback •Also improve the process •Autonomy •Empowerment

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Agile Project Becoming Unagile: Some Examples

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Example 1 • Great agile development unit • Tries to improve product design to provide even more value. • Rest of organization wanted traditional product design without iterations / feedback. • Unclear business case • Ultimately, the development unit became a code factory. • People quit. • Development unit become unagile. • The organization was probably happy with a code factory.

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Example 2 •Great agile development unit •Lack of vision and goals •New hired leaders were toxic. •People quit. •It is hard to miss unclear goals. •Organization might be happy about the change.

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Example 3 •Technical excellent people •Management didn’t enforce values •People quit. •New junior people hired. •Organization probably didn’t feel it became worse.

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Project Collapse: The Bad •Situation becomes “worse” i.e. less agile / fun. •Culture becomes worse •I.e. huge personal impact •Rather quickly (months) •(Great) people quit

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Project Collapse: The Surprise •No real impact on competitiveness •Organization probably not unhappy or won’t notice. •Management probably not unhappy or won’t notice. •Sometimes: Reorg to get rid of agile. •But Agile should be superior?? •Why is it being destroyed then?

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Project Collapse •Like climate tipping points …or trapdoors •The team changes. •No way back

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Surprise? •Organizations do collapse. •Even country do collapse. •Collapse? Or optimization? •After all, the organization is often happy. …or it is considered just a reorg.

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True Agile Won’t Take Over the World! Why?

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Software Development: Why?

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Why Software? •Personally: Because I enjoy technical and social challenges. •My Clients: Business value. •That should be the only reason. •(Assuming they are rational.)

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What is Agile?

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Agile Manifesto •I like the Agile Manifesto. •It was very important. •But we are looking for an explanation why agile projects fail. •Let’s start at the Manifesto!

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Agile Manifesto …better ways of developing software… … 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

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Agile Manifesto •How is this kind of software development “better”? •Agile Manifesto = values •We need to generate business value. •These values might help or might not help.

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Where is the Business Value? …better ways of developing software… Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan

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Principles Behind Agile Manifesto •Principle: Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software. •Satisfy the customer: •Valuable software: This might be business value! •Who is the customer? •Why “satisfy”?

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Principles Behind Agile Manifesto •Principle: Working software is the primary measure of progress. •No. •Business value is the primary measure of progress. •If you implement the wrong features, there is no value in working software.

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Principles Behind Agile Manifesto •Principle: … Sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely. •No. •Sustainability only provides business value if the project runs for long enough. •If there is a hard deadline, sustainability becomes a secondary goal.

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You are two months late! The business opportunity is gone. Yes, but we can go on like this indefinitely. /o\ The project has been stopped, you know?

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Principles Behind Agile Manifesto •Principle: Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility. •Low quality can kill you. •But: Technical excellence is expensive. •Can’t achieve excellence everywhere.

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You are two months late! The business opportunity is gone. It took that time to build technical excellence! /o\ The project has been stopped, you know?

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Principles Behind Agile Manifesto •Won’t discuss the other eight. •Still no strong focus on business value •Economic evolution is based on business value. •If the business value is unclear, why do you expect Agile to become predominant?

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Agile Manifesto •Agile manifesto makes projects probably more fun. •Agile manifesto makes projects more human. •I’d rather work in such a project. •It is not necessarily focused on business value, though. •How would you get management interested then? •We should be explicit about the difference!

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Agile Manifesto •Of course, the Agile Manifesto is no law. •But it could explain why project fail to deliver value.

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You don’t need to use Agile. Survival is optional.

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You don’t need to use Agile. Survival is optional. Is Agile’s impact so strong?

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What now?

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Competetiveness •Agile values don’t necessarily lead to a competitive advantage. •Sometimes, unagile values do (as discussed). •Exploitation •Gaming the system (e.g. fossil energy) •Too big to fail, socializing losses (e.g. bank crysis 2008) •Other unethical behavior

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Agility and Competitiveness

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Is Agile “Better”? •There is probably a process evolution. •Maybe each organization has the process that fits it best. •Who are we to judge? •Why would we force people to change their behavior?

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https://software-architektur.tv/2021/08/13/folge71.html

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https://www.heise.de/blog/Hilft-kaputte-Agilitaet-4599441.html

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Why is Agile not Predominant? •Why is Agile not dominating the world? •Possible answer: (Ethical) values over business value •Possible answer: Agile is no good fit for the organization. •No judgement, an explanation.

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Competitiveness •Actually, empowerment has positive consequences. •Toyota production system: Everyone can stop the assembly line to have a problem solved. •Foundation of agility

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Auftragstaktik (Mission-type tactics) •Set a goal to a team •Explain the goal •Let the team decide how to reach it. •This is a superior military tactic!

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https://software-architektur.tv/2022/11/04/folge141.html

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Crew Resource Management (CRM) •Aviation has clear goals: Fly to some city safety. •Lots of formal procedures (checklists etc.) •There are always multiple reasons for a crash! •But: crews fail for seemingly trivial problem. •E.g. taking off without clearance even though someone in the cockpit was unsure. •CRM tries to tackle this problem.

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Crew Resource Management (CRM) •CRM wants to fully utilize all resources. •A first officer who doesn’t speak up is not useful. •Agile: Humans are no “resources” (ethically sound). •CRM considers them “resources”. •CRM focuses on outcome. •Does CRM make the job more or less enjoyable?

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https://software-architektur.tv/2023/08/11/folge178.html

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How is this Relevant? •Aviation and Military learned lessons. •CRM and Mission-type Tactics are about effectiveness. •Clearly articulated benefits. •More fun / more human? •Related to Agile e.g. more delegation, more empowerment •Must we focus on these techniques?

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https://software-architektur.tv/2023/10/27/folge187.html

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Fixing the Organization

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Beyond Budgeting •Agile: Fixed budged is a problem. •If you can’t work with a fix budget, get rid of budgets! •https://bbrt.org/ •Take a problem (software development) …and make it a bigger problem (change how companies work)

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I Want to Develop Software •Software developer are technical people. •They want to develop software. •They probably don’t want to improve the organization. •Can you blame them?

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What about Happiness? Ethics? •I prefer happiness and ethics over money. •Business doesn’t necessarily. •You can always look for a different job! •For business success, you need to achieve business success. •Happiness and ethics might even hinder you.

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Fix Values •Introduce an agile mindset •…and agile values. •Hard •Management must live those values •Can you do anything? •YES!!!!

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Linda Rising - Fearless Change and the Unconscious Mind https://software-architektur.tv/2021/02/11/folge49.html

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Conclusion

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Conclusion •True Agility will probably never dominate. •There are other way to be more competitive. •We must be explicit about competitiveness vs happiness vs ethics •We should try to improve the situation even if we are not managers. •In IT, you can always find another job.