Spot A Fake Agile Team In Under 7 Minutes!

It's always been popular to tell people how they're "doing it wrong" and agile software development is just as easy to call "fake".

But in working with many teams who read these same articles, they still get lost in a sea of opinions and need a definitive answer.

So I made this short video to help you spot fake agile teams in under 7 minutes.

With this information, you'll know the truth, but may be disappointed with whether your project even benefits from agility.

There are really only two questions you need to ask!

By the end of this video, you'll be able to know in an interview whether the team you're joining is agile, call B.S. on an agile coach who misses the point, and help the people on your team work together better.

0:00 Introduction
0:17 How This Video Will Help You
0:49 Why Care About Agile?
1:19 Why Continuously Deliver Software?
2:17 Why Infrequent Releases Frustrate Customers
2:36 Misunderstanding the Minimum Viable Product
3:12 The Futility of Agile Theater
3:33 How To Know A Team Is Using Fake Agile
3:45 Question #1: How Does The Team Gather Feedback?
4:30 Question #2: How Much Is Budgeted For Change?
5:35 Why People Resist Agility

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#programming #agile #scrum

[IzzieMarinho]

If your team use "being agile" as an excuse for a chaotic environment without any kind of feedback... yeah, it is totally fake

[charlesluck]

I worked for a major securities brokerage house on Wall Street, and we were a COBOL shop. We had well over 500 programmers on staff, each dedicated to the silo of business they were working on. Why? Because the software required an intimate understanding of the business, the user requirements, and a reliable working relationship with the user community. Every team had its subject matter experts, and that knowledge was passed on to newer members of the team, which required a year or two before a programmer can speak intelligently with the users.
You can imagine the panic and chaos that ensued, a new set of geniuses in the IT department decided it would be a good idea, to retire the SMEs, and institute Agile as the next thing. It took the better part of a decade to recover from that turd of an idea, and the integrity of the systems and the confidence of the user community has never been the same.

[m.rakelinggara.]

I worked for a company that said they are agile. But had no budget to accommodate changes at all. Turns out, what they meant by agile is just the team being crunched to work overtime and weekends to meet stupid unrealistic expectations

[craftvscruft]

Continuously deliver value! Also my favorite part of the manifesto, well done.

[buckstraw]

Actually, the main reason the agile system is better is that the software development process works FAR FAR better if it is built in a spiraling manner chunk by chunk. There are several reasons for this. Most important, the developers are able to build and test the entire time which makes the overall efficiency of building the software far far more efficient. The other aspect is the part you noted which is the ability to discover the actual requirements in a natural progression. As for MVP, the nuance here is that it can mean the level of functionality that is acceptable for a company to release, i.e. one that will not tarnish the product long term but rather give everyone, including users, a nice start from which to build.

[perfectionbox]

When the team still racks up tech debt and goes through crunchy deathmarches 🤣

[endlessxaura]

That moment when you realize your software team is a fake agile team.

[tronophono]

I have heard about agile whenever i come across job applications as a requirement. Your videos are really informative, thank you.

[pnkjsrvstv]

In my last 7 years of software dev. I have experienced agile is atool set used by companies as a tool of brutal micromangement

[pvs]

Love your honest video with real life examples. Keep it up.

[jflow]

Agile. Interruptions are one of the biggest detractors to a software developers' productivity. Daily meetings is right up there.

[Mosern]

I think you hit the nail on the head with this one.

[bluescanfly]

One sign of fake agile in view is all the business agile disciplines, but none of the developer agile disciplines - no tests, no pairing opportunities etc.

[LucasPachecoF]

Dude, your channel is awesome. Thanks for the content.

[bpetrikovics]

When I hear agile, I instantly get PTSD.

[FlamingoSheriff]

your videos are really good. Clear and to the point

[thx]

Those are great questions. I have asked the first one before and never received a good answer, e.g. "If it works we don't receive any bugs.", but I think for my next new team I will dig a little deeper. Wow budget for change, that one is going to be a challenging conversation in an environment that wants fixed requirements and design up front with no scope creep, i.e. change, but I feel the team and the management are ready to hear it.

[tanglesite]

I think this was a good point to bring up, I am only a second year student, and probably may make a fool of myself here, but I do know developing. And there is a psychology inherit in most programmers, that is there is a socialization that takes place inside any group of people. Hierarchies are formed, bias' are formed, and without you even realizing it, a pecking order is established. Even among the developers, that is between the developers themselves outside tech leads, and team leads, and higher order management. This pecking order can be due to insecurities of the developers, or even lack of insecurities, impostor syndrome, etc... When this happens, the bias' of the alpha become the inevitable bias' of the team, it is a cascading effect, and as we know inheritance from waterfall is bad! I think being agile, is being open to the input of the entire team. I guess my point is, (sticking up for the new developer joining a team), being new does not necessitate inexperience. Some developers may be new to the team, but not new to development. And no one has all the answers! Agile is just as much about being flexible and open to change with respect to the project, as it should be being flexible to the input of the team; the WHOLE team, not just the dog that barks the loudest!

[NuncNuncNuncNunc]

Really you need to spot an agile organization - if the dev team is agile and making an internal product, for example, but the client group is not participating in the continuous feedback loop, the dev team's agility is moot.

Clear metrics to measure value are also useful. You could end up getting a ton of feedback but need to know what feedback is actionable and should be prioritized.

[bikinibottom]

Hi, I am just a truck driver here. I think employers are part of the reasons why there are a lot of people faking to be a professional in that field. Because every employer wants you to have 5 years of experience when you are 22 and just graduated college. There are no opportunities for entry-level practices so therefore people fake their resumes and become who or what they are not.