We're not into managers who do yoga. But there are two other ways to think of Agile Management.
1. If you're in software development, then you are surrounded by (if not submerged in) people practicing Scrum, XP, RUP or one of the other frameworks for Agile Software Development, so you can find a community of like-minded developers. How does management fit into the picture?The Agile Manifesto http://www.agilemanifesto.org says we value people and interactions over processes and tools.
So the first way of thinking about Agile Management is: we are figuring out how to apply the Agile principles to actually managing a collection of software development teams. This immediately brings up a dilemma. Agile principles emerged from a bottom-up approach which says to management, " We are developers, we can manage ourselves if you let us, the job of our manager is to defend the team and the team's working space. Go and remove impediments. Stay out of our way."
But what about the manager? How does the manager role get filled and the person in the role get fulfilled? Is she a former developer who sacrificed herself to become a full-time non-developer? Or a project manager who now has to learn how to let go of control? Or even a founding software guru who is now running the whole company?
I believe we're interested in all of these questions. And we want practical tips on dealing with real-world problems that come along with an Agile development.
2. If you've been a manager (or Director, or VP) for a while, you have probably discovered that many people regard management as an honorable profession. Americans have been good at more than firmware and pizza (à la Snow Crash) -- they've led in modern management as well.
So the second way of thinking about Agile Management is: how can we apply the principles of the Agile Manifesto to general management? Customer Collaboration and Responding to Change sound like good principles across the board. Can we develop a set of guidelines for managers that establish a more agile approach to the broad challenges of management? Is there something like Iterative Management (something like The One-Minute Manager)? A way of managing that feels as responsive and adaptive as Scrum?
I invite you to join in this discussion wherever it goes.
______________________________________________
John Levy, PhD http://johnlevyconsulting.com
Managing product development for speed and innovation
1. If you're in software development, then you are surrounded by (if not submerged in) people practicing Scrum, XP, RUP or one of the other frameworks for Agile Software Development, so you can find a community of like-minded developers. How does management fit into the picture?The Agile Manifesto http://www.agilemanifesto.org says we value people and interactions over processes and tools.
So the first way of thinking about Agile Management is: we are figuring out how to apply the Agile principles to actually managing a collection of software development teams. This immediately brings up a dilemma. Agile principles emerged from a bottom-up approach which says to management, " We are developers, we can manage ourselves if you let us, the job of our manager is to defend the team and the team's working space. Go and remove impediments. Stay out of our way."
But what about the manager? How does the manager role get filled and the person in the role get fulfilled? Is she a former developer who sacrificed herself to become a full-time non-developer? Or a project manager who now has to learn how to let go of control? Or even a founding software guru who is now running the whole company?
I believe we're interested in all of these questions. And we want practical tips on dealing with real-world problems that come along with an Agile development.
2. If you've been a manager (or Director, or VP) for a while, you have probably discovered that many people regard management as an honorable profession. Americans have been good at more than firmware and pizza (à la Snow Crash) -- they've led in modern management as well.
So the second way of thinking about Agile Management is: how can we apply the principles of the Agile Manifesto to general management? Customer Collaboration and Responding to Change sound like good principles across the board. Can we develop a set of guidelines for managers that establish a more agile approach to the broad challenges of management? Is there something like Iterative Management (something like The One-Minute Manager)? A way of managing that feels as responsive and adaptive as Scrum?
I invite you to join in this discussion wherever it goes.
______________________________________________
John Levy, PhD http://johnlevyconsulting.com
Managing product development for speed and innovation
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