I met with the Agile Influencers of DC, on Friday night. The focus of the conversations for the evening was Agile Adoption. One of the questions asked (I'm paraphrasing here) was
If you were on a project, and you could leverage just ONE "Agile" THING, what would it be and why would you choose it?
This is a little like the first episode of Surviver but it is a good exercise to make you think about what you find valuable in Agile. Would you choose the use of information radiators? Perhaps you favor retrospective meetings? Or perhaps, you love the use of cross-functional co-located teams?
When I was asked, I chose empowered teams. Look back at the Agile Manifesto and one of its principles. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
I believe if you build a team of professional and empowered people, you increase the probability of project success. Give your people some general rules to follow and have the faith they will make the right decisions. It beats the hell out of trying to control them! Empowering them also gives you more time to help them when they really need you, rather than making trivial decisions.
So, what would be the one thing you would choose? Why?
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