Excellent Agile practitioners are masters of self-deception. By delving deep into the mysteries of the Agile Way and acquiring strange new spells and bizarre incantations, they train themselves to fool themselves. They are often able, by sheer willpower, to control the flow of time. You too can master the Art of Willful Delusion. It is not enough to memorize the Tome of Estimation Techniques. Travailing the Infinitude of Methodologies will not alone aid your cause. Neither will contemplating the Solid Manifold of Design Patterns bring you solace. You must first learn to deceive yourself. Young apprentices, thinking themselves masters, often apply the basic principles of Willful Delusion without guidance or clarity, wreaking great havoc. Some even ridicule or deny the necessity of the Art. Do not be a fool. Join us as we reveal the secret foundation upon which stand the Tome, the Infinitude, the Manifold, and indeed the Way itself.

1. Noam Kfir, Consultant & Trainer
@NoamKfir, noam@kfir.cc

2.  Planning Poker, the Bucket System, Size Estimation, Story Points…
 Reach consensus collaboratively
 Prioritize
 Defer commitment
 Research, spikes and POCs
 Short feedback cycles

3.  Scrum, Kanban, Less, XP, Lean…
 Collaboration – planning, pair programming, cross-functional teams…
 Personal responsibility
 Reduce inefficiencies, eliminate waste

4.  The greatest thing since sliced bread
 Professionalism
 Design patterns, testing principles, planning techniques
 Bonini’s Paradox
 Live/executable documentation vs. comprehensive specification
 DDD – ubiquitous language and the evolving conceptual model

5.  Fight poor education rather than human nature
 Bend mental rigidity
 Embrace the Margin of Error
 Avoid “Planning Debt”

6. Noam Kfir, Consultant & Trainer
@NoamKfir, noam@kfir.cc