This document summarizes the key findings from a 2016 state of the union on agile presented by Steve Nunziata. It finds that while scrum remains popular, other early agile methods have lost audience. Agile continues to evolve with new hybrid approaches and an increased focus on scaling for large organizations. Barriers to adoption like resistance to change and organizational culture issues persist. There is a need to focus more on agile principles rather than processes. Lean thinking, iterative delivery, and aligning with values like the agile manifesto are emphasized as core to agile approaches going forward.

1. Agile 2016 State of the Union:
Principles over Process
STEVE NUNZIATA, PMP, ACP, CSM, CSP, SAFE SPC
ENTERPRISE AGILE COACH
JUNE 28TH, 2016

2. About Steve…
1990 - 2005 2006 - 2016

3. 15 Years On…

4. 10 Years On…

5. What Have We Learned?

6. Where Are We Headed?

7. What is Driving the Evolution of Agile?

8. Company Size (Software Department)
 2006 through 2008 = Only 30% of
respondents had software development
shops larger than 250 people.
 2012, 75% of respondents were in
shops of less than 500 people.
 By 2015, 24% of respondents were in
organizations of 20,000+ people, with IT
shops of at least 5,000 people.

9. Agile Methods – Early Approaches
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Percentage
Early Agile Methods
Scrum
XP
Scrum/XP Hybrid
DSDM

10. Early Days…

11. Agile Methods – Evolving Approaches
0%
9%
5% 5% 5%
9% 9%
10%
8% 8%
0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
3%
4%
5% 5% 5%
0% 0% 0% 0%
3% 3%
7% 7%
6%
7%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Percentage
Evolving Methods
Custom Kanban Scrumban

12. Impediments to Further Adoption
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Resistance to Change Customer Collaboration Management Support Organizational Culture Ability to Scale

13. Scaling Methods
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
2014 2015
Scrum/SoS Internal Methods SAFe Lean Mgmt DAD LeSS RAGE

14. While We’re on the Subject…
Why is
this SO
HARD?

15. What We Have Learned
 Scrum is remarkably resilient, even in Scale
 Other “Gen 1” Agile approaches have lost their
initial audience
 Agile methods continue to evolve, scale, and
morph into new entities (“Leanban”)?
Traditional barriers to adoption have not been
broken
 The Agile movement is increasingly driven by
larger companies

16. Where We Are Headed
 From ‘OSFA’ to Tailored Methods
 Continued growth and innovation in the
Agile @ Scale domain
 A clear need for Principle driven behaviors,
evolving away from ‘what the book says’
 Scrum skills are still in demand

17. What is Driving the Evolution of Agile?

18. What is the Key to Success with Agile?

19. Lean Thinking
“Scrum, XP, and Kanban
can be considered as
partial manifestations of
Lean.”
Al Shalloway

20. Cornerstone of Agility – Lean Principles
1. Eliminate Waste
2. Amplify Learning
3. Decide as Late as Possible
4. Deliver as Fast as Possible
5. Empower the Team
6. Build Integrity in
7. See the Whole

21. Core Lean Principles - Defined
Eliminate Waste
Amplify Learning

22. Lean Principle – Eliminate Waste
Incomplete Work
Task Switching
Defects

23. Lean Principle – Amplify Learning
Idea
Build
Measure
Learn

24. Small Batches to Amplify Learning
Reduces Risk & Variability
Shortens Cycle Time – Market & Feedback
Problems are Instantly Localized
Increased Quality – Less Defects

25. Large Batches – Infrequent Learning
Months 1-3
Months 7-9
Months 4-6
Months 10-12

26. Agile Defined
1) ‘Agile’ is a term that represents a
family of Principle driven, Adaptive
Frameworks (a.k.a. ‘Methods’).

27. Agile Defined
Image: Henrik Kniberg (http://blog.crisp.se/author/henrikkniberg)
Agile Methods are
Inherently Incomplete

28. Recipe for Success with Agile
1. Understand Context
2. Choose an Agile Method
3. Augment as Necessary
4. Test, Learn, Adjust

29. Agile Defined
1) ‘Agile’ is a term that represents a
family of Principle driven, Adaptive
Frameworks (a.k.a. ‘Methods’).
2) Agile is characterized by Iterative
and Incremental build and delivery, in
adherence with Lean Principles.

30. Iterative & Incremental

31. The Scrum Cycle
Small Batch of
Software
Small Batch of
Information• Minimize Waste
• Amplify Learning

32. Agile – Keep a Lean Perspective!
• Scrum, Extreme Programming (XP), Kanban, and
other Agile Methods can be considered as partial
manifestations of Lean.
• Each Agile method has constructs (ceremonies,
roles, processes) aligned closely to Lean Principles.

33. Agile Defined
1) ‘Agile’ is a term that represents a
family of Principle driven, Adaptive
Frameworks (a.k.a. ‘Methods’).
2) Agile is characterized by Iterative and
Incremental build and delivery, in
adherence with Lean Principles.
3) Agile methods also ascribe to the
values formalized in the Agile Manifesto.

34. Agile Defined

35. Quick Test - Quotes from ‘The Field’
“We have our Daily Standup every Friday.”
“We demonstrate our work every two weeks,
just without the primary customer.”
“No, really, the project was 90% complete last week.
Now we’re about 60% complete.”
“Our first Sprint was Analysis, our second Sprint
was Design... We hope to Code in our third.”

36. Questions?