Building a bridge using an Agile approach is not a good idea for three main reasons: 1. Building a bridge requires a high degree of certainty since there is no room for error given issues of public safety. 2. Agile methods are best suited for contexts with high uncertainty where initial information is inadequate and flexibility exists to experiment. 3. Waterfall methods are more effective for projects requiring certainty where risks cannot be mitigated through experimentation.

1. SORRY, THE NEW CHAMPLAIN
BRIDGE CAN’T BE BUILT USING
AGILE
THE AGILE RISK MANAGEMENT

2. ©PyxisTechnologiesinc.
WHO AM I?
 Chief Operating Officer at Pyxis
Technologies
 Expert in Agility since 2004
 Certified trainer for Scrum.org
 Lecturer at UQAM and Sherbrooke
University
 Co-author of the book
« Choisir l’agilité »
Mathieu Boisvert
mboisvert@pyxis-tech.com
ca.linkedin.com/in/mathieuboisvert/

3. Titre sur mesure
POINTS FORTS
1
AGILITY IS NOW
INDISPENSABLE FOR
DEVELOPING PRODUCTS AND
SERVICES
Indispensable? Really?
Perhaps not always.

4. Titre sur mesure
POINTS FORTS
1
Why is
building a
bridge
using an
Agile
approach
not a good
idea?

5. Titre sur mesure
POINTS FORTS
1
A WATERFALL METHOD IS
EFFECTIVE IN CONTEXTS
THAT ARE CERTAIN AND
WHERE THERE IS NO ROOM
FOR ERROR.
When the initial information
is inadequate and the product is sufficiently
flexible to allow for experimenting, empirical
approaches such as Agile methods are most
effective.
So for which contexts are Agile methods
best suited?

6. ©PyxisTechnologiesinc.
Similar contexts
 product development
 process improvement
 designing a building using
Building Information
Modelling (BIM)
IMPLEMENTATION OF ERP :
FEASIBILITY UNCERTAINTY

7. ©PyxisTechnologiesinc.
Similar contexts
 training program
 change management
program
 redesigning a space
 hiring strategy
 writing a book
 development of a new
product
 sales strategy
MARKETING CAMPAIGN:
MARKET IMPACT UNCERTAINTY

8. ©PyxisTechnologiesinc.
Similar contexts
 research and development
 adoption of a new
technology
MY DAUGHTER’S HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT:
EXPERIENCEAND SKILL UNCERTAINTY

9. ©PyxisTechnologiesinc.
Similar contexts
 Integrating deliverables
produced by different
 individuals or teams
TEAM PROJECT: TEAM DYNAMICS UNCERTAINTY

10. Titre sur mesure
POINTS FORTS
1
AGILE OR NOT AGILE,
THAT IS THE
QUESTION
Agile approaches are not the solution to all problems.
Agile methods are highly relevant when uncertainties
cannot be verified through analysis, but rather through
experimentation.
To use or not to use an Agile method is therefore,
not a choice by default, but rather a decision that
must be made before each of our projects.