From the moment Scrum became more popular than XP, the software dev community has been focusing on frameworks more than Lean-Agile principles. It’s not surprising this has happened. It’s a lot easier to understand a framework than the principles underneath them.
The challenge that occurs is when the framework becomes the goal. They are just proxies of what we’re trying to achieve – the quick realization of value predictably, sustainably and with high quality.
We must remember that frameworks are a proxy to what’s really important. They provide a way to start & a way to see some of what we need to do. But how do we transcend them as we learn? Lean-Agile principles are, by their very nature, abstract. This is in the same way that gravity, clearly real, is abstract. We know when we drop something it’ll fall-but how fast & far & what damage it will do depends on where you are & what the object is & what it is hitting.
What’s needed is a way to see what those with expertise see & provide solutions experts would consider. This enables less experienced people make better decisions. This is the purpose of a good tool. Not to follow a framework, but to enable better decisions based on Lean-Agile principles.
Al Shalloway