Unleash Product Development Power: How to Harness the Lost Power of the Agile Manifesto

Teams that make software are constantly pressured to develop new ideas and high-quality products and services. The Agile Manifesto, written in 2001, sought to revolutionize software development by providing teams with core values and principles to guide their work. If misinterpreted, the manifesto can lead to various issues. In this article, we’ll look at how to use the ideas in the Agile Manifesto to speed up product development and avoid common mistakes.

The Agile Manifesto

Top industry professionals wrote the Agile Manifesto in 2001. It has a list of core values and principles meant to help software development teams use how software works to improve development.

It moved the industry away from digital systems built, designed, and engineered as if we were still in the analog age. Before software, we had to figure out how to put the parts together with hammers, wrenches, and other hand tools by laying out all the steps ahead of time.

But now it’s a new story. Software can adapt. This means there are opportunities to reframe construction. This made it possible for teams to stop trying to plan and do every part of the project in advance. The new model is an iterative method in which we write, test, and improve code as it’s being built. So we need a new model.

Lean manufacturing took off at Toyota in the 1990s, just a few years earlier. It was a process model aimed at eliminating waste and giving customers the most value. When combining the Agile Manifesto and lean manufacturing ideas, product development teams can make high-quality software solutions faster and more efficiently.

“We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work, we have come to value:

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change by following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the things on the left more.” - Manifesto for Agile Software Development.

(2001) Unfortunately, the industry has misinterpreted the Agile Manifesto, and we have lost its essence over the last two decades. Many people now use it as an excuse to avoid vital parts of product development, which is terrible for businesses, society, and the safety of our families and loved ones because of how integral software is in our lives today.

Common Pitfalls

Mistakes today include not using standard tools or processes, not having clear documentation, or not writing systems that are easy to understand. Teams frequently cannot establish clear agreements (contracts), and even cannot think ahead and plan, which are vital to successful product development.

Suppose teams don’t understand the underlying intent of the agile model and pick the simple parts. Here, you end up with fragile companies and solutions that keep moving forward under the banner of “Agile” without realizing their potential.

• When software companies don’t use standardized tooling and don’t follow processes, they are more likely to experience various issues. These include a lack of clarity in the code, a lack of clear communication between stakeholders, lack of accurate estimates and timelines, a lack of adaptability to changing requirements, and a lack of efficiency in their workflows. Also, this can make development take longer, cost more, and cause security problems. Ultimately, it can lead to decreased customer satisfaction and customer churn.
• When companies don’t prioritize documentation or at least code that’s easy to understand (because it’s not documented or written, so it doesn’t have to be), they’re more likely to run into issues. These include difficult debugging situations and maintenance, a longer time to market, and less readable and maintainable code. It can also lead to higher development costs, slower cycles, and decreased customer satisfaction. In addition, it can lead to a lack of sustainability as the codebase becomes increasingly complex and challenging to maintain and adapt.
• There is a higher risk of miscommunication and misunderstandings when companies don’t have clear internal or customer agreements. This can lead to a lack of clarity in expectations for the software company and the customer, and an increased risk of disputes and litigation. Also, it can make it hard for the two people to trust each other, making it hard for them to work well together This can eventually cause customers to be less happy, development to take longer, and costs to go up.
• When software companies don’t use planning to manage their products and processes, they are more likely to run into problems. These include issues such as a lack of organization and coordination between teams, trouble forecasting and setting expectations, a lack of clarity in the product roadmap, and an inability to adapt to changing requirements or customer needs. This can lead to longer development cycles, higher costs, and decreased customer satisfaction. In addition, it can lead to a lack of sustainability, as the team may not keep up with the changing market needs.

For all these reasons (and more), it’s worth re-imagining the Agile Manifesto. Using the core principles as a guide, we can derive a list of the eight most important values that best represent this brilliant idea from over 20 years ago. This will assist teams in harnessing the power of the Agile Manifesto without falling into the common pitfalls of misinterpretation, allowing them to BE agile (rather than just DO agile).

The Same Ideas: Freshly framed.

Here’s a list of values that I’ve found work well for illustrating the original agile manifesto’s intent, in order of importance:

1. Serving Customers (Customer-Driven)
2. Working Products and Services
3. Adaptability (through responding to change quickly)
4. Productivity (through empowering individuals and enabling collaborations)
5. Accuracy (in setting expectations, planning, and communications)
6. Efficiency (through automation using processes and tools)
7. Sustainability (through adaptable, maintainable, high-quality, and transparent approaches, requirements, and code)
8. Clarity (in expectations, code, and requirements across stakeholders, individual contributors, and customers)

1. Customer Centricity

Software companies need to have a customer-centric value because it helps them ensure that the products and services they offer meet their customers’ needs and expectations. By putting the customer at the center of the development process, companies are better able to find and fix customer pain points, which leads to more valuable and easy-to-use products and services.

A customer-centered approach can also help the company and its customers build trust and loyalty, leading to repeat business and good word-of-mouth recommendations. This can be especially influential in a competitive software market where customers have many choices. Software companies need a customer-centered approach to understand and meet customers’ needs, earn their trust and loyalty, and grow their businesses.

2. Working Products and Services

Prioritizing working products and services is vital for software companies for several reasons:

• Business sustainability: A software company must deliver working products and services, or it cannot keep its customers and generate revenue. Therefore, by prioritizing working products and services, the company can ensure its business sustainability.
• Building trust with customers: Delivering working products and services consistently is essential for building trust with customers. A software company must deliver working products and services or risk losing the trust and loyalty of its customers.
• Reputation management: A software company’s reputation correlates to the quality of its products and services. If a company delivers non-working products or services, it will damage its reputation and find it challenging to attract new customers.
• Innovation: By prioritizing working products and services, software companies can focus on developing and improving their existing products rather than trying to innovate new products that might not work.
• Competitive advantage: Prioritizing working products and services allows software companies to gain a competitive advantage by providing high-quality, reliable products and services that meet the needs of their customers.

Software companies must put working products and services at the top of their priorities to keep their businesses going, build customer trust, protect their reputation, focus on innovation, and get an edge over their competitors.

3. Adaptability

Adaptability is essential because it lets software companies quickly respond to changes in customer needs or in the market. Because technology is changing so fast, software companies need to be able to respond quickly and effectively to changes in what their customers want and require.

Adaptability lets companies quickly add new features and technologies, which gives them an edge over their competitors. It also helps the company stay ahead of the competition and keep making money. Software companies need to respond quickly to changes in customer needs and market trends to stay competitive and successful.

4. Productivity

Productivity is vital for software companies because it makes the development process smoother. It also helps reduce costs and time to market. Software companies can speed up the development process and improve their products using tools and methods that boost productivity. Productivity also helps software companies increase their sales and profits by making it easier and faster to develop new products and services. Productivity is essential for software companies to ensure their success.

5. Accuracy

Accurate estimates and timelines are significant because they help ensure software projects stay on schedule and within budget. If a project is not thoroughly and accurately estimated, it can cause delays and cost overruns, which can be costly for the company. Accurate estimates and timelines also help the company set realistic expectations for its customers, which helps build trust. It also lets the company track the progress of its projects and change its strategy as needed.

But accuracy is not precision. What if you could still get all the advantages of planning without getting bogged down by detail (like with a waterfall project)? At the very least, it would mean a brilliant competitive advantage over most companies today.

Confusing precision with accuracy is a massive pitfall for most teams, and they incorrectly exclaim, “Planning is not Agile!”. For successful software development, you need to plan and make accurate (but not precise) estimates and timelines.

BTW: If you want to know how, reach out to us at Truth Shield; we’d love to help.

6. Efficiency

Software companies need to be efficient because it helps them cut costs and get their products to market faster. By utilizing efficient processes and tools, software companies can streamline their development process and improve the quality of products. Efficiency also allows software companies to develop new products and services more cost-effectively. Efficiency is essential for software companies to remain competitive.

7. Sustainability

Sustainability is important for software companies because it ensures that their products and services are easy to maintain, flexible, and high-quality. Using sustainable processes and tools, software companies can ensure that their products and services are high quality, easy to maintain, and flexible. This helps them stay competitive in the market and ensures that their products and services meet the needs of their customers.

8. Clarity

Clarity is vital for software companies because it helps ensure all stakeholders, individual contributors, and customers understand the product and its needs. Transparency also helps software companies stay profitable by lowering the chance of miscommunication and misunderstandings, which can lead to costly delays, extra work, and unhappy customers. Clarity is essential for software companies to ensure their success.

Summary

In conclusion, the Agile Manifesto is a set of core values and principles that help software development teams move away from a time of digital systems engineered and designed as if we were still in an analog age.

In the last 20 years, significant misunderstandings have led to several problems. To avoid these issues, it’s worth reimagining the Agile Manifesto as a prioritized list of eight critical values. Some of these are serving customers, ensuring products and services work, being flexible, productive, accurate, efficient, long-lasting, and clear. By putting these values first, software companies can ensure their businesses will last, build customer trust, protect their reputation, focus on innovation, and get an edge over their competitors.

Warm regards, Matt

What if there were a way to ensure your software company would last and be as flexible as possible? Would it be beneficial to see measurable improvements in your teams’ product development proficiency without falling victim to today’s hidden agile process pitfalls, even if you don’t have the time or expertise to build reliable practices from the ground up?

The Truth Shield hybrid product acceleration system can help you speed up the development and deployment of products and features in a simple and effective way. We help you by establishing, tracking, and aligning your product development KPIs with the values in the Agile Manifesto, without the risk of sending your team down the wrong path, without wasting time through trial and error, and without missing out on opportunities or getting crushed by competitors because you can’t adapt quickly.

With the Truth Shield hybrid product acceleration system, you’ll get the information you need to drive your business forward without blindly moving forward without knowing delivery dates or costs. Keep your software projects on track by ensuring your business is agile.

Reach out to see how the Truth Shield hybrid product acceleration system makes your software development more robust, streamlined, and easier to run.