Broken Agile: Second Edition

165 Pages·2015·0.61 MB·English

by  Tim J. Brizard

BROKEN AGILE
STORIES FROM THE TRENCHES
______________
Second Edition
Tim Brizard
Broken Agile: Stories from the Trenches
Copyright © 2015 by Tim Brizard This work is subject to copyright. All rights
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ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-48421744-3
ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4842-1745-0
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This book is dedicated to all the developers that
work day in and day out to produce quality software
that delivers value to the business and makes
people’s lives better. Your long hours, dedication to
craft, and ability to get the job done despite all
challenges is a source of inspiration.
Contents
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Scale Success
Chapter 3: Communication
Chapter 4: Poor Foundations
Chapter 5: Long-Run Plan for Success
Chapter 6: Adjusting in Time
Chapter 7: Sending the Wrong Signals
Chapter 8: Balancing Life and Work
Chapter 9: Fake It Until You Make It
Chapter 10: Building Unity
Chapter 11: Keeping Engaged
Chapter 12: Fundamental Misunderstandings
Chapter 13: Challenges with Estimations
Chapter 14: Transparency
Chapter 15: Specifications and Testing
Chapter 16: Some Process Required
Chapter 17: Physical vs. Virtual
Chapter 18: Final Thoughts
Index
About the Author
Tim Brizard is a software engineer in Orlando, Florida. He has designed and
developed enterprise-level systems since 1997. His experience includes
architecting solutions for small and large companies alike. He started his career
using programming languages such as C, COBOL, and RPG. Later he started to
use object-oriented languages such as C++ and Java. He has a comprehensive
knowledge of object-oriented languages, distributed computing, and database
solutions. His architecture experience ranges from simple client-server to n-tier
applications. He has a passion for software delivery and teaching others about
improving the quality of software.
Acknowledgments
My completion of this book could not have been accomplished without the
support of all those that I have been fortunate enough to work with over the
years. To my loving family and great friends, your help and thoughtful support
were truly appreciated.
CHAPTER
1
Introduction
I am going to begin with a few comments about the purpose of this book and
what went into writing it.
The book is based on more than six years of working on several projects using
Agile software development methodology. These projects began at several
different companies, across several industries, and varied in size from small to
extremely large.
This volume is a set of perspectives and stories from the trenches of these Agile
projects based on my experiences as a senior software engineer, a technical lead,
and an automation engineer.
It is as much a telling of what can go wrong using Agile as it is a guide on how
to avoid land mines.
The purpose of the book is not to point out mistakes by management or others.
Rather, it is told from the standpoint of people who had to deal with decisions
made by managers and how better planning and understanding could have gone
a long way. It is definitely an opinionated view, and I do not claim here to have
all the answers. By sharing these stories and perspectives, ideally, some
development teams may be spared the headaches and frustration that I’ve seen.
Here’s a note about the format. Each chapter outlines a specific challenge and
then provides some real-life stories that illustrate these challenges. However,
these stories are not just about negative experiences. There are also some
positive stories that demonstrate how the challenges were handled well. Finally,
for each story I provide some advice on how to avoid the same pitfalls or, in the
case of positive stories, point out what can be emulated.
This is not strictly a book on Agile software development. It talks more broadly
about how management’s decisions can really hurt morale, contribute to terrible
code quality, and ultimately cause the best employees to seek opportunities
elsewhere. While knowledge of Agile software development is not a requirement