OMS Consulting Partners, LLC

Believe it or not, 'bad Agile' is so prevalent that the US Department of Defense has created a guide to help spot it. https://media.defense.gov/2018/Oct/09/2002049591/-1/-1/0/DIB_DETECTING_AGILE_BS_2018.10.05.PDF Excerpt: Agile is a buzzword of software development, and so all DoD software development projects are, almost by default, now declared to be “agile.” The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to DoD program executives and acquisition professionals on how to detect software projects that are really using agile development versus those that are simply waterfall or spiral development in agile clothing (“agile-scrum-fall”).  Thank you to Joshua Kerievsky for pointing this out! https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6494647379457900544/

Agile Principle #6 is about face to face communication being the most effective, here is some data/research on that topic... WABER: We have by far the largest data set on workplace interaction in the world. And what do the data say about face-to-face communication? WABER: In all of our research, that has consistently been the most predictive factor of almost any organizational outcome you can think of : performance, job satisfaction, retention, you name it. People did evolve for millions of years to interact in a face-to-face way. We are very used to small changes in facial expression, small changes in tone of voice and that’s particularly important in work contexts where high levels of trust, especially as work gets more and more complex, and the things we build and make together are more and more complex. Really having that trust and being able to convey really rich information is critical. This is an excerpt from Freakonomics podcast about the open office concept if you’d ...

Harvard Business Review has some interesting advice including traveling and reading fiction... Want to Be More Open-Minded? Open-mindedness at work — about new products, strategies, business models — is one key to success.  But how do you develop it? Research has found there are several things you can do. For one, travel, whether it’s to another country or somewhere closer to home. As you encounter ways of living that differ from the ones you know best, your brain will get better at accepting new approaches and ideas. For a cheaper option, read fiction.  https://hbr.org/2018/11/a-new-way-to-become-more-open-minded?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_campaign=mtod_activesubs_dalertnlsubs&utm_content=signinnudge&referral=00203&deliveryName=DM25002

Lots of Agile organizations utilize a more "open office" layout to enable collaboration and better communication. However, there are good open offices and bad ones, here's a Freakonomics Podcast if you'd like to learn the tips of how to do it effectively... Listen to Yes, the Open Office Is Terrible — But It Doesn’t Have to Be from Freakonomics Radio in Podcasts.  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519?mt=2&i=1000423886159