I have only anecdotal evidence to suggest that more software development projects are going Agile. I am not content to argue the case for or against Agile as I believe this argument is completely irrelevant, from a logical thinking perspective, as whether an organization chooses to adopt a waterfall or Agile methodologies should be based on clear criteria and thus either one of these methodologies is relevant when appropriate.
My interest in the rise of Agile is more abstract as I wish to understand the conditions that help propel a methodology into what now seems to be mainstream organizations.
Agile is a ‘young’ methodology / approach, having been introduced in various manifestations since the mid 1990′s. The formal ‘codification’ of the agile principles was only developed and released in 2001 with the publication of the Agile Manifesto.
The gradual development of ‘Agile practices’ occurred during a period of time characterized primarily by a progressive increase of Generation X in the workforce. Unlike the Baby Boomers, Gen Xers have been characterized as being individualistic, posses a certain dislike to micro management and are not afraid of change. It is easy to infer why it is this generation in which time a rather anti-orthodox development methodology has been created. Unlike their generational predecessors, Gen Xers were the first generation since the end of WWII willing to challenge conventional organizational wisdom, happy to open up discussions about existing processes and put a greater value on achieving job satisfaction.
The apparent increase in the level of Agile adoption in recent years seems to link perfectly with the next generational change as we witness the gradual increase of Generation Y in the workforce. Gen Yers are perfectly engineered to adopt Agile. The team centric feature of the Agile approach is perfect for a generation who grew up in a collaborative, social media driven environment. Quick and short development cycles fit perfectly into the generational need to achieve and achieve quickly. It is probably symptomatic of this generation that while posting a question few articles ago whether or not the time has come for the Agile revolution that I got a twitter answer saying “Heck yeah!”. I loved that comment because if encapsulated the excitement and energy I would expect to see in today’s emerging work force.
My final comment is purely consequential. Agile adoption will increase and with it the challenge for organizations to ensure this adoption if done for the right reasons. I wouldn’t be surprised if as a result of the growing exposure some changes will be incrementally added to the ‘methodology’ as this approach is maturing and entering centre stage.
Think about it!
Related posts:
Pingback: Shim Marom
Pingback: New PM Articles for the Week of June 13 –19 « The Practicing IT Project Manager