SidesWays Blog

Have you done Agile is a common interview question these days if you're applying for a position related to software development. A few quick thoughts: When C++ came along many of its features formalized practices that skilled C programmers were using already. For example: encapsulation. Of course C++ introduced many new concepts. Similarly, Agile (however you define it) formalizes some practices that development groups had been using before the term Agile was coined and added more. For example, timeboxing of releases was a common practice at Dolphin (1984-2005). The concept of a daily build was in use at Microsoft as described in the book ShowStopper (Windows NT development). Zero defect milestones were described by Jim McCarthy in The Dynamics of Software Development . Pair programming was around before XP was coined. The point is that Agile builds on the past and many of us have done Pre-Agile in various forms and should use this experience to adapt to Agile in whatever form...

For my Project Management Certificate at Rutgers I read and wrote a summary for Agile Project Management with Scrum by Ken Schwaber. The PMBOK Guide was the curriculum for the certificate course and I wanted to read up on Agile since we'd already been using some Agile-like procedures at Dolphin (1984-2005) developing software for educational publishers. The Project Management Institute (PMI) is in the process of adding an Agile credential and I would bet Agile will start to appear in future PMBOK Guide editions. Here is the book summary: Summary The book provides an overview of Scrum including the roles of project participants and the tools and techniques used. The author then tells a series of stories about successes and failures in organizations where he consulted on Scrum projects. I found the book to be a valuable contrast to the process heavy PMBOK curriculum that is the heart of the Project Management Course. I discuss at the end of this sum...