Despite what many who have met me may think, there was no lasting damage from my fall - just a scrape and resulting scab square in the middle of my forehead. Every day for the next couple of weeks when I looked in the mirror I had that scab to remind me that I shouldn't ignore my Mom's wisdom.
This philosophy repeated itself constantly through my childhood - unless you're creating mortal danger for yourself or others, a bruise or scrape were much better learning tools than words alone.
Coaching Point
You can bleat about Agile practices all you want, but there's no substitute for the team learning on their own. I've encountered numerous teams that will do the equivalent of running down the sidewalk with their hands in the pockets:
- Long Releases
- Long Iterations
- Team members that aren't co-located
- Teams that are dispersed
- Teams that are not cross-functional
- Manual-only testing
Mortal Danger
There are some parts of Agile, though, that if they aren't present or performed fall into the category of "mortal danger to yourself or others":
- Executive Support from both Business and IT management
- Product Owner Involvement, Ideally Daily
- A Backlog of work written and prioritized by the Product Owner
- Estimates performed by the people who will be doing the work
- Work in an Iteration built to "Done, Done" state
- Reflection upon the team's work via Retrospectives
You don't always have to wait for a Retrospective to point out where Agile practices can help. If the team is doing the equivalent of me running with my hands in my pockets, for example not having an automated build, let them fall on their face. Someone will eventually forget to check in something new, or will check in code that breaks everyone else. When the pain of omitting the practice is right there for the team to feel, suggest adding the practice and offer any and all help. If the team still refuses, point out that they have a scab on their forehead. If they ask what that means, tell them to ask me.
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