Esther Derby - Position Statement
I stated my career as a programmer. We didn’t have “Agile methods” back then—but when I look back at the projects that worked best and were most fun, we were working in ways that looked a lot like Agile.
My passion is around improving the work-life of teams-restoring pride and enjoyment to the work of building software products. Life is just too short to work on crappy projects that suck people dry and produce mediocre results. It doesn’t have to be that way. I’ve seen how Agile methods can transform teams, work environments, and business results.
That said, if we want to achieve better work life for teams, we need to focus on the organization as well as the team. Culture, policies, structure and management all affect the team’s ability to self-organize and produce valuable software. When organizational issues aren’t considered, Agile gets watered down, and misses its potential. I see this happening more and more as Agile methods become widespread.
As a member of the Agile Alliance Board, I want to consolidate what we’ve been learning about the organizational issues that come with adopting Agile methods. I want to expand the community to engage with executives and managers who are using or considering Agile methods. And I want to get the word out, so that more people know about the Agile Alliance.
A bit about me and my work: I’ve been observing software development for many years, and writing about it for the last 10 years. I’ve published nearly 100 articles and two books. My work often involves helping teams start using Scrum, then adding engineering practices, and collaboration skills. I work the managers to bridge between managing a leader-organized team and a self-organizing team.
www.estherderby.com
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