Here are a few agile related articles that caught my attention for the week of January 29nd 2018.
The five trademarks of agile organizations
1. North Star embodied across the organization
2. Network of empowered teams
3. Rapid decision and learning cycles
4. Dynamic people model that ignites passion
5. Next-generation enabling technology
What Is Strategic Agility?
Operational Agility was about making a better candle, making faster horses or developing better mobile phones.
Strategic Agility is about making an electric light bulb, making the model-T automobile or developing multi-functional device
How the Testing Manifesto is going to change development
Testing throughout OVER testing at the end
Preventing bugs OVER finding bugs
Testing understanding OVER checking functionality
Building the system OVER breaking the system
Team responsibility for quality OVER tester responsibility
Can security keep pace with agile development? Why strategy is key and how to devise a smart one
«To boil this down, agile development requires a cultural transformation. We’ve all heard the phrase ‘People, Process, and Technology’, and the latter two are far easier to change than the deep rooted convictions that exist in nearly every company.»
Why IT modernization and monolithic methods cannot coexist
Suggestions for the federal government to successfully modernize its aging IT systems:
- Create autonomy in teams and architectures
- Be agile — don’t just “do” agile
- Think in terms of mission — not projects
- Build a trust-based, collaborative relationship
Yes, You Can Say Government and Agile in the Same Sentence
«Taking the lead from the private sector, governments worldwide are embracing change by adopting agile as a preferred delivery approach. Admittedly, the primary arena for agile in government is software projects, but the change is significant enough that governmental guidelines are endorsing iterative delivery.»
Bonus:
8 unusual IT interview questions and approaches: CIOs share
Not tightly related to all things agile, but since it contains interview questions that go from great to down right deceitful , I figured I’d add it anyways.
Two of the questions that I like are :
- «What technical skill have you learned outside of your work?» -Sam Elsharif, VP Development, Echoworx
- «What has become more clear to you since the last time we met?» -Steven John, CIO, AmeriPride Services
This article reminded me of 2010 a post by Vincent Tencé, «Asking powerful questions to hire right»
His «ambiguous, personal, and stressful» questions include :
- Tell me why it is more important for you to be having this conversation with us, rather than being doing something else?
- What are the things you hear yourself most often complain about in your current (or last) position?
- What have you done to change the very things you complain about?
- What would be an extraordinary accomplishment for you?
- What is the greatest contribution that you plan to make to the organization?
- What will you hold the organization accountable for?
Have a great week-end!