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Andrea Laforgia
Andrea Laforgia

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Don't do Agile - be agile.

Cargo culting is defined as "an approach that copies an existing successful approach without properly analysing and understanding it."

I've seen way too many places cargo-culting Agile and ending up in what is normally called "Agile Theatre".

If you are just starting with Agile, or going through a transformation from Waterfall, be as little dogmatic as possible about which approach to follow.

Be careful about involving experienced, long-time Agile practitioners into an inexperienced team.

Don't let experts impose rules (or, even worse, "ceremonies") that nobody fully understands.

Teach your team what being agile really means, instead: what advantages and what disadvantages.

Start simple; then increase complexity if and when the team is ready to digest it.

Remember: there's no obligation to adopt Scrum. There's no obligation to adopt Kanban. Just let whatever works in your place mature as a process - don't even give it a name. Stick to whatever way of working enables you to be truly agile and produce the value you want and need.

Beware of Agile - be agile instead.

Remember that those big Agile gurus out there, who keep writing books and selling courses, have a vested interest in promoting Scrum or Kanban, or whatever other Agile paradigms. They have often set up a company that makes money off that. Not all of them are malicious but, ultimately, they don't care about what's best for you; they care about what's best for them.

Abandon the word "ceremonies".

Ditch estimates if you can: http://noestimates.org/blog/

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