No Training Wheels...

Recently I had an opportunity to teach two of my children how to ride their bike without training wheels. Go ahead, call me the official 'Agile Nerd', but as I taught them this basic right of passage over the course of several sessions I learned a lot about how Agile Teams learn and adhere to basic principles.

This adventure started a couple of years ago when we bought them each their very own bike (with training wheels of course). I liken this to the Director or Manager within the organization who decides to implement basic Agile Principles. The manufacturer adjusts the training wheels to be firmly planted on the ground while riding allowing the child to feel a sense of security and accomplishment as they learn the basic principles of how riding a bicycle really works. Beginning Agile teams need to feel this same sense of security.

With the training wheels still attached, I can not begin to count the number of times I got to watch my children turn the wheel to far, or over correct in an attempt to stay on the sidewalk. I liken this to a team sampling basic Agile principles within their organization. Some attempts firm up confidence and reinforce the basic principles of Agile process. Others cause the Agile bike to go freakishly out of control and flip right off course. Over time, teams realize what works best for them and they make needed adjustments.

Once the kids felt pretty confident, out came the wrench. I simply loosened the bolts and adjusted the training wheels to where they were not always touching the ground. At any given time one of the training wheels could touch the ground, but never both at the same time. Likewise, once the team has a pretty solid understanding of the basic principles, the time comes to make adjustments and fine tune. Holding a solid retrospective can help a team regain focus and point out areas where they are successful as well as areas for needed improvement. A good Agile coach or ScrumMaster can help teams press forward with increased accuracy and efficiency.

Just when the teams think they have everything perfectly under control, there is almost always a change of course. For my son it was when he was riding his bike to the park and one of his training wheels flew completely off. The metal was bent so badly there was no way to reattach the wheel in question. At first I thought this was a good thing as it would teach him to ride with only one training wheel. I soon learned otherwise as he discovered that he could lean to one side and have the stability of the single training wheel. Where I was hoping this would teach him balance, this only taught him to lean very awkwardly.

Most teams need a little boost at some point to keep them fresh and balanced. In many cases, bringing in a strong Agile trainer who has served time in the trenches with many teams over a recent period allows the team to see that they really do not need to lean on that last training wheel. This reinforcement of what works best from a mouth outside of the organization teaches a team that they can be self organizing and balanced. The trick here is that the team needs to be ready to remove the training wheels. This also means that you as an Agile manager have provided them with all of the tools they need to be successful as a team. (Collocated areas, white boards, team meeting area, effective project management tools, etc.)

Finally, the moment of truth arrives. My son came to me and asked for me to take the training wheels off all together. I have to admit I was more scared than he was as I thought he may need more time to practice prior to this noteworthy occasion. Upon his insistence that he was ready I obliged and removed the training wheels all together. I in the role of manager needed to realize that letting go of the reigns did not mean I was losing control, it meant I was empowering a team of amazing individuals to achieve their maximum potential.

It took a few hard falls, many scrapes and cuts and just shy of pint of blood for him to finally get the concept, but he did it! I watched him take off across the parking lot and tears filled my eyes as I heard him emphatically proclaim "I did it! Daddy Look at me! I am riding my bike!" I remember having this very same feeling (yes, for the record I did have tears in my eyes), when I sat in my very first retrospective where the team completed 100% of what they committed to. I watched the team stroll into the room with their heads up high. The high fives were flying. The team was giving all of the credit to each other for the success. And it was that moment when the team realized and proclaimed "We did it! Look at us! We have mastered this iteration and applied Agile principles. We did it as a team!" All I was left to do was look on with tear filled eyes and say congratulations on a job well done!

Needless to say, once sister got a load of brother riding fast, confident, and strong without his training wheels, out came the wrench again, this time to remove hers. A team that is successful in their implementation of Agile often serves as an example to other Agile teams on ways they can make adjustments where needed to help them achieve success.

We can all master riding our Agile bicycle if we focus on the foundation that allows us to remember and apply the principles that got us to our initial successful iteration. This may require us to take the bike to the shop for a tune-up, but we all know the fact is once you learn to successfully learn to ride the bike without training wheels, it is a practice that you will remember your entire life.

- The above excerpt was taken from Agile Dad which is scheduled for publication and release in early 2008