Everything I Know About Agile I Learned From...the World Cup?

Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a comprehensive project management practice. Andy always appreciates feedback and discussion on the issues raised in his articles and can be reached at [email protected]. Andy's new book Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations is now available.

  Agile  

As I write this, the World Cup is underway in Mexico, Canada and the United States. By the time that you read this, many teams’ dreams will already have been shattered for another four years.

While watching, I have been struck by the similarities between agile projects and this global sporting event. Let’s discuss…

The team

Perhaps the most obvious comparison between football (soccer to U.S. fans) and agile is the idea of the team. But when we think about the World Cup specifically, things are a little different. Unlike club football, where players are together for most of a season and get to know each other’s style and approach well, international squads usually only have a few days, or at most weeks, to come together as a cohesive unit.

All of the players selected to represent their country are highly talented, but they may not know each other well. They may be used to different styles of play, different formations, and so on. There is usually at least some criticism of the players selected for a World Cup, as the management team tries to balance skill and talent with the ability to work together—and to adapt to different roles than a player may be used to with their club.

Agile teams are no different. If you have a critically important project that needs to be delivered as well as possible, you might be tempted to find the best …

Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.