Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
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As I've mentioned in a previous post, the US government is adopting Agile even going so far as requiring the use of the method as this section of a 2010 DOD mandate stipulates:
SEC. 804. IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW ACQUISITION PROCESS FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS.
(a) New Acquisition Process Required.--The Secretary of Defense shall develop and implement a new acquisition process for information technology systems. The acquisition process developed and implemented pursuant to this subsection shall, to the extent determined appropriate by the Secretary--
(1) be based on the recommendations in chapter 6 of the March 2009 report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Department of Defense Policies and Procedures for the Acquisition of Information Technology; and
(2) be designed to include--
(A) early and continual involvement of the user;
(B) multiple, rapidly executed increments or releases of capability;
(C) early, successive prototyping to support an evolutionary approach; and
(D) a modular, open-systems approach.
... The DSB Task Force on Department of Defense Policies and Procedures for the Acquisition of Information Technology, released March 2009, found the current process for acquisition of IT ineffective, stating: `The conventional DOD acquisition process is too long and too cumbersome for the needs of the many systems that require continuous changes and upgrades.'
The cover article of the January/February issue of the Defense AT&L has been made freely available online and outlines many of the issues the DOD faces when attempting to deploy Agile practices for the contracting officer, acquisition officials, and contractors.
The diagram below highlights the inversion from the traditional approach that the author, William Broadus, maintains that is needed when adopting and deploying Agile:
I end with the conclusions set forth by the author on the challenges and barriers that must be overcome to be successful with Agile, as it is pretty much the challenges and barriers that must be overcome by any organization that wishes to succeed with Agile:
A government team must overcome significant challenges and barriers to effectively adopt Agile. These include dealing with the demands of the acquisition life cycle, assessing and addressing the composition and training needs of the team, understanding clearly the needs of the end user, effectively satisfying the needs of stakeholders related to programmatic insights, effectively integrating multiple testing approaches, as well as exercising the management and leadership necessary to drive culture change while building team trust. Agile implementation requires a significant undertaking but holds the potential for significant positive future outcomes for your team.
It will be very interesting to see if the government succeeds with Agile and if they do, then there should be no excuse for the rest of us in the private sector to succeed if such a large and bureaucratic sector like the US government could make itself more Agile!
Posted on: January 27, 2013 11:57 AM |
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