Project Management

The Yin-Yang of Agile-Lean

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I thought it was interesting thatI thought it was interesting that an article in the very mainstream Huffington Post is about the application of Agile to one’s personal life.  It goes on about how to use “retrospectives” as a way to step back, stop and review where one is in life and plan forward just enough to get the highest priority items done.  This is sound advice which I think we all agree.
I thought it was interesting that an article in the very mainstream Huffington Post is about the application of Agile to one’s personal life.  It goes on about how to use “retrospectives” as a way to step back, stop and review where one is in life and plan forward just enough to get the highest priority items done.  This is sound advice which I think we all agree.
 
But one quote in particular caught my eye which is when the author Michele Serro states:
 
“Lean is a predominantly entrepreneur discipline; its aim is to build the right thing. Agile is predominantly a developer discipline; its aim is to build the thing right.”
 
In general, I think that’s a pretty good way of comparing the two methods as it puts it in the perspective of a kind of Yin-Yang relationship and accounts for why Lean has become a quite popular and growing addition to the Agile suite of methods.  Think of terms like value stream, Kaisen, Kanban, etc. in the Agile vocabulary and this is truly the case.
 
In the final analysis, what this nice little quote is indicative of is that fact that we need to see and think more about how the various Agile processes and methods complement and integrate with each other, which is a bit more Eastern approach, rather than to view these as separate and distinct concepts applicable to a specific domain, which is a more Western perspective.
 
What do you think?  Do you mainly view the complementary aspects of Agile or the distinctness of them?  Which is better?
What do you think?  Do you mainly view the complementary aspects of Agile or the distinctness of them?  Which is better? an article in the very mainstream Huffington Post is about the application of Agile to one’s personal life.  It goes on about how to use “retrospectives” as a way to step back, stop and review where one is in life and plan forward just enough to get the highest priority items done.  This is sound advice which I think we all agree.
 
But one quote in particular caught my eye which is when the author Michele Serro states:
 
“Lean is a predominantly entrepreneur discipline; its aim is to build the right thing. Agile is predominantly a developer discipline; its aim is to build the thing right.”
 
In general, I think that’s a pretty good way of comparing the two methods as it puts it in the perspective of a kind of Yin-Yang relationship and accounts for why Lean has become a quite popular and growing addition to the Agile suite of methods.  Think of terms like value stream, Kaisen, Kanban, etc. in the Agile vocabulary and this is truly the case.
 
In the final analysis, what this nice little quote is indicative of is that fact that we need to see and think more about how the various Agile processes and methods complement and integrate with each other, which is a bit more Eastern approach, rather than to view these as separate and distinct concepts applicable to a specific domain, which is a more Western perspective.
 
What do you think?  Do you mainly view the complementary aspects of Agile or the distinctness of them?  Which is better?

Posted on: August 27, 2013 11:32 AM | Permalink

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Bernard Gore Portfolio, Programme & Project Professional| NZ Police Wellington, New Zealand
I'd have to disagree with that quote - if anything I'd say the other way round.

Lean is about building efficiently - it does not necessarily make it the right thing you are building, but seeks to make sure you are reahcing the goal efficiently and effectively.

Agile on the other hand is about continually reviewing what it is you are building, accepting that the intiial knowledge of what you are building and why is never perfect, and responding agilely to the increased knowledge that comes with each iteration as to whether this thing is really useful and appropriate - and if not then stopping or compeltely changing track - I'd say that is building the right thing!

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Alaa Hussein Program Manager| MEMECS Baghdad, Iraq
Thanks for sharing

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