Disciplined Agile

As you have likely heard, the Project Management Institute (PMI) has purchased Disciplined Agile (DA).  Since the announcement we’ve received  a very large number of congratulatory messages (thank you for that!) and quite a few queries around where we’re going with all of this.  We’ve decided to start this FAQ to address the common queries that we’re getting.  This FAQ will evolve over the next few weeks as we receive queries as well as when our answers themselves evolve.

We address the following questions in this FAQ:

• Why did you do this?
• Are Scott and Mark sticking around?
• How do you see the certified partner program changing?
• How does this affect my current certification(s)?
• Should I still be moving forward on a new certification?
• Where are you going with the DA toolkit?
• Will DADay2019 be affected?
• Will the next update to the PMP exam cover DA?
• Is there a conspiracy?

Why did you do this?

We want to bring Disciplined Agile (DA) to the next level and we need a partner to do this.

For years we have pointed to PMI as a respectable organization that has done  a very good job at educating and certifying their membership in their body of knowledge (BoK) in a disciplined way.  We like to think that Disciplined Agile has done something similar albeit on a smaller scale.

As a small Canadian company, DA has grown quickly and organically, but not as fast as its potential.  With the PMI acquisition, we have immediate reach into thousands of companies around the world that will appreciate DA’s agnostic, pragmatic, and context-based approach to enterprise agility.

Regardless of traditional or agile approaches, project or product, PMI now has guidance to help organizations and teams be more successful.

You might find that the Quick Podcast on PMI’s Disciplined Agile Acquisition to be an interesting thing to listen to.

Are Scott and Mark sticking around?

Yes!

We’re looking forward to working with PMI for many years to come to evolve and make Disciplined Agile (DA) even more successful in the marketplace.  The short story is that the two of us are continuing in our existing roles, albeit with significant help to do so now. Mark will be the Vice President of Disciplined Agile and I will be Vice President and Chief Scientist of Disciplined Agile.

Since we now work for a not-for-profit organization, we will however be cutting back on the consulting services that we provided in the past.  We will still be in the field as we continue to learn from agile organizations about what ways of work are effective in different contexts, but our key focus will be on enhancing the DA content, and supporting and growing our membership and partners.

How do you see the Certified Partner program changing?

It will continue to expand.

We see a huge demand for DA Certified agilists and Partners.  In fact, even prior to this acquisition we are getting an increased level of inquiries into how to find local partners and certified DA practitioners and coaches to help roll out DA.  Given that we will  be cutting back on these services we are already handing customer leads to existing partners.  If you are a services company we recommend that you look into the partner program.

We will also certify more DA instructors and are introducing a train-the-trainer program.  The requirement will be that you are a CDAC with significant teaching experience.

How does this affect my current certification(s)?

It doesn’t.

All existing certifications will be fully supported going forward.  We will be enhancing the program in the future, all for the better.  As you know, both DA and PMI have always believed that certifications should be earned and they should be meaningful.  That isn’t going to change.

Should I still be moving forward on a new certification?

Yes.

Please see above. The DA certifications build upon one another, so if you’re in the process of moving to CDAP from CDA, or CDAI/CDAC from CDAP, then please continue working on doing so.

Where are you going with the DA toolkit?

We’re going to get back to you on this.

What we can tell you now is that we will accelerate a few changes that were already on the roadmap, improve the consumability of the toolkit, and flesh out the toolkit even further.  Having the resources of the PMI behind us will be very good for DA itself.

We are certainly going to continue with our pragmatic and agnostic approach to helping you to choose your way of working (WoW).  From the very beginning the DA toolkit put practices and strategies from a wide range of sources, including agile, lean, and traditional sources.  Contrary to what the purists may want you to believe, there are great ideas for improving your WoW coming out of all of the various “camps,” not just the agile camp.  The aim of the DA toolkit is to help you to better understand your options.

Will DADay2019 be affected?

DADay2019 will not be affected at all.

The only potential change is the content that we will share to kick off the event.  Our plan was always to give you an update around where we are and where we’re heading.  With PMI behind us now our timelines are accelerating.

Will the Next PMP Exam Update Cover Disciplined Agile?

No.

The next update for the PMP exam is scheduled for December 2019.  The questions have been baselined already.

Is there a conspiracy?

No, but that’s exactly what you’d expect us to say, isn’t it?  Bwa ha ha ha ha!

Seriously though, we have seen a few postings online about how this is all some sort of nefarious plot.  Don’t get us wrong, we love conspiracy theories (particularly Scott) and we’d love to hear what you’ve got.  BUT we’re going to ask you to up your game because as you know all good conspiracy theories involve one or more of Area 51, The Illuminati, Sasquatch, a secret dark government agency, the 1%, or Vladimir Putin.  So we’re looking forward to any theories you may want to share – which is probably all part of our overall strategy to distract you from what we’re really plotting.

– Scott Ambler and Mark Lines

We are excited to announce that the Project Management Institute (PMI) has acquired Disciplined Agile.  The official announcement is posted here. In the coming weeks we will have more information for you, so please stay tuned!

Security is one of the process blades of Disciplined DevOps. The focus of the Security process blade is to describe how to protect your organization from both information/virtual and physical threats. This includes procedures for security governance, identity and access management, vulnerability management, security policy management, incident response, and vulnerability management. As you would expect these policies will affect your organization’s strategies around change management, disaster recovery and business continuity, solution delivery, and vendor management. For security to be effective it has to be a fundamental aspect of your organizational culture.

The following process goal diagram overviews the potential activities associated with disciplined agile security. These activities are performed by, or at least supported by, your security (often called an information security or infosec) team.

Figure 1. The Security process goal diagram (click to enlarge).

The process factors that you need to consider for implementing effective security are:

1. Ensure security readiness. How do you ensure that your environment has been built to withstand the evolving security threats that you face?  
2. Enable security awareness. How do you help your staff to become knowledgeable about security threats, how to avoid attacks, and how to deal with them when they occur?
3. Monitor security. How do you identify when you are under attack (for most organizations the answer is constantly) and more importantly how you’re being attacked?
4. Respond to threats. When an attack occurs what will you do to address it?
5. Security physical assets. How will you protect physical assets such as buildings, vehicles, and equipment?  By implication, how will you ensure the security of your people?
6. Secure IT perimeter. How will you secure access to your IT systems?
7. Secure the network. How will you ensure the security of digital communications?
8. Secure IT endpoints. How will you secure access to devices such as phones, workstations, and other I/O devices?
9. Secure applications. How will you address security within the applications/systems of your organization?
10. Secure data. How will you ensure the validity and privacy of the data within your organization?
11. Govern security. How will you motivate, enable, and monitor security activities within your organization?

Further Reading

• The Security Process Blade
• Disciplined DevOps?

Mark Lines and I edited a special issue of the Cutter Business Journal in 2018 entitled A Disciplined Agile Approach to Business Agility which can be downloaded free of charge.  It contains several articles.

Itamae, the Agile Organization, and You by John Hogan

Hogan shares some insights on delighting customers. He argues for a customer-focused organizational structure, with Agile teams supported by Agile leadership. Hogan describes the importance of goal setting to focus on delighting customers, supported by incremental planning and delivery to do so. He works through the implications for:

1. People who face the customer. These people need to understand what customers need and then fulfill that need.
2. People who face each other. They need to identify their internal customers, collaborate with them, and bring business value to them at the lowest possible cost.
3. People who face suppliers. These people are effectively customers to that supplier and must collaborate with them as transparently as possible and should expect to be delighted.
4. People who are managers and leaders. They must be customer-focused and empower your teams.

The Agile Enterprise and the Division of Labor by Gene Callahan

Gene Callahan has some great advice for building awesome people. Beginning with the idea of the division of labor, Callahan walks us through the history of how traditional organizations find themselves as a collection of specialists who struggle to be responsive to the changing marketplace. He then examines the need for people who are generalizing specialists (people who can collaborate effectively and learn from one another).

The Necessities for Successful Enterprise Agile Transformation by Matthew Ganis and Michael Ackerbauer

This article describes how to build awesome teams. You want to be Agile (of course!) and adopt Agile practices. Awesome teams have the skills and resources to fulfill their mission and include the right mix of personalities. The authors argue that the organization is really a “team of teams” that needs a shared purpose and way of working to make the abstract concrete. According to them, awesome teams build on a common foundation based on the concept of Breakthrough Thinking/diversity of thought.

Business Agility: A Roadmap for the Digital Enterprise by Jaco Viljoen

In his discussion of the five levels of a digital business ecosystem (DBE), Jaco Viljoen explores the idea that“choice is good because context counts.” The five levels, each with its own set of capabilities that build one on top of another, are: waterfall/traditional, hybrid Agile (a combination of waterfall and Agile), regular delivery, continuous delivery, and continuous exploration. The five DBEs provide insight into which process-building blocks to apply. Viljoen also discusses using a frame- work to achieve business agility at scale.

Case Study: Linking Business Workflows and Agile User Stories in an SOA Environment by Gill Kent and Robin Harwood

Gill and Robin provide a case study about linking Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) workflows and user stories. They focus on the importance of initial modeling during what they call the Discovery phase of a digital trans-formation project. In their example, they followed a pragmatic, Agile approach to modeling the business and their host systems to gain important insight into the enterprise transformation scope and a vision of the required system change for their endeavor. This enabled them to establish a business/stakeholder vision that captured a clear scope for the following phases. With an initial technical strategy/architecture identified, the team was able to name a backlog of architecturally relevant stories, mitigating the risk of late identification of system integration requirements and the potential for significant rework. In short, a pragmatic investment in initial modeling and planning paid off in huge divi-dends for their Agile team.

The Wizard of OSS: Follow the Open Space and Sociocracy Road to Enterprise Agile Transformation by Jutta Eckstein and John Buck

The principle of enterprise awareness appears in several of the articles, and Jutta Eckstein and John Buck walk us through an enterprise-aware approach that helps optimize the process flow of value streams. The authors show how to apply “Open Space” and “Sociocracy” to support enterprise Agile transformation. Open Space is a technique where everyone is invited to put forward ideas that they’re passionate about; if there is enough interest in the idea people will get behind it and make it happen. Sociocracy is a form of democracy for use in organizations, building feedback mechanisms into the organizational structure itself that ensure every voice is heard. Both strategies promote enterprise awareness, increasing collaboration between people in what would normally be disparate parts of the organization and helping optimize flow as the situation evolves.

Core Thinking Patterns for Lean/Agile Organizations by Srinivas Garapati

This article explores important philosophies and the mindset behind Agile and Lean. He starts with the thinking patterns required to be successful and then considers the nature of an Agile organization and finishes with strategies for organizational design.

The Institution of Engineering and Technology has recently published a paper entitled An Academic Approach to Transform Organizations One Engineer at a Time by Eduardo Juarez Pineda, Rocio Aldeco-Perez, and Jose Manuel Velazquez.  The DA toolkit features in this paper so I thought you’d be interested.

Paper Abstract: