Agile is one of the most misunderstood concepts in business.
Many people think it's your gas pedal ⛽
- A way of going faster.
Instead, we should think of it as your steering wheel.
- The ability to change direction as we learn.
In a changing and exploratory environment, we learn more through action than planning alone.
Through trying things today, we will become smarter tomorrow. 🎓
This has two implications:
1. We shouldn't wait for the answers to start.
As the eloquent Maarten Dalmijn wrote earlier this week:
"Don't limit your plans to your current limited understanding of the situation."
Knowing is frequently impossible until we start,
until we learn, until we've tried.
Discovery is the benefit.
2. Adjusting course faster wins.
What use is all that learning if you can't respond to it?
There is little benefit in charging one delivery to another when you already know better from the last iteration.
The faster you respond, the sooner you're on the better path.
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Agile is not your gas pedal,
It's your steering wheel.
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PS. While agile may help you deliver faster, you're missing the entire trick if you only focus on doing more without learning from past results.
PSS Thanks to Gregor Hohpe for the post and metaphors that inspired this one.
Agile is not your gas pedal, it's your steering wheel
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