The Agile Manifesto was created over 20 years ago and is still considered a golden standard for software creation in companies, start-ups, and organizations. Unfortunately, formulaic implementations have morphed what began as a more effective approach to software creation into systemic approaches lacking in creativity and efficacy.
SUMMIT, N.J., May 6, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Influential managers and company executives are too often out of sync with the agile process, says Anthony Amos, an Agile Coach and Technical Agile Project Manager with Anthony Software Group. Amos has decades of experience collaborating with companies to deliver high-quality software and create high-performing teams.
“Too many people don’t see agile as a creative process,” says Amos. “When working with multiple departments, different personalities, perspectives, motives, and experiences, it’s difficult to get everyone on the same page. We must adapt by following and refining effective software engineering practices to extract more and more value from our efforts.”
The focus is on the customer – always. Agile advocates an outside-in process, encouraging companies to adopt practices and deliver products that customers like and want. Satisfying the customer from the onset of a project on a continuum, by welcoming changing requirements, produces an effective process for everyone.
“The thought of changing the approach [for many] is really where the problems lie,” says Amos. “What has proven successful in delivering to customers what they want, and this can lead to thinking differently about how to incorporate agile effectively.”
Amos further emphasizes that there is a need for software design to consider populations that have been ignored. “After 40 years of working in technology, I’ve seen an impact on design when you incorporate different perspectives from under-represented groups including women and diverse cultures. As an African American, I have frequently been in organizations with scores of software engineers, and only one or two were Black people. When I have hired people, I have tried and struggled to find female, Black, and Latino candidates.”
According to Career Expert, Zippia: “Among Computer Programmers, 29.8% of them are women compared to 70.2% which are men. The most common ethnicity among Computer Programmers is White, which makes up 69.4% of all Computer Programmers. Comparatively, there are 15.2% of the Asian ethnicity and 8.1% of the Hispanic or Latino ethnicity.”
Agile product development encourages incorporating different perspectives from diverse groups to create a better product, higher quality deliverable, and promote healthy customer engagement. Amos states that female influence, in particular, creates surprisingly effective differences in product design.
According to a 2018 Pew Research Social and Demographic Trends Report, “using a broad definition of the STEM workforce, women make up half (50%) of all U.S. workers in STEM occupations, though their presence varies widely across occupational clusters and educational levels. Women account for the majority of healthcare practitioners and technicians but are underrepresented in several other STEM occupational clusters, particularly in computer jobs and engineering. Black and Hispanic workers continue to be under-represented in the STEM workforce.”
Through collaborative efforts between small self-organizing, cross-functional teams that contain a blend of gender and cultural representation, organizations indirectly inject more creativity into their solutions. Software creation is an inherently problem-solving practice and formulaic approaches bind the hands of those tasked with creating solutions. “Let’s think creatively about how Agile can lead to more effective solutions that help organizations deliver better software,” notes Amos.
To learn more about the Agile, visit https://anthony-software-group.com
Media Contact
Anthony Amos, Anthony Software Group, 1 7329985072, [email protected]
SOURCE Anthony Software Group