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Being agile, not doing agile
Avanti Academy / Strategy and the future / Agile and New Ways of Working / Bitesize
Bitesize

Being agile, not doing agile

Agile principles, mindset and Scrum.

Level
Bitesize
Learning time
2 hours
Where
Agile and New Ways of Working
Price
£39

When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Read the full terms

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About this course

Overview and Outcomes.

Overview

Agile is a way of working for uncertain problems. This module traces its roots from Winston Royce's 1970 paper and Takeuchi and Nonaka's rugby image to the Agile Manifesto and the Government Digital Service, reads the Manifesto's values as cultural bets, and places delivery on a spectrum from predictive to adaptive. Cases from the NHS National Programme for IT and Birmingham City Council show the cost of learning too late. Many organisations do agile without being agile: the rituals arrive but decisions, budgets and trust stay the same. This module starts with diagnosis, using Rittel and Webber's tame and wicked problems, Snowden's Cynefin framework and the Stacey matrix, then turns to culture through Denning's three laws, McKinsey's missteps and Rigby, Elk and Berez on agility and stability. ING Netherlands is the case, read honestly. Scrum's rules are light but its discipline is demanding. Working from the Scrum Guide by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, this module covers Scrum's roots in Takeuchi and Nonaka's rugby image, the three pillars and five values, the three accountabilities, the Sprint and its events, and the three artefacts with their commitments. The FBI's Sentinel system shows what disciplined delivery did and did not contribute to a turnaround.

What you'll develop

In this Bitesize, you will develop the ability to:

  1. Explain where agile came from, including what Royce actually argued about the waterfall and how the Manifesto's four values work as cultural bets.
  2. Judge where a piece of your own work sits on the spectrum from predictive to adaptive delivery, based on how much uncertainty it contains.
  3. Apply the lessons of the NHS National Programme for IT and Birmingham's Oracle system to how you sponsor or govern uncertain work, so that learning comes early.
  4. Diagnose the kind of problem in front of you using Cynefin and the Stacey matrix before choosing a method.
  5. Distinguish being agile from agile theatre, using Denning's three laws and the signs of ritual without substance.
  6. Assess where your organisation sits between agility and stability, and judge what a proposed change would do to that balance, including its human cost.
  7. Explain how the three pillars of transparency, inspection and adaptation, supported by the five values, make Scrum's empiricism work.
  8. Describe the three accountabilities, the Sprint events and the three artefacts, including the commitment attached to each artefact.
What it covers

The Modules.

2 hours of learning.

  1. 01Foundations: What Agile Really Is, and Where It Came FromAgile is a way of working for uncertain problems. This module traces its roots from Winston Royce's 1970 paper and Takeuchi and Nonaka's rugby image to the Agile Manifesto and the Government Digital Service, reads the Manifesto's values as cultural bets, and places delivery on a spectrum from predictive to adaptive. Cases from the NHS National Programme for IT and Birmingham City Council show the cost of learning too late.40 min
  2. 02Mindset Before Method: Being Agile, Not Doing AgileMany organisations do agile without being agile: the rituals arrive but decisions, budgets and trust stay the same. This module starts with diagnosis, using Rittel and Webber's tame and wicked problems, Snowden's Cynefin framework and the Stacey matrix, then turns to culture through Denning's three laws, McKinsey's missteps and Rigby, Elk and Berez on agility and stability. ING Netherlands is the case, read honestly.40 min
  3. 03Scrum: The Framework and Its DisciplineScrum's rules are light but its discipline is demanding. Working from the Scrum Guide by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, this module covers Scrum's roots in Takeuchi and Nonaka's rugby image, the three pillars and five values, the three accountabilities, the Sprint and its events, and the three artefacts with their commitments. The FBI's Sentinel system shows what disciplined delivery did and did not contribute to a turnaround.40 min
Where it fits

Keep going.

Part of the Agile and New Ways of Working topic, also sold whole as Lighter, faster, more human.

How credit works

Go deeper, and pay only the difference

  1. You are hereBitesize, 2 hours, £39
  2. Next stepFocus, The agile mind, 3 hours 30 minutes, £69. Already own the Bitesize? You pay £30.
  3. Explore, Agile from the ground up, 6 hours, £129. Already own the Bitesize? You pay £90.
  4. The whole topicImmerse, Lighter, faster, more human, 11 hours 30 minutes, £249. Already own the Bitesize? You pay £210.

When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Prices per person. Read the full terms

Also part of: Leading with data and digital, Digital with people in charge, Built to adapt

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