Gunther Lenz, a VP at BD, makes a good point in his recent LinkedIn post:
“… medical device companies must understand agile methods’ true principles and values and apply them appropriately and effectively to their software development projects. By doing so, they can reap the benefits of agile while avoiding the pitfalls of dark agile.”
Agreed – and that goes for any industry and for any process, not just agile. Blind adoption without eventual adaptation or uninformed adaptation both usually lead to problems … and the new approach then seen as a failure when the implementation of the approach was the failure.
What can succeed is a blend of adoption then adaptation. Experience in the workplace augmented with expert coaching provides the understanding of principles that training alone cannot.
This will be somewhat ironic in the case of agile. Most agile methods involve some level of autonomy and self-organization. However, to get started effectively, there will initially be less autonomy and self-organization. Full team autonomy and adaptation can be unleashed after gaining understanding.
It is a balancing act through the transition, especially for leaders.
Highly regulated areas like medical devices throw in additional complications. Misunderstanding of agile principles can create even more problems. We often have clients or training participants think agile means little planning and no documentation. In reality there is more planning and an appropriate level of documentation.
The great thing about agile approaches is that most are oriented toward adaptation. Each company can make their processes more effective and efficient … and go beyond “best practices” that guarantee less competitive advantage.
Just don’t assume that because a process appears simple that it is simple to master 😉
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