A widespread idea is that to be able to benefit from the use of Agile methodologies, we just need to start using an Agile framework. However, the idea of “plug and play” does not work with Agile methodologies.
But why don’t I have the benefits of Agile if I use Agile frameworks?
A framework works for everyone but it hardly works for anyone
On the one hand, we come from an industrial era where there was a procedure that was followed as it was dictated and the expected results were obtained. This mentality is still very prevalent in our society. But we no longer live in the industrial age, we now live in the knowledge age. And here the idea of following a process that guarantees specific results is already obsolete.
On the other hand, if we search Wikipedia for “framework” we find the following definition:
A framework is a standardized set of concepts, practices and criteriafor approaching a particular type of problem that serves as a reference for addressing and solving new problems of a similar nature.
Taking Scrum and the framework definition as a reference. If we celebrate sprint planning, daily scrum, sprint review and retrospective; assign roles and functions to the different members of the team, also having a Scrum Master, a Product Owner and implement the 3 artifacts that Scrum proposes; we do not ensure that we get the benefits of Agile.
When we talk about SAFe, the worst happens, and I say this as an SPC (SAFe Program Consultant). It is sold as a framework for moving from a Taylorist (Waterfall) organization to an Agile organization. The idea is a good one, but what people forget is that it is not just a set of recipes, tools and processes that we have to put in place. The adoption of SAFe implies other aspects, among them possibly organizational changes and, for sure, cultural changes.
Cargo cult (or cargo cult)
It is very common to find cases of “Cargo Cult” in companies. This phenomenon is explained by Marvin Harris in his book “Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches (2002)” and summarized in wikipedia:
The name cargo cults or cargo cults (many authors retain the English construction cargo cult and use the term cargo cults) designates various unconventional practices and rites that arose in several tribes of Australia and Melanesia -especially in New Guinea- as a result of their contact with Western civilization. At the origin of the cargo cults is the belief that the western manufactures – the cargo – that arrived by various means to the islands, came ultimately from divine spirits, and were destined by them for the benefit of the natives. The control of these goods, according to the belief, would have remained in the hands of the whites, who had used non-legitimate methods to do so. The position is understood as a reward that the ancestors or divinities worshipped on the islands have destined for the island.The following is a list of those who participate in a series of cults. One of the main features of cargo cults is the hope that the ancestors will one day come to deliver to the community of believers goods of much greater value.
The indigenous “cargo worshippers” believed that by simply imitating the practices they observed at American airports, they would be able to land planes flying overhead at 8,000 meters. And surely, they never understood why it didn’t work for them if they did the same as the others.
Agile occurs in Adaptive frameworks
Agile frameworks are more than a set of concepts, practices and criteria. Agile is based on values and principles that must govern all of the above, otherwise we may find ourselves simply imitating practices, like the natives of New Guinea.
Obviously, for the adoption of Agile methodologies, frameworks will be of great help. I would even say, they are very necessary. However, they are not a panacea, nor do they allow us to become Agile companies just by implementing and following them. A fixed and unchanging framework that does not improve adaptation to context and response to change goes against the principles of Agile as an adaptive method.
