Friday, January 07, 2011

Agile but not stupid...

OK, the world is a better place because debate happens and exchange of opinions ... so, live and learn, or at least refine your opinions and knowledge... will be silly not to.

Anyhow, from my previous post "Before you call anyone know what needs to be done!!" I got a few comments back on email, the one I really got into was from a very good friend and ex work colleague (well, he was actually my boss, but don't remind him of that); he was following up on the research comment... 


And guess what? He was right again, research is great, but as he said "With a solid first phase of research, you got to get actioning to refine what you finally gonna get.. what you cannot do is to take a decision and be completely stuck on that till the end (without understanding the changes the new developments might bring" (my own wee little change in there)... this trigger another thread of discussion... and a very much word in the industry now... Everyone wants to be agile, Agile project management, Agile development, Agile life, Agile companies... etc etc... 


This is great don't get me wrong, action is what the world need, but hey! let's try not to be agile and stupid!... As my dearest ex-boss said, with a solid first phase of research, you got to get moving... and I agree, we need to be agile, fast, or you will end up deploying something that nobody needs any more.


So, I start thinking where to draw the line...  when should we stop research and start moving... uhhhmmm... and kept wondering... and thinking (ok, not such a clever guy after all)... and never ever got to an answer... and I think I know why, and will all depend on what you care about... Which are you ultimate goals, either they are financial stability of the company (or yourself), achieve a specific target (build a house or get petrol for you car), but that got to be the driver.


So, for example, if I need to get a new piece of software for accounting, I need to understand what am I gonna get from it in 1 year, 3 years, 5 and probably have a crazy idea of what it could become if I need to grow my company to a world class organization... So, what do I start? Well, let's see what big apps use in most cases, and what most big companies are using... will my accounting software become the ERP of the company later?, etc... you get the thought process. So, if we decide that the accounting system will grow to become the ERP, what gives me most of the options? probably keeping it on open standards, so more apps can be used to access it, and it is easier to move between vendors if need be, etc.... and even if we don't grow, keeping it open will help it use more cost effective strategies (cheaper options for the friend from the hood)... 


So there you go, another idea that escape my brain through my fingertips... Thanks to Heberto for the debate/discussion... always learning from him.


One last comment... the discussion is still ongoing, and as everything in life it goes on teaching me a bit every email... but as Seth's blog said this morning, there are risks and benefits to everything, and those should come as part of the overall selection of goals (short/mid/long term) and tools we will decide ...

No comments: