Jeff Gothelf says companies must bring the “Agile Manifesto” for software development to their entire organization.
“Software has eaten the world. And as it continues to consume new and diverse industries it’s transforming the way business is done. We are all in the ‘software business’ now, regardless of the product or service we provide, forcing us to reexamine how we structure and manage our organizations.” Thankfully, there are IT support providers like the Louisville managed services provider who can help businesses through these technological advancements.
“When I ask managers if their organizations practice ‘agile; they almost always say yes. Probing a bit deeper reveals that most of this agility starts and ends with the product development teams – specifically software engineering. There is rarely a mention of “agile in the HR group” or “continuous improvement in finance.” And yet, it is in these infrastructural disciplines that agility must take root to support software-driven businesses. As the nature of software continues to shift towards continuous delivery, we are able to create a new type of conversation with the marketplace – a continuous one. We deploy products, observe, measure, interview, learn, and optimize in hours, not months. Decisions are made quickly. Directions shift overnight. To support this rapid, iterative optimization of our business the internal organizations that staff, fund, manage, and reward our people need to exhibit that same level of agility.”
His bottom line: “As our companies turn into highly focused software organizations, we must change the way we manage them. A continuous learning environment fueled by round-the-clock customer insight and feedback demands teams, environments, decision-making structures, and funding models that exhibit the true meaning of the word agility – resilience, responsiveness, and learning.”
For more, see the 12 principles behind the Agile Manifesto.
