The street where I live
Major arterial. No cars.
Brooklyn without without cars
Blizzard in Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Early evening, several hours into the storm in Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Late night, several hours into the storm in Fort Greene, Brooklyn
The morning after the storm in Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Interesting ride home tonight
Three high school boys sit across the way talking about girls.
Two women sit beside me talking about men.
I’m only riding four stops.
The boys talk about X who has the ball in his court and doesn’t act.
The women talk about the boyfriend who has the ring but hasn’t proposed.
The boys have lost all respect for X.
The woman’s boyfriend is waiting until he’s ready.
The girl is obviously interested. Waste.
Still for some reason he’s told his parents and they want him to propose over the holidays. No pressure.
The boys go to school in Manhattan but a couple of them live in Brooklyn.
One of the women is staying on the train tonight, she has a sister who lives in Carol Gardens.
Where?
Have you heard of the music club by Union?
On court street. Near the movie theater.
And the Tiki bar. Great restaurants too.
By the bookstore?
What about the one that got 2 Michelin Stars? Can you walk up?
Not that one. That’s near Atlantic.
No, probably need a reservation.
The smaller one. Closer to Carol Gardens.
But the food really is excellent there. Expensive.
West 4th. Transfer to the B-D-M and the A-C-E on the upper platform…
Blogging about work
I am a practitioner – not a consultant or trainer. My job is about execution.
What I grapple with day to day is specific to my workplace.
I am also an executive manager.
And so those challenges tend to be about people and teams.
So what of that is suitable for discussing in a public forum?
I cannot discuss our strategies and projects.
I need to respect co-workers privacy.
My success requires trust and credibility I earn as much by what I don’t say as what I do.
Finally, my opinions are packed in the baggage of my own limitations.
All this to say, I find it hard to take on the challenges of my work and write about it at the same time.
Why do some Agile projects succeed while others fail? Is it the company? Is it Agile methods?
My response to the question:
Why some Agile projects succeed while others fail? Is the reason of that in the company itself or is there something wrong with Agile methods?
What is success and what is failure in this question?
Agile is a set of human values embodied in a wide array of practices. To call it a tool is to dismiss the tenacity, honesty, courage, empathy, trust, generosity, pride, discipline, respect and loyalty that inspire the practices and that explain why those practices can change people and organizations.
But being Agile is also fundamentally about specifics. What is the best adaptation of a set of disciplined practices for a specific team in a specific context to achieve a specific goal? How to evolve those practices day by day, acknowledging our shortcomings and our immediate obstacles, working to our specific strengths as individuals and as a team.
The definition of success is critical. If it is undefined, unachievable, subject to forces outside of the efforts of the team, or subjective in the eyes of people who don’t participate in the project then success or failure is arbitrary. Outside the scope of the participants.
In many cases, failing fast, failing decisively is a kind of success in that no amount of additional expense ensures meeting subjective, arbitrary or external measures and, at the end of the day, even meeting those measures doesn’t necessarily benefit customers and end users.
Completely understandable though why human beings who value material means, family and interests outside of the workplace would opt for the long, slow ambiguity over short, concise defeat. Besides there’s always the hope that time will allow for the change that makes success possible. This is the constant tension in inspecting and adapting – in any given situation is it better to shove, nudge or work around an impediment.
That said, even a smart project with a great team and a perceptive product owner can fail in the marketplace, or fail to impress funders, or fail to fit in the corporate culture, etc. etc.
So, Agile projects can fail as all human endeavors can fail. They fail because the participants call whatever crap they happen to be doing “Agile”. They fail because a team doesn’t adapt fast enough or because they try to force change too fast. They fail because a great team is working for a bad product owner. They fail because a great team and product owner are building the wrong product or the right product for the wrong company or at the wrong time or in the wrong place.
Provide a specific example and you can get specific answers. Provide a generic question and the answer is, “Yes, all of the above.”