In recent times, Agile and Scrum have been attracted as game-changers in project management, but the reality often falls short. A significant amount of resources have been wasted on these methodologies with questionable returns. We see individuals in large companies engaging in repetitive tasks, using buzzwords, and getting lost in endless meetings. This has led to frustration among many skilled software engineers, pushing them to leave their jobs, and feeling constrained and not utilized.
This situation brings to mind common defenses like “It’s not the system, it’s the context,” or “The system is perfect; it’s the people who are failing it.” These arguments miss the point and sound the underlying issues with Agile.
Perhaps it’s time to revisit the foundational principles of software development we did a decade ago, back then, we aimed outcome of the product.
This goal should be the driving force behind any team’s efforts. Under the context of Agile, many managers have lost vision of this objective, focusing more on processes than results.
The real nature of agility is behavior-driven, particularly by the behaviors of leaders. Yet, this is where the Agile Manifesto falls short. It lacks governance provisions and fails to set a clear direction or end goal, leading to a blur between flexibility and agility.
For Agile to work, we need leaders who understand what it means to be agile. They should help their teams work towards clear goals and make sure they finish projects. It’s more than just following a method; it’s about leading with a purpose.
In software development, there’s a common misunderstanding about what it means to be agile. Often, agility is seen as planning and delivering features efficiently. While this perspective holds some truth, it overlooks a crucial aspect: the importance of software architecture, especially in managing non-functional requirements (NFRs) like extendability, scalability, reliability, and security.
Agile teams tend to focus on immediate feature development and delivery, sometimes ignoring architectural best practices. Key principles like extendibility, scalability, and security can get sidelined in the rush to roll out new features.
This approach can lead to significant problems:
- Short-Term Focus Over Long-Term Vision: In the pursuit of rapid feature deployment, there’s a risk of neglecting long-term architectural integrity. This can lead to a fragile system that doesn’t scale well or can’t be easily maintained or extended.
- Compromised Quality and Security: When the emphasis is on quick delivery, important aspects like code quality, system security, and performance can be compromised, leading to potential vulnerabilities and inefficiencies.
- Fragmented Codebase and Repositories: Agile teams working in silos on different features can lead to a disjointed codebase with multiple repositories. This fragmentation makes it challenging to have a clear view of the overall project and maintain consistency across the system.
- Technical Debt Accumulation: Quick fixes and workarounds for immediate feature delivery can accumulate technical debt. Over time, this makes the system more complex and harder to change or update, increasing maintenance costs and reducing system reliability.
To address these issues, it’s essential to integrate architectural thinking into the Agile process:
- Architectural Runway: Maintain an architectural runway that supports the implementation of current and future business functionalities. This involves laying down a foundational structure that can support both immediate and long-term needs.
- Continuous Refactoring: Regularly refactor the code to improve its structure and maintainability, ensuring that the system remains robust and adaptable.
- Balanced Feature Development and Architecture: Encourage a balance between feature development and architectural robustness. Ensure that each sprint or iteration includes time for addressing architectural concerns.
- Collaborative Approach: Encourage collaboration between developers, architects, and stakeholders. This ensures that architectural decisions align with business needs and the overall vision of the product.
By realigning Agile practices to include a focus on robust software architecture, organizations can create systems that are not only feature-rich but also scalable, secure, and sustainable in the long run.
When you have many teams working on a software project, it’s important to remember a couple of things to make sure everyone works well together:
- Teams Need to Talk to Each Other: If different teams are working on parts that connect, they need to communicate. This way, they can make sure their parts fit together well and don’t cause problems for each other.
- Make Big Decisions Together: When teams depend on each other, they should decide on big things together. After that, each team can make their own choices on smaller stuff inside their part of the project.
- Teams Can Decide on Their Own, But Not Everything: Teams should have the freedom to make some decisions, but they should always think about how these decisions affect the whole project and other teams.
- Leaders Should Guide the Teams: The people in charge should help the teams understand that while being independent is good, working together as part of a bigger picture is also important.
- Keep Everything Working Together: All the different parts of the project must work well together. This means sometimes teams need to adjust their work so that everything fits together nicely in the end.
While Agile offers valuable tools and methodologies for software development, its effectiveness is important for a deeper understanding and implementation of its principles, particularly in terms of leadership, architectural integration, and inter-team collaboration. By addressing these areas, Agile can be more than just a methodology; it can be an encouragement for creating robust, efficient, and successful software systems.