A 2018 Harvard Business Report which surveyed nearly 1,300 IT and business leaders indicated approximately four-fifths of respondents are “using Agile in some form” to accomplish principal business functions, and three-quarters are “embracing agile ways” (Panditi, 2018). However, ensuring Agile is implemented consistently is another matter. These same respondents, self-reported their implementation consistency was less than 20%. Within DoD, the ability to develop software rapidly is critical because “cyber warfare … has become at least as important as physical fighting” (Denning, 2019). The impact of the disparity in operations between teams who use Agile and those who do not pose technical risk to organizations which do not bridge the operational divide.
In early 2020, the author led the rapid development of an integrated knowledge management system with software engineers using DevOp and Agile practices. The subject matter experts who would use the system did not have Agile experience, but their engagement with the development team was vital to the success of the end product.
One method to improve our skills within the workplace is transfer. Tishman, et al., (1995) define transfer as occurring whenever we “carry over knowledge skills, strategies or disposition from one context to another.” For members of the workforce who have become highly skilled operating a hierarchical or waterfall environments, this creates a big problem. So few of the Agile and non-Agile practices map to each other very well. Not only are previously successful skills no longer useful, the method by which we have learned in the past won’t help as one tries to become proficient in an Agile environment.
This paper presents the methods by which the author used an Agile development project as a vehicle for non-Agile practitioners to develop an Agile mindset. Ways to scale this technique within the broader workforce are also provided.