What happens when agility becomes more about following a process than achieving something meaningful?
In this episode of the Testing Peers Podcast, co-hosts Chris, Tara, Linda and Sam explore the difference between being agile and simply doing things labelled Agile. From SAFe and Scrum to Kanban boards and story points, there’s plenty of experience to draw upon, and more than a few scars.
The conversation begins with Sam’s adventures in musical theatre, including the challenges of creating a production with a distributed team, an immovable deadline and plenty of uncertainty. It turns out there’s quite a lot we can learn about agility from putting on a show.
The Peers share stories of process theatre, misplaced accountability and teams losing sight of the bigger picture. But it’s not all doom and gloom. They also explore what makes agility valuable in the first place: collaboration, inclusion, experimentation, learning and the freedom to adapt.
Along the way, there’s a spirited defence of documentation, some uncomfortable questions about AI and self-healing tests, and a rather unexpected debate about how to measure a giraffe for a T-shirt.
Ultimately, agility isn’t about abandoning structure or following a prescribed set of ceremonies. It’s about understanding what you’re trying to achieve, who you’re doing it for and how you can learn and improve together.
Topics covered
- Agility versus the performance of Agile
- Lessons from producing a musical with a distributed team
- SAFe, Scrum, Kanban and process theatre
- Documentation, accountability and shared understanding
- Experimentation, feedback and continuous learning
- Why human relationships and cross-functional teams matter
- The limitations of story points and comparing teams
- Finding the right balance between structure and flexibility
What does agility look like when it genuinely works? And how much of what we call Agile is really helping us get there?
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