The Covert Agilist
Add to calendarEngaged as a software consultant at a financial services company, we brought up the topic of Agile early on and were told, “No!” A Vice President at the company said that Agile had been tried there and failed, so the management decided that Agile was a waste of time and money and would be prohibited. Despite this edict, our team cleverly succeeded at covertly injecting “The approach that shall not be named” into a couple key projects. Our success caused management to reverse its firm anti-Agile stance, and the whole organization is now moving in that direction.
The intent is to tell a story about a real situation at a real company. I plan to use real examples, but I will disguise the names of people and companies. After I tell the story, I plan to interact with the audience and share experiences and advice with others who have encountered similar situations.
- Learn how to sell Agile where it has previously failed
- Learn how Agile practices can be disguised to avoid prohibition
- Get tips on being a change agent in an organization that doesn’t wish to change
- Understand how to interact with specific personas that are often present in Agile resistant companies
