7 Agile leadership lessons for the suits

that one cannot succeed unless others do. Individuals can reach their goals if and only if the others in the group also reach their goals. Thus, individuals seek outcomes that are beneficial to all those with whom they are cooperatively linked. As a result, respect for others' abilities and contribution is produced. Mutual efforts improve both individuals and the group. This results in psychological health and increased self-esteem, decreased anxiety and depression. "Is this why Agile teams are better?" asked Rising.

These were only a few of the high points from the Agile conference. I could continue for many more pages. Yet, the lessons I learned reminded me of an important issue that many CIOs appear to miss. Time after time, corporations introduce Agile without understanding its key philosophical distinction: Agile development is not a set of instructions-it is a mind-set. If you implement Agile techniques as a set of prescriptions, the result will be much worse than any waterfall. You will discredit the Agile idea, and also you will fail the project, break the existing (albeit waterfall-ish) mechanism and ruin team morale. Don't blame the methodology. When I hear a manager saying, "Agile methodology tells us that at this point in our project we need to do this. So, go do this," I can hardly refrain from smacking this "manager" across his empty head. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX, PEOPLE! YOU ARE IN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT!