As a project manager, a member of the PMI, and an Agile Project Management practitioner, I get yelled at a lot. PMP-certified project managers call me irresponsible for advocating the Agile approach to projects, and Agile practitioners call me a turncoat for collaborating with members of the PMI. It’s understandable that people who are used to one way of doing work are skeptical of another way of doing work. I get it. But does get tiresome. Last year, a fellow Scrum trainer called me a placator, akin to Neville Chamberlain, and it was not meant in a lighthearted manner. However, I am not the only recipient of that kind of vitriol. The Agile PM community is riddled with factions and in-fighting. In the pursuit of truth, many of our so-called thought leaders have taken rather inflexible positions of “No matter what you say, I’m right and you’re wrong.”
Well, today I’m in a collaboration session today with technology management thought leader Alistair Cockburn. In our chat today, he introduced me to his latest initiative, The Oath of Non-Allegiance. It is a web page that challenges Agile practitioners to formally sign and ratify the following:
I promise not to exclude from consideration any idea based on its source, but to consider ideas across schools and heritages in order to find the ones that best suit the current situation.
Finally! Someone has taken a stand to hold these Agile thought leaders accountable to the core value of “Collaboration” they all advocate. As a co-founder of the Agile Project Management movement, Alistair has been dragged into many of these philosophical feuds. I’ve always appreciated him for advocating the Scrum alongside his own Crystal methods. It’s a strong statement to say your thing is good, and this other thing is also as good, and you’re willing to teach them both.
QUESTION: What do you think of these Agile factions? Do you think this Oath will help the issue?
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I like the “Oathâ€. As a professional management consultant, I believe that one has the responsibility to implement what is “right†for that business entity, our client. Every business is different and has its own culture, needs and requirements. I do not believe in the “Cookie Cutter†philosophy.
On the other hand, I have seen companies that state they follow the “Agile†method, but in fact think this signifies a method of not only fast tracking all projects, but skipping necessary processes and steps…
There is definately a need for further learnings in all the different methods out there, by all professionals and companies alike…
One should implement what is best for our client!
Great points, Jennifer. Too many project managers dive into a color-by-numbers approach to running a team, and are unwilling to learn new techniques that will make them better. Thanks for the comment.
So thoughts on this important topic
http://herdingcats.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/06/the-oath-of-nonallegiance.html
I totally agree with Jennifer Graham. I’m sick of people who argue for one method just because it is ‘hip’ and someone with a well known name has said this or that. As in all other situations of life we have to keep our eyes wide open and turn our head to the left side as well as to the right side. And then: take the best breath for your problem and keep on being pragmatic.
Great point and thanks for bringing “The Oath” initiative to my attention, Jeff.
It is amazing that the world of agile is so full of bickering, divisions and endless discussions. [cut] My comment got so long I turned it into a blog post.
http://www.andybrandt.net/621/oath-of-non-allegiance
Good comment & follow-up post, Andy. I like your phrase “secular religion” to describe the dogma of agile zealots.
I have attended the Agile conference by Its Ap last week. Few of the thoughts,
1. Are we folloing all agile practices and is it mandatory to see the results.
If we want to see the Level1 to 3 benfits, do we need to follow all the practices of Agile or is it sufficient if we follow what are required to my project.
2. I want people to understand more about agile practices and then implement in their pojects. reason being ..on the name of Agile ..people are tailiring the practices of agile to their needs..if it is giving good results ..fine..otherwise BLAME GOES TO AGILE ..BUT NOT PM WHO TAILROED
Murthy, good to have you at the conference this past weekend. Here are my thoughts:
1. The common rule is this: the more agile principles you implement, the more benefits you receive. If you do incremental delivery without changing culture, you may improve time to market, but without any employee satisfaction or productivity increase.
2. I agree that Agile practices are often blamed for the problems they reveal. Also, when the PM decides he should revise the team’s estimates, he unfairly holds the team accountable for his cutting corners.
In both cases, agile champions like yourself need to be very watchful of what people are calling “agile”. You are the one that must hold people accountable for the decisions they make.
We love to hear from you jessy..it is knowledge that I gain mostly
as Test Lead for a developemnt project used/using Agile 
For your Info: I am implementing Agile for an Test Automation Project.. and was a watch dog
Yes, I do accept your points and thanks for input in the conclusion. See you soon if we have any Agile seminar coming up in Hyderabad
Sudha, thanks for your kind words. Send me a mail privately about applying agile your test automation project, and we can post your observations.
-jesse