5 Things You May Not Know About Agile
As your go-to resource for all things Agile, we’re interested in pushing the envelope beyond the trite clichés and buzzwords you probably hear routinely, and really dig up some quality Agile information you’ve likely not heard before. In the interest of blowing your Agile mind, here are 5 things you may not know about Agile:
Agile is Making a 100 mpg Car Possible
The talented and creative problem-solvers that make up Wikispeed have done amazing things incredibly fast using Scrum, the most popular Agile framework.
Guided by Agile principles and a Scrum-directed work flow, this volunteer based prototyping company has accomplished the seemingly impossible: a road-legal car that passes all necessary safety tests and gets over 100 miles-per-gallon of gasoline. And now they’re working toward releasing a mass-produced family car version that will sell for around $18,000.
Unlike Detroit carmakers that work on ten-year development cycles, Wikispeed has accomplished all of this and much more in less than five years!
Scrum Once Got a Royal Navy Warship Ready to Deploy
Paul Jackson was a brand new Logistics Officer assigned to a new ship. Four days into his new assignment, he was surprised to learn that the several weeks of quiet maintenance he had expected before a three-month deployment had just been shortened to five days. Jackson had five days to make sure the ship’s crew had sufficient food and supplies for 90 days at sea.
To accomplish all that needed to be done in those five days, Jackson relied on the basic Scrum tenets of a daily standing meeting during which team leads discussed that day’s priorities and coordinated needs and requests. With each day’s meeting, the process was iterated and re-prioritized to keep all teams on track for a successful completion of the “sprint” that had been dropped in their lap.
Five days later, as they sailed from Portsmouth, Jackson was an agile believer.
Agile Management Software is Responsible for This
Atlassian agile management software – specifically JIRA, Confluence, and Bamboo modules – are constantly in use at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (a subsidiary research facility run by NASA). It continually uploads and monitors the software that controls and communicates with the Mars Curiosity rover.
How cool is that?
Agile Software Development Will Help You Find Your Soulmate
At least, that’s the goal at HowAboutWe.com, a unique spin on the internet dating site that experienced huge growth last year and incorporated Agile project management software by Pivotal Tracker to stay on top of the constant improvement their highly competitive industry requires.
As noted in the Pivotal Case Study regarding HowAboutWe.com, “As a startup with a compelling and new approach to an already-competitive space, Tracker has complimented the HowAboutWe team’s need to rapidly deliver new features and iterate on existing ones.”
And It Can Work For You Too!
Agile methodologies work for so many different industries and project types. Really, any complex project that requires teamwork and collaboration can be done better and faster with Agile in your corner.
If you’d like to learn more about how Agile can help you, take a look at some of our free agile resources , and contact us with any questions you may have.
