Maximizing Team Dynamics and Overcoming Dysfunction in Agile Environments

Change can be painful, but staying stagnant can hurt even more. Deciding to "go agile" may be the right choice for many companies, but seeing Scrum or XP as the next silver bullet can be a mistake, or perhaps the right medicine at the wrong time. In the rush to be faster, better, cheaper, or super-innovative, it's possible to become trapped in organizational dysfunction, even to the extent whereby good medicine won't work. When companies seek to "become agile," what roadblocks might they hit that could increase risk of failure? Michael Mah presents examples of companies that have overcome problems, plus a few who didn't. Learn how systems theory plays a role in software development, why complex communication and expert thinking are the penultimate challenges facing knowledge workers today, and how accurate and reliable metrics are to revealing patterns that help managers find the right path through their software development jungle.