By an engineer who once thought Agile was a magic solution.
When we first started adopting Agile,
we set up squads, ran sprints, had daily stand-ups, and used task boards.
But instead of smooth progress, we faced more issues than before.
Problems started surfacing faster:
we set up squads, ran sprints, had daily stand-ups, and used task boards.
But instead of smooth progress, we faced more issues than before.
Problems started surfacing faster:
• Why are bugs flooding the board?
• Why do some developers always fall behind, even after we aligned on estimates?
• Why do tasks keep popping up out of nowhere?
• Why do some developers always fall behind, even after we aligned on estimates?
• Why do tasks keep popping up out of nowhere?
At first, I got stressed out.
I wondered, “Are we doing Agile wrong?” or “Maybe Agile just doesn’t suit our team?”
But then a seasoned engineer told me something I’ll never forget:
| “Agile doesn’t fix your problems — it helps you see them sooner.” |
Looking back, we actually had those problems all along.
They were just hidden beneath the surface, waiting to explode right before go-live —
because no one felt safe enough to speak up.
They were just hidden beneath the surface, waiting to explode right before go-live —
because no one felt safe enough to speak up.
Agile isn’t a framework that magically makes everything better overnight.
But when used right, it shifts the team from
But when used right, it shifts the team from
| “We don’t know there’s a problem” → “We see it early and fix it fast.” |
And to me, that’s way more valuable than chasing perfection.
|
If you’ve just started with Agile and it feels like your team’s getting worse,
remember — maybe it’s not getting worse. Maybe you’ve finally started bringing the problems to light.
But if you’re doing Agile and nobody’s talking about the problems…
That’s when you really have a problem. |
Read more >> How to build better products faster with Agile Product Development