Agile risk management
Responding to change over following a plan. That is one of the values of the Agile Manifesto. The value often frames "Agile" as chaotic: No structure and no planning. At least, that is one observation I have had the last four years acting as a scrum master.
My family and I have returned after a great week of autumn vacation on the island named Sejerø. The home trip included not one, but two trips with ferries. The planned departure was on the day of the worst storm surge in Denmark in more than 100 years. How did we respond to the many news reports about the upcoming bad weather?
We started sketching a couple of contingency plans. We had a pretty good idea of what we could do on any island (Sejerø, Zealand, or Funen) that were in between us and the mainland. We didn't need to sketch it out when planning the vacation. And we didn't end up with detailed contingency plans. The planning was of high importance to us, but the plan was not.
In the end, we got lucky with our initial plan. The storm didn't come until later that day. Both captains were confident that it was safe to travel — and it certainly felt safe as well.
I'm happy we spent some time having a conversation about the contingency plans. I wouldn't want to be stranded somewhere in bad weather with my kids without a plan B — if it can be avoided.
Risk management comes in many flavors. It isn't unique to agile. Risk management is a way to plan responses to changes and that is valued in agile.
Sejerø is a beautiful island. It wasn't the first time we went there, and it won't be the last time. The picture was captured by my wife and shows the lighthouse of Sejerø.
This was originally shared as a LinkedIn post on Sat, 21 Oct 2023 18:17:39 UTC.