Last month’s Input survey asked about Agile or Lean adoption in your product development or IT team, and we can see that many  organizations are still struggling with adoption.  

About a third of the respondents are reaping the benefits of Agile or Lean for most or all initiatives.  As one respondent said, “At any instant [Lean] gives complete visibility of product development progress across functions, and all the functions aim to achieve the same goal at the same time.”  Who wouldn’t want that?

An equal number are trying out Agile or Lean on some initiatives and are starting to see progress.  Comments from this group include, “It’s been a slow road to agility, but it’s making a positive impact,” and,  “If we deliver the goods I see it become mainstream in our company as well.”

But, just with any adoption curve, there are the laggards.  The final third of the respondents are in organizations that haven’t tried either methodology.  One respondent bemoans, “We’re stuck in waterfall! This is more a function of a “people” issue than anything else.”

A common thread among these respondents:  once you pursue these super-productive methodologies in one group, it affects the rest.  “…our company is just starting to come to grips with it.”  “Can’t be isolated in IT only.”  

So it all comes down to people – including us!  If your development group has embraced Lean or Agile, then you’ll also need to understand it, and prepare to make changes in the way you work, before engaging in an Agile effort.  As one respondent so succinctly put it:  “[This is] the future of development.”

What adjustments are you making to work with your Agile or Lean development team?