Welcome back! As we’ve seen in parts one and two of this blog series, many Agilists may shy away from measurements and metrics, but we discussed ways to not only make it safe for organizations to measure but even derive great value from the insights gained.

In this blog series, we’re continuing to explore measurement and metrics in the Agile space to help organizations and teams be more successful. If you missed part one, you can read it here.

In this four-part blog series, we’ll explore measurement and metrics in the Agile space to help organizations and teams be more successful.

The truth is that measuring things in software development is hard. As Edwards Deming clearly stated “The most important things cannot be measured.” We’ve all seen how metrics can be gamed and abused (velocity, anyone?) and many have heard of the “Law of Unintended Consequences” and experienced in practice how measurement led to unintended and counterproductive behaviors. So a lot of folks have jumped on the #NoEstimates bandwagon and we’re all better off not measuring anything at all, right?

It’s understandable why so many organizations still rely on activity-based metrics to measure success – most companies have been using activity-based, also known as “vanity” metrics, for years. The problem is these metrics don’t provide any real insight into the future business success of the organization.
Relying solely on activity-based metrics makes it far too easy for a company to assume that all is well, even when it isn’t. If your company is caught in this “business as usual” paradigm, you’re not alone. Many companies have not yet shifted their focus toward the metrics that actually matter. It’s why seemingly successful companies “suddenly” fail.

Evan Leybourn, founder of the Business Agility Institute, created the now-famous Domains of Business Agility in a quick sketch that he released to the public right before going into surgery. Eight hours later, when he was allowed access to his laptop again, he discovered that his innovative idea had exploded online and was being discussed worldwide.
What was in that quick sketch that made so many people stop and take notice?
In this video, Leybourn and Agile Transformation, Inc.’s Sally Elatta discuss the Domains of Business Agility and how it helps organizations thrive in an unpredictable world.

How do you create an Agile organization? Evan Leybourn, founder of the Business Agility Institute, provides a quick, detailed breakdown of the domains of business Agility in this short video.

In this blog series we explore the world of Business Outcomes; turning what’s important to our business into actionable outcomes, consider outcomes as opportunities to experiment with and improve, and how we meet our outcomes best by helping our customers meet their outcomes.

As agile practitioners we are all familiar with the  Agile Manifesto and the positive impact it has had on companies, specifically in Information Technology (IT) departments around the globe. Although the Manifesto has helped us think and work differently and often in more effective and efficient ways, countless organizations continue to build products that customer don’t want or seldom use. I have worked with many companies from start-up’s to Fortune 10 organizations. The recurring question that most have no answer for is “How do we know we are building the right products for our customers?”  Peter Drucker, the founder of modern management, once said: “There is nothing so useless as doing something efficiently that which should not be done at all.”

Applying Agile in a non-profit context requires recognition of a near-universal truth: non-profits are notoriously underfunded and understaffed, leaving individuals wearing many hats and mostly in fire-fighting mode. This leaves very few resources for any type of process improvement, even when individuals and organizations are receptive to a new way of working. But this means that Agile can have tremendous benefits within the non-profit sector, even if it looks a bit different than the traditional IT-Agile models.
My initial attempt at applying Agile for non-profit began several years ago when I volunteered to help an organization with their strategic planning efforts. Having already been a volunteer in other areas, I was able to reach out to one of the leaders on their volunteer board to better understand their current planning and implementation process.