What are Agile Processes?

Agile processes are processes that allow us to adapt to change. You can read a lot more about this concept in the Agile Manifesto. At the organizationl level, agility has a lot to do with simplicity. It also has a lot to do with transparency. If a process is simple enough to understand and it is clear what it does, then I don't have to be afraid to change it. Every step in every process should add value. If it doesn't, it is drag. Drag is the accumulation of wrong decisions, unnecessary steps and waste that keeps an organization from being able to adapt to change.

We all know the signs... spending months to justify a project that you really don't have a choice about doing. Involving a hundred people in work that could be done by a handful. Status reports that don't influence anyones' decisions.

In the realm of software development, agile processes are mostly about cutting the process down to human size. Rather than try do develop the large scale practices to deal with almost unimaginable complexity, we reduce the complexity instead. Light weight methods like "Extreme Programming" and "Scrum" are some of the best ways to get projects headnig in the right direction. Info-Scape consultants can help you to integrate these agile techniques into your culture.