Does Agile Depend on Local Culture?

by Jens Coldewey

Sometimes, when I talk to managers in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland about agile, I get a reply like, "Well, this sounds very American, I doubt that it works in Central Europe." As a matter of fact, there is a growing list of successful agile projects in Central Europe, so the doubt obviously doesn't hold water. Nonetheless, the doubters have deserved more attention than this brisk reply. So I'd like to dig into agile and business culture in this Advisor. I'll discuss German business culture first, before generalizing. Of course, "The German Company" is a stereotype that doesn't exist, just like "The American Company" is just a collection of clichés. So let's enjoy clichés for a moment, without assessing their content of truth:

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Does Agile Depend on Local Culture?Thu Oct 19 08:12:42 CDT 2006