A Systems View of Agile Methodology Adoption: Part I -- The Issues

by Rick Brenner

The success rates of adopting agile methods on a large scale have been disappointing. We have made good progress at the project level, but from portfolio to enterprise, success has been elusive. Even when we have somehow skirted resistance, delays, politics, and bureaucracy, results have not met expectations.

At the project level, we've developed truly sophisticated processes for agile teams to use. We have even addressed the physical elements of the working environment. It is now fair to conclude that when operating as intended, agile teams are unsurpassed in productivity and output quality.

What then is happening? What prevents us from scaling up? What accounts for the unmet expectations at the portfolio scale and the enterprise scale?