We conclude our journey in discovering how our core convictions relate to the Agile methodology by evaluating our final core conviction,
“Meaningful Work: Building with heart and creativity”.
Our first step in determining if “meaningful work” aligned with Agile was to understand the true definition of “meaningful”. According to dictionary.com, the definition is full of meaning, significance, purpose, or value; purposeful. The word “value” in the definition really resonated with our team. We strive to deliver value to our clients.
Our team looked at “Build with Heart and Creativity”. To the TriYoung team, “Building with heart” means to do something you love. We love the work we do. We love helping our clients with their data so they can focus on their customers. We all agreed that some people are more creative than others, but we can all “Build with Creativity”. We are all born with at least some level of creativity. We found that the Agile process improves our creativity because we learn through collaboration and team brainstorming. We also have meetings after each sprint to discuss what worked well and what areas we can improve upon. Before we adopted Agile, our developers worked in silos. With Agile, they are learning about our clients’ needs so it is no longer just a tool to get the work done. They are creating better workflows.
Lastly, our team reviewed the Manifesto for Agile Software Development. In the process of uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it, we have come to value:
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
While there is value in the items on the right, we value the
bolded items on the left more.
In Agile, we can deliver working products to our clients faster and consistently. This is done by creating user stories and planning sprints. Each sprint is two weeks. This process brings value to our clients because they have a working product that they can use. If they would like an enhancement and improvement, we can add it to the backlog for a future sprint.
In conclusion,
“Meaningful Work: Building with heart and creativity” does align with the Agile way of thinking
. The TriYoung Team is doing something we love with a team approach that allows for brainstorming and learning through collaboration. We are an Agile Team!