Monday, November 11, 2024

What does the 12th Agile Principle (Reflection for Improvement) look like in Action?

What does it mean to be agile? It starts with aligning with Agile values and principles. In this article, I expand on the twelfth principle to better understand it. More importantly, I attempt to identify evidence of what this principle looks like in action. Let’s take a deeper dive into this principle. 

At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly. Reflecting on the need for improvement is critical to the adaptive framework and the Agile mindset. Although what has occurred cannot be undone, reflecting on it can lead to action that will prevent the issue from recurring. With this in mind, the team should apply a periodic retrospective to reflect on the previous improvements and become more effective in the future. 

Remember, the team is self-organizing, so they own the practices, techniques, rituals, and behaviors. A key to real improvement is that team members are willing to let their guard down and be open and honest with each other. Otherwise, only the more superficial areas are discussed. Also, retrospectives should be private and closed sessions so “dirty laundry” can be discussed. The Scrum Master may act as the facilitator so that it is kept professional to identify actions for improvement. Another key is that the team commits to support continuous improvement. 

Teams may use root-cause analysis techniques such as Ishikawa (fishbone) diagrams to identify the cause of specific issues. In addition, Agile applies an empirical approach whereby data can be used to identify areas for improvement and help in decision-making based on observation and experimentation. However, it is for the team to make the commitment to adapt and improve. What actions exhibit reflection for improvement? 

  • Team retrospectives are scheduled periodically to identify and prioritize areas for improvement. 
  • The team is open and honest so that real improvement can be made.
  • Root cause analysis is used to determine what real actions will result in actual improvements.  
  • The team commits to implementing improvement actions. 
  • Retrospective actions are tracked, and progress is discussed in the retrospective session. 
  • The results of the improvement actions are discussed to determine if the actions had the desired improvements. 

Do you believe in reflection for improvement and the activities that empower a team to improve? It is up to you to determine what supporting evidence looks like when a company believes in reflection for improvement. It is worth experimenting with this, as it will help you better understand and embrace the Agile principles. The ultimate question is, do you believe in the benefits of “Reflection for Improvement?”

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Learn more about what other Agile Principles look like in action:


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Saturday, October 19, 2024

What does the 11th Agile Principle (Self-Organizing Teams) look like in Action?

What does it mean to be agile? It starts with aligning with Agile values and principles. In this article, I expand on the eleventh principle to better understand it's meaning. More importantly, I attempt to identify evidence to determine if there is alignment with the principle and if a culture change may be occurring. Let’s take a deeper dive into this principle. 

The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.  Self-organizing teams have a combination of greater ownership and responsibility to achieve a common goal of building valuable software and reducing dependency on management. The team has the authority to self-organize and make decisions regarding architecture, requirements, and design as they evolve the product. The team needs to be cross-functional so that they have the skills and talent to make the decisions to develop the product. 

A self-organized team moves away from the command-and-control hierarchy in which one person assigns the work. Instead, a self-organizing structure is one in which everyone participates in decision-making and proactively volunteers for work from the backlog. This is easier said than done. Therefore, before considering Agile, an assessment of the openness of the culture helps gauge the starting point. 

Having self-organizing teams also means thinking beyond the individual, since singular thinking can constrain collaboration and the team mindset. The focus should be on instilling team spirit: “You only succeed if the team succeeds.” Rewards should be team-based to drive the concept home. 

Teamwork also means hierarchy—such as title, levels, grades, heroes, and egos—needs to be removed as barriers to team success. Instead, promote equality among roles. Treating everyone on the team as equals leads to more engaged members. Nonetheless, team members should respect the fact that some people have more experience and skills in certain areas and others can gain from this experience. What actions exhibit self-organizing teams?

  • The team makes decisions about its work, specifically regarding architecture, requirements, design, and sizing or estimating. 
  • Cross-functional teams include the right mix of skills among developers, testers, technical writers, UX designers, the PO, and the Scrum Master. 
  • There is no hierarchy on the team, although levels of skills and experience are respected. 
  • Rewards are given at the team level. 
  • Team members pull work from the backlog at their own initiative, rather than being assigned to it by their manager. 
  • Management reduces command and control and provides boundaries of authority. 
  • Management articulates goals to help the team focus their work so that teams can make their own decisions. 
Do you believe in self-organizing teams who have authority to make their own decisions, manage their own work, and are rewarded as a team? It is up to you to determine what supporting evidence looks like when a company believes in self-organizing teams. It is worth experimenting with this as it will help you better understand and embrace the Agile principles. The ultimate question is, do you believe in the benefits of “Self-organizing teams”?

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Saturday, September 28, 2024

What does the 10th Agile Principle (Simplicity) look like in Action?

What does it mean to be agile? It starts with aligning with Agile values and principles. In this article, I expand on the tenth principle to better understand what it means. More importantly, I attempt to identify evidence to determine if there is alignment with the principle and if a culture change may occur. Let’s take a deeper dive into this principle. 

Simplicity—the art of maximizing the amount of work not done—is essential. Striving to eliminate unnecessary work is the goal. This should include identifying the minimum number of features needed for a customer release (MVP) to be successful. It should include reducing non-value-added work that team members are asked to do. It may involve reducing unnecessary steps of a process to deploy a release. 

To simplify, you need to proactively remove the seven wastes in software development as defined by Mary and Tom Poppendiek in their book Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit. This includes eliminating partially done work, extra features, the need to relearn, hand-offs, task switching, delays, and bugs. 

Agile thinking focuses on short iterations and small increments. This way you can fail fast, learn, eliminate waste, and then succeed more quickly. You may also right-size your documentation with a focus on documenting decisions and why you made them. What actions exhibit simplicity? 

  • There is continuous focus on staying lean and removing waste via retrospectives. 
  • During demonstrations, customers are asked not only what they need but what they don’t need. 
  • The Product Owner applies continuous prioritization via the backlog with a focus on minimum viable product (MVP). 
  • Documentation is right-sized and includes key decisions and their rationales. 

Do you believe in simplicity, removing waste, and continuously prioritizing requirements based on customer value? It is up to you to determine what supporting evidence looks like. It is worth experimenting with this as it will help you better understand and embrace the Agile principles. The ultimate question is, do you believe in the benefits of “Simplicity”? 

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Wednesday, August 21, 2024

What does the 9th Agile Principle (Technical Excellence) look like in Action?

What does it mean to be agile? It starts with aligning with Agile values and principles. In this article, I expand on the ninth principle to better understand what it means. More importantly, I attempt to identify evidence to determine if there is alignment with the principle and if a culture change may be occurring. Let’s take a deeper dive into this principle. 

Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility. To strive for technical excellence, you need team members who have knowledge and experience to produce sound architecture, good design, and quality software. It is important to have the capability of making the best technical decisions balancing design, usability, and maintainability. Such capability requires a seasoned and professional team. In Agile, employees should want to do the work in the context of career learning and growth. 

To strive for technical excellence, effective done criteria should be established that include engineering standards in design, UX, development, technical writing, configuration management, building, and testing. Achieving quality may include implementing various XP practices, such as continuous integration and build, coding standards, pair programming, refactoring, simple design, and test-driven development, which are applied to improve the technical excellence of a product. In addition, the use of retrospectives helps the team reflect on opportunities to build their skills and further achieve technical excellence. What actions exhibit technical excellence? 

  • Team members motivate each other toward technical excellence, including collaborating on and agreeing to technical practices for the team. 
  • Team members are applying continuous integration and build, coding standards, pair programming, simple design, refactoring, code reviews, and test-driven development. 
  • Team members apply done criteria that include engineering disciplines needed to deliver a quality product. 
  • Team members employ learning plans that include a focus on technical excellence that are actively managed. 

Do you believe in applying technical practices that promote technical excellence and provide technical educational opportunities for employees? It is up to you to determine what supporting evidence looks like when a company believes in sustainable development for employees to maintain a constant pace indefinitely. It is worth experimenting with this as it will help you better understand and embrace the Agile principles. The ultimate question is, do you believe in the benefits of “Technical Excellence”?

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Wednesday, July 31, 2024

What does the 8th Agile Principle (Sustainable Pace) look like in Action?

What does it mean to be agile? It starts with aligning with Agile values and principles. In this article, I expand on the eighth principle to better understand what it means. More importantly, I attempt to identify evidence to determine if there is alignment with the principle and if a culture change may be occurring. Let’s take a deeper dive into this principle.  

Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely. The concept of sustainable pace has been quantified by Kent Beck, who recommends working no more than 40 hours a week and never working overtime for more than one week at a time (not consecutively). When you maintain a reasonable pace, you can sustain a constant pace indefinitely. Studies have shown that when you consistently work more than 40 hours a week, overtime produces lower-quality software and reduces productivity.

Another driver for sustainable pace is the concept of social responsibility: the obligation to benefit the people as a whole and maintain a work/life balance. Another key to a strong Agile team is the notion that no one succeeds unless everyone succeeds. This promotes team spirit, whereby members collaborate and help each other out so that no one or two people are burdened with extra work while others have free time. To do this, each team member should gain secondary skills so they can ramp up quickly and support other work should there be a bottleneck. Even building tertiary skills are a consideration. A side effect of sustainable pace is that it often leads to improved team morale. Folks do not feel burned out and come to work with fresh minds, which can lead to innovative and creative ideas. Now that we better understand the principle, what actions exhibit working software as the measure of progress?

  • Each member of the team works only 40 hours a week and never overtime for more than one week. 
  • Velocity may be used as a measure to define the number of story-points a team can complete in an iteration or sprint to help maintain a sustainable pace. 
  • Management trusts the team’s sizing of the work and team’s velocity without question. 
  • Management does not force the team to work longer hours or initiate death marches. 
  • All team members have secondary skill sets and pitch-in with other team members when needed. 
  • Team members willingly engage in meaningful and relevant problems or opportunities exhibiting creativity and critical thinking. 

It is up to you to determine what supporting evidence looks like when a company believes in sustainable development for employees in order to maintain a constant pace indefinitely. It is worth experimenting with this as it will help you better understand and embrace the Agile principles. The ultimate question is, do you believe in the benefits of “Sustainable Pace”?

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Learn more about what other Agile Principles look like in action:
  • 1st Agile Principle (Satisfying Customer with Valuable Software) at: https://cmforagile.blogspot.com/2023/09/many-want-to-go-agile-or-claim-to-be.html
  • 2nd Agile Principle (Welcome Change to Requirements) at: https://cmforagile.blogspot.com/2024/01/do-you-have-evidence-to-support-2nd.html
  • 3rd Agile Principle (Frequent Delivery) at: https://cmforagile.blogspot.com/2024/02/what-does-3rd-agile-principle-frequent.html
  • 4th Agile Principle (Business and Development Work Together) at: https://cmforagile.blogspot.com/2024/03/what-does-4th-agile-principles-business.html
  • 5th Agile Principle (Motivated Individuals who are Trusted) at: http://cmforagile.blogspot.com/2024/04/what-does-5th-agile-principle-motivated.html
  • 6th Agile Principle (Face-to-Face Conversation) at: https://cmforagile.blogspot.com/2024/05/what-does-6th-agile-principle-face-to.html
  • 7th Agile Principle (Working Software as Measure of Progress) at: https://cmforagile.blogspot.com/2024/06/what-does-7th-agile-principle-working.html


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Thursday, July 18, 2024

What do the first 6 Agile Principles look like in Action?

What does it mean to be Agile? It starts with aligning with Agile values and principles. In this short guide, I provide insight into the first 6 Agile principles in an attempt to identify what evidence would look likes to determine if there is alignment with these principles, if a culture change may be occurring, and to prove the assertion that you are indeed Agile. 

Let’s take a closer look at each of the first 6 Agile principles and what they might look like in action.

It is up to you to determine what supporting evidence looks like when a company believes in each of the Agile Principles. It is worth experimenting with this as it will help you better understand and embrace the Agile principles. Good luck on your Agile journey!

PS - Stay tuned for articles that provide insight into the next 6 Agile principles.





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Monday, June 17, 2024

What does the 7th Agile Principle (Working software is the measure of progress) look like in Action?

What does it mean to be agile? It starts with aligning with Agile values and principles. In this article, I expand on the seventh principle to better understand what it means. More importantly, I attempt to identify what evidence looks like to determine if there is alignment to the principle and if a culture change may be occurring. Let’s take a deeper dive into this principle.  

Working software is the primary measure of progress. From an agile perspective, working software is the best measure of progress. Working software must be produced at the end of each time-boxed period (sprint). You may use other measures to help gauge progress, such as Sprint Burndown, but they should be minor in relation to the criterion of working software. 

The reason for this new thinking on measures is that when you follow a waterfall process, you may be 50 percent through the project schedule and have no working software. From a customer perspective, you haven’t accomplished anything. Although there may be internal benefits to gathering requirements, preparing a plan, and doing design and development work, an external paying customer only values the actual working software. You don’t get credit for in-progress stuff, only the working software. 

This is why, at the end of each time-boxed period, working software is delivered and validated with the customer during the demo. In addition, working software must meet "done criteria" to ensure high quality of the result. Now that we better understand the principle, what actions exhibit working software as the measure of progress?

  • There is a measure that tracks progress associated with working software (e.g., features, functionality, etc.) that is available in UAT and production.
  • Sprint Reviews are conducted to demonstrate the working software and gain customer feedback.
  • There are measures associated with customer usage and customer satisfaction of working software. 
  • There is a measure (i.e., Sprint Burndown) that tracks teamwork done and work remaining. 
  • Done criteria are established that reflect engineering standards that are applied to user stories to determine if the work is done. 

It is up to you to determine what supporting evidence looks like when a company believes that Working software is the measure of progress and the advantages it brings. It is worth experimenting with this as it will help you better understand and embrace the Agile principles. The ultimate question is, do you believe in the benefits of “Working software is the measure of progress”?

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Learn more about what other Agile Principles look like in action:

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Sunday, May 19, 2024

What does the 6th Agile Principle (Face-to-Face Conversation) look like in Action?

 Many want to go Agile or claim to be Agile. The question is, will you align with the Agile values and principles? In this article, I expand on the sixth principle to better understand what it means and attempt to identify what evidence looks like to determine if a culture change may be occurring. What is this principle?  

The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation. Agile puts a premium on face-to-face communication. Because of the nonverbal cues built into communication, there is a benefit of harvesting visual cues during interpersonal interactions. Face-to-face discussion improves the overall communication experience and understanding. From an Agile perspective, a team (about seven people +/-) should be as collocated as reasonable or use technology to emulate face-to-face interaction as much as possible. 

With communication comes the importance of listening. Listening means hearing and understanding what the other is saying and what they are not saying (hence the importance of nonverbal cues). Face-to-face also helps with understanding silence. Is silence due to a lack of understanding, not being engaged, or other reasons? Face-to-face nonverbal cues can help probe the reason. Another aspect of collaboration is being assertive. Quietly listening does not lead to building ideas. Therefore, communication is a balance between being a collaborative speaker and a respectful listener. With this in mind, what tangible actions exhibit promoting face-to-face communication? 

  • A team is collocated or, if not, then when meeting, the cameras are on.
  • Teams are kept small (about seven +/-).
  • Conference rooms or team rooms are available for face-to-face conversation.
  • Technologies are used to emulate face-to-face discussion whenever collocation is not possible.
  • Whiteboards in the collocated team room or technologies used to emulate whiteboards as means to visualize, brainstorm, and collaborate on topics.
  • Listening and collaboration skills are emphasized.

It is up to you to determine what supporting evidence looks like when a company believes in face-to-face communication and the advantages it brings. It is worth experimenting with this as it will help you better understand and embrace the Agile principles. The ultimate question is, do you believe in the benefits of face-to-face conversations?

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Friday, April 19, 2024

What does the 5th Agile Principle (Motivated Individuals who are Trusted) look like in Action?

Many want to go Agile or claim to be Agile. The question is, will you align with the Agile values and principles? In this article, I expand on the fifth principle to better understand what it means and attempt to identify what evidence looks like to determine if a culture change may be occurring. What is this principle?  

Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done. Agile recognizes providing employees with ownership of their work can increase engagement, productivity, and happiness. There are strategies to get employees engaged, continually educated, and building on their strengths. Management values employee opinions, appreciates them, and trusts that they can get the work done. 


With communication comes the importance of listening. Listening means hearing and understanding what the other is saying and what they are not saying (hence the importance of nonverbal cues). Face-to-face also helps with understanding silence. Is silence due to a lack of understanding, not being engaged, or other reasons? Face-to-face nonverbal cues can help probe the reason. Another aspect of collaboration is being assertive. Quietly listening does not lead to building ideas. Therefore, communication is a balance between being a collaborative speaker and a respectful listener. With this in mind, what tangible actions exhibit promoting face-to-face communication?

  • Teams have the ability to make decisions, such as how to complete and size their own work.
  • Management trusts team decisions and minimizes command and control.
  • Teams are kept whole and members are treated like people, not fungible resources.
  • Management provides transparency in decision making.
  • Management provides organizational goals such as employee engagement. 
  • The PO provides release and sprint goals.
  • Team members demonstrate their working software during sprint reviews.
  • The Scrum Master provides a servant–leader approach.

It is up to you to determine what supporting evidence looks like when a company believes in motivating individuals and trusting them to get the job done. It is worth experimenting with this as it will help you better understand and embrace the Agile principles. The ultimate question is, do you believe that business and development should work continuously together as a team?

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Learn more about what other Agile Principles look like in action:

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Thursday, March 14, 2024

What does the 4th Agile Principle (Business and Development Work Together) look like in Action?

Many want to go Agile or claim to be Agile. The question is, are you and will you align with the Agile values and principles? In this article, I expand on the fourth principle to better understand what it means and attempt to identify what evidence looks like to determine if a culture change may be occurring. What is this principle?  

Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project. Agile attempts to bring an understanding of business value to the development team and the technical choices and challenges to the business side. To do this, it attempts to integrate business and development as one team. In traditional approaches, there is often little interaction between the business (e.g., product management, sales, and marketing) and development (aka, cross-functional technical team). On the business side, this may be the Product Manager or Business Owner. Scrum introduces the Product Owner (PO) role and XP introduces the Customer role as the bridge between the customer and the development team. These roles allow for a closer embodiment of the business and development team spirit and avoid fiefdoms and throwing work “over the wall” from one group to another with little interaction. 

The intent is to make a sincere effort to build a collaborative and amicable yet productive relationship between business and development. Development benefits from a better understanding of what the customer finds valuable. The business side benefits because development will ask for details that the business may not have thought about. In both cases, the result is a product that more closely aligns with what the customer finds valuable. What actions and evidence exhibit business people and developers working together?

  • An established and productive relationship between business/customers and development
  • A dedicated business owner who works continuously with the development team. 
  • Development comprises a cross-functional team with developers, testers, technical writers, designers, and so on. 
  • The business owner with the development team work together during iterative planning to build a mutual understanding of the requirements of what to build. 
  • The development team demos the working product to the business owner and customers to gain feedback to better align with customer value. 
  • The development team can reach out to the business owner whenever needed throughout the project lifecycle.   

It is up to you to determine what supporting evidence will highlight that continuous integration, build, test, and frequent delivery is occurring. It is worth experimenting with this as it will help you better understand and embrace the Agile principles. The ultimate question is, do you believe that business and development should work continuously together as a team?

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To learn more about what the Agile Principles look like in Action, consider reading:


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Monday, February 19, 2024

What does the 3rd Agile Principle (Frequent Delivery) look like in Action?

Many want to go Agile or claim to be Agile. The question is, are you and will you align with the Agile values and principles? In this article, I expand on the third principle to better understand what it means and attempt to identify what evidence looks like to determine if a culture change may be occurring. What is this principle?  

Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale is the third Agile principle. This principle promotes the ability that when customers believe there is value in what is built, it can be immediately delivered. Identifying the elusive customer value means you can release it when the customer wants it. If it is delivered too early, the customer may not be ready for it; if it is too late, the market opportunity is missed. 

Agile thinking includes a fluid world, where changes are continuous welcome, and teams have the capability of releasing frequently. This ability to frequently release, highlights the importance of having processes and infrastructure to help with continuous integration, build, and test. This ability assumes a level of automation that needs to be in place. Automated testing increases the possibility of testing the functionality as is reasonable, including the capability of performing non-functional testing such as performance testing, load testing, and more. 

What actions exhibit frequent delivery?  
  • An established and positive relationship with customers
  • Iterative framework with Sprint Reviews to incorporate feedback quickly 
  • A release capability to incrementally and rapidly deploy software 
  • Continuous integration supported by a merging process and configuration management system 
  • A continuous build process supported by an automated build management system 
  • Test automation infrastructure that can support continuous testing  
It is up to you to determine what supporting evidence will highlight that continuous integration, build, test, and frequent delivery is occurring. It is worth experimenting with this as it will help you better understand and embrace the Agile principles. The ultimate question, do you really believe in the principle that focuses on frequent delivery?

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To learn more about what the Agile Principles look like in Action, consider reading:
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Tuesday, January 16, 2024

What does the 2nd Agile Principle (Welcome Change to Requirements) look like in Action?

Many want to go Agile or claim to be Agile. The question is, are you and will you really align with the Agile values and principles?  To better understand what this means, I dissected the Principles to better discover the intentions behind them and what behaviors they entail. In this article, I expand on the second Principle to better understand what it means and to attempt to model how to marshal supporting evidence that a culture change may be occurring.  

Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage is the second Agile principle. From an Agile perspective, you embrace change to increase the chances of delivering value to the customer. You embrace change because you understand that change is necessary as customer needs, market conditions, and general demand change over time. 

Welcoming change implies several qualities. The first is that there is a positive attitude toward change from the team and management. The second is that while change ideas are admitted, they are methodically prioritized based on customer value along with existing requirements. The third is that there is a process that allows prioritized changes to flow without obstruction.

What actions may exhibit “welcoming change to requirements”? Some evidence includes:  

  • The PO continually engages with the customer to identify new requirements or changes to existing requirements. 
  • A methodical review of the change idea occurs to determine the priority amongst the existing requirements.
  • No person or process restricts incoming change ideas. 
  • The backlog is continually refined and reprioritized. 
  • Increment Planning and/or Sprint Planning is applied to introduce the newly prioritized requirements. 
  • Continuous customer engagement via customer visits and sprint reviews are applied. 

It is up to you to determine what supporting evidence will highlight that a culture change is occurring. It is worth experimenting with this as it will help you better understand and embrace the Agile principles. The ultimate question, if you really believe in this principle is, do you welcome change?

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To learn about what evidence might look like to support the 1st Agile Principle (aka, Satisfying Customer with Valuable Software), consider reading: https://cmforagile.blogspot.com/2023/09/many-want-to-go-agile-or-claim-to-be.html

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