Agile Fractals
Posted on Tue, Oct 11, 2011
by Dan Ebert
Fractal: "A rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole." (Mandelbrot, B.B., 1982 The Fractal Geometry of Nature)
I think Agile exhibits this characteristic of self-similarity when it is applied throughout the process of creating business value.
Developers pair program while working on a Task which is part of a Story. Zoom out a bit and a Team of pairs swarms on a Story which is part of a Sprint. Zoom out another level and you may see a group of Teams coordinating the work on their Sprint Backlogs which are (sort of) part of a Product Backlog. OK, so the last bit might be more of a stretch, but you get the idea.
Feedback cycles also exhibit a repeating pattern. Members of a Pair talk with each other in pairing sessions; the Continuous Integration server 'talks' to the Team many times a day; a Team talks with each other in the Daily Scrum/Standup; Teams and Product Owners talk during a Sprint, in the Sprint Planning, at Sprint Reviews and Retrospectives.
Agile Planning happens at many levels: during Pairing Sessions, Sprint Planning, Release Planning, Creating Roadmaps and Product Visions.
Individuals -> Pairs -> Teams -> Groups of Teams -> Department/Company
Tasks -> Stories -> Sprints -> Releases/Product Backlogs
Pairing Conversation -> Daily Scrum -> Sprint Planning -> Roadmap Planning
Talking about Beer -> Drinking Beer -> Ordering Pitchers -> Kegger
The patterns are endless.