Agile For Entrepreneurs
As a Software Engineer, I normally think of Agile in terms of software development. As someone who has rolled out Agile practices at several companies, I also think of it in terms of how Agile software development affects the rest of the company. The last company I worked for (yes, I’m still looking for work!) implemented full Scrum, including pair programming, TDD (as in, insufficient code coverage had a direct effect on your bonus), retrospectives, standups, etc.
I came across an interesting blog post, The Smart Entrepreneur’s Guide to Finishing What You Started, on Scott Ginsberg‘s blog that suggests entrepreneurs learn lessons from Agile, too. Scott bills himself as “The Authority on Approachability”, but most of his blog posts seem to be aimed at high-level business and marketing people. He also claims to wear a nametag 24/7, with a tattoo of a nametag sufficing for certain occasions. Everyone needs a shtick, though, and this is what us geeks call “mostly harmless“.
This post proposes favoring action over inaction, moving at a sustainable rate, making sure you’re focused on the customer’s needs, limiting scope to enable completion of a phase/project, and [post="Done Means Done Done Done" text="making sure done means done done done"]. Sound familiar?
I also liked his post 6 Ways to Rally without Being Ready, reminding us that you’re never 100% ready, but that’s not actually required to start.