— 2014 —

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Bring Agile to the Whole Organization

by Jeff Gothelf

Software has eaten the world. And as it continues to consume new and diverse industries, it’s transforming the way business is done. We are all in the “software business” now, regardless of the product or service we provide, forcing us to reexamine how we structure and manage our organizations.

When I ask managers if their organizations practice “agile,” they almost always say yes. Probing a bit deeper reveals that most of this agility starts and ends with the product development teams—specifically software engineering. There is rarely a mention of “agile in the HR group” or “continuous improvement in finance.” And yet, it is in these infrastructural disciplines ...

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