Model-Based System Architecture, 2nd Edition

16Agile Approaches

Anyone who has followed the countless discussions surrounding the term Agile in recent years, or decades, will have noticed that there are very different opinions about what Agile could actually mean. The Internet is scattered with various theories and propositions of what Agile is all about.

Some people take the view that a team or project organization is Agile if it uses an iterative–incremental process for its development process (We will discuss later in this chapter that this is basically not true!). Other people say that being Agile means brushing aside planning and all the other “old-fashioned project management stuff” and then just processing tasks by acclamation, depending on which stakeholder is screaming the loudest or how the product owner is prioritizing them. Still other people say that Agile means having lots of sticky notes on a wall, as well as regular stand-up meetings. There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about Agile.

In this Chapter, not only the term Agile will be enlightened and explained. We, the authors, are convinced that agile values and principles, as well as the practices, tools, and some of the frameworks that exist in this context, have many advantages that can be a benefit for any systems engineering project. We've seen organizations that have adopted agile principles, practices, and tools partially in their development units or even on a more broader basis.

However, so far we have hardly seen any organization in systems ...