Understanding Agile

6 Agile planning

“Plan for the difficult while it is easy.

Act upon the great from the beginning of the minute.

All difficult affairs must be taken care of when they are easy.

All great accomplishments must be performed from the small tasks. Lao Tzu”

Planning is an area that often causes problems and misunderstandings when discussed in conjunction with Agile. The Agile Manifesto statement ‘Responding to change over following a plan’ can be unhelpful when interpreted to mean that planning is not necessary. I have even heard of organizations using this statement as a reason for not planning at all in Agile projects. Conversely, it is also used as a reason for organizations not adopting Agile, believing that Agile initiatives are unplanned and ...