What is Disciplined Agile?
Disciplined Agile, abbreviated as DA, is a way of working framework that takes the individual first and gives a little guidance to optimize the project. Moreover, it is similar to the Crystal method as DA is a hybrid approach combining the parts of Scrum, Kanban, Extreme Programming (XP) and other agile methodology. Disciplined Agile is essentially a decision toolkit for agile projects that strives to scale agile for larger and complex projects. By doing so, DA helps the teams to modernize their processes to achieve an agile business and boost their success.
What Makes it Unique?
- It is a flexible method as it can be applied on big teams along with a team of few members working on scrum.
- It does not depend upon team size, but it addresses whole complexities of your team which Nexus and SAFe methods are unable to do.
- It does not follow the idea of single paradigm, but It adopt methods from different sources like agile source, lean source, and traditional source also.
- It provides straightforward teachings which helps in the identification of potential gaps which helps in reducing the no of failed experiments.
- It supports all types of teams, not just the software side. Software team, vendor team and sales teams. So, an extra edge is there above other methods.
Origin of the Disciplined Agile?
Scott Ambler, the chief methodologist of IT at IBM formulated the DA framework in the beginning of 2009. The method was developed incrementally over the next three years until it reached a more mature state. In 2019, the Project Management Institute acquired Disciplined Agile. According to the press release at the time, there are over 12,000 practitioners in 30 countries[1].
Similar to the Agile Manifesto, the Disciplined Agile also proposed its core principles in a manifesto 17 important guidelines.[2]
Why it is Important?
Many of the organization follow the agile way starting from scrum because it is a good strategy providing a combination of agility and results. Scrum helps in providing a futuristic solution to the stakeholders. However, most of the agile methods suffer from its ability to scale readily for larger and more complex projects.
DA uses a number of strategies to boost its success[3]:
- Managing Customer Expectations: DA has a track record of success in terms of achieving customer satisfactory and outcompete competition because the fourth principle of DA. This includes the demand that the stakeholders and developers collaborate to meet customer expectation.
- Focusing on Effectiveness: According to the 12th principle of its Manifesto, “The team continuously reflects on how to become more effective, then experiments learn, and adjusts its behavior accordingly.” Depending on the present working situation, this framework helps in finding the most effective way of doing work and develop new strategies to improve the development process.
- Optimizing Process & Workflow: DA encourages redesigning and improving processes at an organization level to achieve a better balance of process and results. DA emphasize on the workflow for smooth delivery assurance. Optimization is heavily emphasized in the 6th and 7th principle.
- Engaging and Empowering Team Members: Heavy emphasis is placed on team training – so they all reach a level of discipline and proficiency at managing work. Through proficiency and strong process mindset, team members are able to increase their process autonomy and achieve a higher level of team performance.
Application of Disciplined Agile?
DA is applied where projects or work contains a large amount of processes and complexity, especially in highly competitive environment. DA helps to move in a measured way and to achieve a rapid success.
Key Features and Benefits:
- It helps the teams to manage their way of working effectively.
- It helps in selecting the most convenient and powerful process to proceed.
- It provides new strategies for making the development process more successful.
- It enhances the safety of workers in the most efficient way.
- It also increases the chances of your agile transformation.
Key Challenges or Drawbacks:
- It is not an ideal solution for the newly made organization that it is very difficult to apply it accordingly.
- The companies trying to apply DA need professional consultants because there is a lack of guidance.
- A new transformation to the agile approach can cause a loss of money due to mismanagement.
Success Stories of Disciplined Agile[4]:
Franklin Templeton:
Franklin Templeton starting using DA in 2015. They had achieved greater competition in the industry using the agile technique. At the start, the agile techniques were not appreciated by the most, but over time, interests and excitements grew especially with the early successes. Franklin attempted a shift to scrum several years ago, but it was not accepted by PMO teams. After the adaptation of Disciplined Agile with initial success, Franklin achieved a suitable level of agility that met the strategic and long terms needs of the company. Thereafter, Franklin focused on institutionalization of DA, which was adapted to the various arms of the entire organization. The company avoided mandates and encouraged self-starting teams with a push toward performance and competitiveness. Over time, the agile mindset in general and the DA in specific impact every corner of the firm. Today, the company credits its transformation from traditional to agile to the adoption of the Disciplined Agile method.
Open Link:
Operlink started to adopt DA in 2013, and emphasis on training. With this transformation, Operlink found a great increase in productivity, a decrease in product count, fewer customer issues, an increase of morale, and a collaborative team.
Readers can find more about these and other stories at https://disciplinedagileconsortium.org/Disciplined-Agile-Case-Study#Success_FT.
Not So Final Words
Disciplined Agile is a late entrant to the world of agile methodologies. Comparatively, it is heavier on process requiring more disciplined with greater rigidity as compared to other agile methods. Furthermore, while boosting 12,000 followers, this number is dismally tiny when compared to the other major agile methodologies such as Scrum.
However, since the acquisition by PMI and the heavy investment afterwards, DA may have a vibrant future. At the time of writing this article (in July 2020), there is a rumor that PMI is considering replacing its current Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP®) with Disciplined Agile. We will have to wait and see.
Here is the editor’s advice:
- For organizations with complex mix of large projects seeking to “go agile” or “go hybrid” especially from a traditional predictive mindset, DA is a worthy consideration. Its weakness of process discipline is a strength here as it provides a bridge from the traditional to agile. Furthermore, DA itself is a combination of many agile methods. This should ease the transition.
- For organizations that work on a particular project, such as software development, then DA may be an overkill. Depending on the type of software and the development and release cycle, XP, Scrum, Kanban, or Lean may be more suitable.
- For practitioners seeking to increase their marketability (not skills), DA is too early unless you are targeting a company that has adopted DA. But for those who want to be on the ground floor of a new movement, then DA is a good bet – because PMI is a formidable organization with its vast membership and marketing power.
For more information, readers may wish to refer to these articles:
- Disciplined Agile Overview by Mark Lines, VP at PMI (Youtube video, 27 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHNnYtCj5oc
- Introduction to Disciplined Agile (1 hour a recorded webinar: https://www.pmi-se.org/Kalendarium/Introduction-to-Disciplined-Agile_2020-05-13
- Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD): https://www.pmi.org/disciplined-agile/process/introduction-to-dad
References
[1] Press Release: Project Management Institute Announces Acquisition of Disciplined Agile, August 2, 2019. Retrieved on July 25, 2020 from https://www.pmi.org/about/press-media/press-releases/project-management-institute-announces-acquisition-of-disciplined-agile
[2] The Disciplined Agile Manifesto, Retrieved on July 25, 2020 from https://disciplinedagileconsortium.org/resources/Documents/Posters/PosterDisciplinedAgileManifesto.pdf
[3] Discipline Agile for Executives, Retrieved on July 25, 2020 from https://disciplinedagileconsortium.org/Disciplined-Agile-Executive#Exec_Why_DA
[4]Disciplined Agile Success Stories. Retrieved on July 25, 2020 from https://disciplinedagileconsortium.org/Disciplined-Agile-Case-Study#Success_FT
