What is Agile?
For years, Agile has been a common term in business. But what exactly is Agile? The movement was conceived in 2001 by seventeen programmers. Indeed, Agile comes from software development. Together, the group wrote the “Agile Manifesto,” a manifesto outlining the most important basic principles of Agile. Those principles are now used by hundreds of thousands of practitioners around the world. And the fact that it is used so much is for good reason.
What does Agile deliver?
Agile enables organizations to deal with continuous change. Indeed, the Agile mindset focuses on being able to quickly anticipate change in order to create maximum added value for the customer. Agile, then, is not about doing more work in less time: it is about creating more value with less work. In short, the foundation of Agile is people-centric. And flexibility is also an important concept within Agile. Working optimally with suppliers and customers creates the flexibility to maintain competitive advantage.
Agile versus Lean
Agile and Lean are often conflated or compared. And indeed, there is overlap. In fact, both philosophies center on creating customer value. But whereas Agile is about being able to anticipate change quickly, the Lean philosophy focuses on a continuous improvement culture and working efficiently within one’s own organization. This is done by focusing on achieving flow especially in the primary processes and preventing waste. In short, the foundation of Lean is process-oriented and the differentiator is cost control.
Want to learn more about Agile and Lean? Then read the article Agile, Scrum and Lean, a beautiful marriage and check out our two-day Agile & Scrum Master training course.
Using Agile and Lean together
So both Lean and Agile are strongly focused on the customer. At this point they reinforce each other, and often they can even be used both – side by side. A good example is that of an automotive supplier focused on the mass production of a specific part of a car. One interest is to produce these parts at the lowest possible cost, and a Lean approach fits well with that. But, what if due to the constantly changing demands of OEMs, and because of the emergence of new technologies, at some point this component no longer proves necessary? Is the organization then able to change and move with them in a timely manner? Consider a product development process – APQP, for example – where progressive insights (from both the organization and the customer) often lead to changes. In this issue, Agile is the right mindset to employ, as the organization benefits from a form of flexibility. And both pathways can reinforce each other very well.
Agile or Lean for your organization
In short, it is not a matter of simply choosing between Agile and Lean. Sometimes Agile turns out to be the right choice, sometimes Lean – and sometimes a combination of both. The trick is to extract from both those things that work best for the organization.
Training and consulting in Agile or Lean
Are you curious about which components are best to implement in your organization? And would you like to know what Symbol can do for your organization in terms of training and consulting in Agile or Lean? The quickest way to get in touch with an expert is to call (053) 203 02 40. We are happy to help you!