1. Preachers & Zombies
Jon McNestrie
http://www.meetup.com/Agile-North-East/

2. Preachers & Zombies - Jon McNestrie http://www.meetup.com/Agile-North-East/
Why do we do it?
• Tight iterations / quick feedback
• Deliver high value items first
• Fail early!
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan

3. http://www.meetup.com/Agile-North-East/
The enemy?
Preachers & Zombies - Jon McNestrie
“BRAINS”
“We will not tire,
we will not falter,
and we will not
fail”

4. http://www.meetup.com/Agile-North-East/
Preachers
• “That’s not how you do it!”
Preachers & Zombies - Jon McNestrie
• Purists, nothing is quite good
enough – pursuit of perfection
• Agile Commandments
• Thou shalt not….
– Plan
– Have deadlines
– Have multiple offices
– Use the word project

5. http://www.meetup.com/Agile-North-East/
Preachers
• There is no law, just some principals
Preachers & Zombies - Jon McNestrie
• Inspect / Adapt can also apply to
who over-arching process
• Aiming for what fits your
organisation and making
incremental steps is nothing to be
ashamed of

6. http://www.meetup.com/Agile-North-East/
Zombies
• “Everyone’s doing agile – so should we”
Preachers & Zombies - Jon McNestrie
• But the
book/guide/coach says
‘do this’
• Sleep walking through
the rituals without
knowing why
• The recipe for success

7. http://www.meetup.com/Agile-North-East/
Zombies
• Cargo Cult Agile (http://www.jamesshore.com/Blog/Cargo-Cult-Agile.html)
• More than the processes and rituals
Preachers & Zombies - Jon McNestrie
• Look to good software
processes that Scrum
encourages (TDD,
Automated Testing, CI, etc)
• Prove the worth of these
techniques with improved
delivery

8. http://www.meetup.com/Agile-North-East/
Look for the good
• The preachers are keen
and have some real
passion
• The zombies realise that
there is a path to follow
and can be shown the
way
• Both need some help……
Preachers & Zombies - Jon McNestrie

9. http://www.meetup.com/Agile-North-East/
Why do we do it, again..
• Lean on the agile manifesto
• Customer at the centre of everything
• Understand what you’re doing and why
• Adapt to fit
• Collaboration
• Educate the people in your organization
Preachers & Zombies - Jon McNestrie

10. More questions?
http://www.meetup.com/Agile-North-East/Preachers & Zombies - Jon McNestrie