Choosing Your Way of Working (WoW) in Disciplined Agile
5 minutes
5 Questions
In Disciplined Agile (DA), selecting your Way of Working (WoW) is a fundamental concept that empowers teams to tailor their processes to fit their unique context. Unlike prescriptive frameworks, DA recognizes that every team operates within a distinct environment, facing specific challenges, constr…In Disciplined Agile (DA), selecting your Way of Working (WoW) is a fundamental concept that empowers teams to tailor their processes to fit their unique context. Unlike prescriptive frameworks, DA recognizes that every team operates within a distinct environment, facing specific challenges, constraints, and goals. Choosing your WoW involves a guided approach where teams assess their situation and select practices, processes, and techniques that best address their needs.
The DA toolkit provides a rich collection of guidance to assist teams in making these choices. It includes decision trees, option lists, and trade-offs that help teams understand the implications of selecting certain practices over others. By doing so, teams can craft a process that is both effective and efficient for their specific context.
This approach fosters a culture of continuous improvement and learning. Teams are encouraged to regularly reflect on their WoW, experimenting with new practices and adjusting as necessary. This adaptability is crucial in today's fast-paced, complex environments where change is constant.
Moreover, choosing your WoW promotes team empowerment and ownership. Teams are not merely following orders from a central authority but are actively engaged in designing how they work. This involvement can lead to higher motivation, better collaboration, and ultimately, improved outcomes.
In summary, choosing your Way of Working in Disciplined Agile is about leveraging the DA toolkit to create a context-sensitive process. It recognizes the uniqueness of each team and provides the flexibility to design, evolve, and optimize practices that lead to success. This concept is essential for Disciplined Agile Scrum Masters who guide teams in navigating the complexities of process design and implementation.
Choosing Your Way of Working (WoW) in Disciplined Agile: A Comprehensive Guide
Introduction to Choosing Your Way of Working (WoW) in Disciplined Agile
Choosing your Way of Working (WoW) is a fundamental concept in Disciplined Agile (DA) that distinguishes it from more prescriptive frameworks. It represents the process-decision flexibility that allows teams to select, tailor, and evolve their approach to best suit their unique context.
Why Choosing Your WoW is Important
Choosing your WoW is critical because:
- It recognizes that each team operates in a unique context with different goals, challenges, and constraints - It empowers teams to make informed decisions about their processes rather than following rigid methodologies - It promotes continuous improvement by encouraging teams to regularly reflect on and evolve their practices - It increases ownership and engagement when team members participate in defining how they work - It leads to better outcomes as teams can select the most appropriate techniques for their specific situation
What is Choosing Your WoW in Disciplined Agile?
Choosing your WoW in DA involves:
1. Process tailoring: Selecting and adapting practices from the DA toolkit to fit your specific context 2. Goal-driven approach: Focusing on outcomes rather than following prescribed procedures 3. Context-sensitive choices: Considering factors like team size, distribution, domain complexity, organizational culture, and regulatory environment 4. Guided continuous improvement: Using the DA toolkit as a map to find better ways of working over time
The DA toolkit provides options organized by process goals, allowing teams to make informed choices about which practices work best for their context.
How Choosing Your WoW Works
The process typically follows these steps:
1. Identify your context: Understand your team's situation, constraints, and goals 2. Evaluate options: Explore relevant practices from the DA toolkit for each process goal 3. Select initial practices: Choose practices that best fit your context 4. Experiment and learn: Implement chosen practices and gather feedback 5. Evolve your approach: Regularly reflect and adjust your WoW based on experiences
DA provides guided choices through:
- Process goals: Clear outcomes to achieve - Decision points: Key aspects of each goal where choices must be made - Options: Potential practices for each decision point - Trade-offs: Considerations of the strengths and weaknesses of each option
Key Principles in Choosing Your WoW
1. Start with what you know: Begin with familiar approaches and evolve from there 2. Context counts: There is no single best way of working - what works depends on your situation 3. Choice is good: Having options enables teams to find what works best for them 4. Optimize flow: Focus on delivering value efficiently across the entire value stream 5. Enterprise awareness: Consider how your choices impact the broader organization
Common Tools for Choosing Your WoW
- Guided Continuous Improvement (GCI): A process for evolving your WoW over time - Process goal diagrams: Visual representations of options for specific process goals - The DA Process Workshop: A collaborative session for teams to design their WoW - Retrospectives: Regular reflection points to identify improvement opportunities
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Choosing Your WoW in Disciplined Agile
1. Emphasize context-sensitivity: When answering questions, highlight that the best approach depends on context factors. Avoid answers suggesting a universal best practice.
2. Focus on goals over practices: Remember that DA is goal-driven, not practice-driven. Look for answers that prioritize achieving outcomes rather than following specific methods.
3. Recognize the spectrum of options: DA acknowledges that practices exist on a spectrum from simple to advanced. The right choice depends on team maturity and needs.
4. Apply the Disciplined Agile mindset: Answers should reflect pragmatism, context-sensitivity, choice, and learning.
5. Watch for key DA concepts: - Be enterprise aware - Be awesome (continuous improvement) - Pragmatism over purism - Choice is good - Context counts
6. When in doubt about process choices: - The simplest option is often best for beginning teams - More sophisticated options are appropriate for experienced teams - The hybrid approach is typically most common - Experimental options require appropriate governance
7. Process tailoring indicators: Look for phrases indicating proper process tailoring such as: - "Based on the team's context..." - "After considering the specific situation..." - "Evolving the approach as the team learns..." 8. Red flags in answers: Be cautious of options that: - Suggest rigid adherence to specific practices - Claim there is only one right way to work - Fail to consider team context - Skip the evaluation of options
Remember that Disciplined Agile emphasizes making thoughtful, context-appropriate choices rather than following prescribed processes. The exam will likely test your understanding of this fundamental principle.