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Detecting “Agile BS” Revisited

The Department of Defense (DoD) Innovation Board (DIB) coined the term “Agile BS” to highlight a major issue: teams claiming they are “agile” but not delivering the value real agility creates. We applaud the DoD for both their willingness to tackle this critical issue and the undiplomatic title.

To support their work, we developed the following indicators of potential Agile BS after working with 100+ agile teams and seeking feedback from Government and private sector agile coaches.

The Quick and Easy Agile BS Detector

The questions take 2 – 3 minutes to complete and focus on software delivery programs. You can tweak the meaning of each question so they also apply to non-software programs, or contact us for help.

Choose the best answer for each statement below. If you have multiple agile teams, walk through the questions separately for each team.

At least every two weeks, the agile team delivers a working product that either a subset of users or all users can interact with.

Always

Usually

Sometimes

Infrequently

Never

At least once per quarter, customers (e.g., mission area leaders) evaluate and supply quantitative feedback scores and narrative on business value delivered.

Always

Usually

Sometimes

Infrequently

Never

At least once per quarter, the agile team quantitatively measures stakeholder satisfaction (e.g., using Net Promoter Score [NPS] for mission sponsors, IT, and system users) and takes action to improve.

Always

Usually

Sometimes

Infrequently

Never

How many people are on your agile team?

Under 8

8 to 11

12 to 15

Over 15

Per person, how much time do agile team members DEDICATE to continuous improvement (e.g., attending meetings specifically for improving the team's process, addressing team process improvement backlog items) each month?

< 1 hour

1 – 2 hours

3 – 5 hours

6 – 10 hours

> 10 hours

Our leaders and key stakeholders expect waterfall artifacts (e.g., detailed project schedule, comprehensive requirements document, stage-gate sign-offs).

Always

Usually

Sometimes

Infrequently

Never

Our agile team collects quantitative metrics (e.g., velocity, defect rates, psychological safety measures) and they show improvements over time.

Always

Usually

Sometimes

Infrequently

Never

How often do one or more agile team members meet with real system users to learn from them (e.g., observe them working, discuss their views and challenges)?

Monthly

Quarterly

Every 6 months

Less than every 6 months

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