If you are subscribed to a few Project Management feeds, blogs, or YT channels (like this one), you’re probably seeing it too… I am talking about the constant flow of ‘Waterfall vs Agile’ arguments.
They usually go like one of these:
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Well, the answer is clear: ‘to one side’. I refuse to get drawn into it.
Always be suspicious of ‘either/or’ and ‘A versus B’ arguments
Unless, of course, you’re shopping on a tight budget.
These kinds of arguments imply a moral choice or (stronger still) an absolute right-wrong distinction.
One thing you’ll notice that lifts all these above cheap novels, B movies, and trash TV is complexity. The plots and characters reveal that there are no easy answers nor clear distinctions between right and wrong. Even the Jedi do bad things.
They appeal to us because we recognize the truth in the situations. Simple right and wrong distinctions only ever apply in the simplest of situations.
They are not simple.
So what on Earth makes some people think that easy right/wrong choices about big issues will characterize project management?
There is no right and wrong here. The most you can hope for is good and poor. Usually, the best you’ll get is ‘okay and a bit better’.
Simply stop applying it. They are two ends of a spectrum of ideas about how to approach a project. Indeed, in the hands of some writers, they are cartoonish extremes.
But if you are serious about Project Management, it’s time to take a serious approach to the debate. Avoid yes-no, right-wrong, this-that arguments about anything. Look deeply at the situation and ask:
‘what is its character and, therefore, what does it need?’
Draw from Agile, Waterfall, Change Management, Operations, Services… Call on anything and everything in your experience to design the right solution to get the job done.
And if you ever hear a trenchant argument that sounds like ‘this-not-that’, look for ways to reframe it as ‘this and that’.
Carefully curated video recommendations for you:
Agile vs Waterfall: Which one is Right for Your Project?
I asked Project Managers in a couple of forums what material things you need to have, to do your job as a Project Manager. They responded magnificently. I compiled their answers into a Kit list. I added my own.
Check out the Kit a Project Manager needs
Note that the links are affiliated.
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Waterfall vs Agile: The Big Principle at Stake | Video Click To TweetDr Mike Clayton is one of the most successful and in-demand project management trainers in the UK. He is author of 14 best-selling books, including four about project management. He is also a prolific blogger and contributor to ProjectManager.com and Project, the journal of the Association for Project Management. Between 1990 and 2002, Mike was a successful project manager, leading large project teams and delivering complex projects. In 2016, Mike launched OnlinePMCourses.
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