I was in a Moose Herd session the other day, where we discussed one of my articles, "So Over It." In the discussion, I mentioned my strong belief that Agile Coaches need to use patterns instead of frameworks in their experience toolbox.
I was surprised that several attendees didn’t understand the history of patterns, anti-patterns, and pattern languages in Agile contexts. But then I thought about the long history of patterns I’ve lived through, and that most agilists today don’t have that historical experience.
In a nutshell, it started with design patterns. These were software patterns that were successful nuggets to reuse in your development. Think of them as capsules of good practice or “this way works.” Anti-patterns were the opposite; they were nuggets of don’t do it this way or “Danger, Will Robinson.”
(How many of you got the last reference?)
I’m providing a list of some of the leading books in this space for anyone to research. I might recommend starting with the Design Patterns book, as, at least IMHO, it was the first and seminal work in this space.
· Design Patterns (1994)
o https://www.amazon.com/Design-Patterns-Elements-Reusable-Object-Oriented/dp/0201633612/
· Patterns of Enterprise Architecture
o https://www.amazon.com/Design-Patterns-Elements-Reusable-Object-Oriented/dp/0201633612/
· Organizational Patterns in Agile Software Development
o https://www.amazon.com/Organizational-Patterns-Agile-Software-Development/dp/0131467409/
· Agile Adoption Patterns: A Roadmap to Organizational Success
o https://www.amazon.com/Agile-Adoption-Patterns-Roadmap-Organizational-ebook/dp/B004UA7AJU/
· Patterns for Effective Use Cases
o https://www.amazon.com/Patterns-Effective-Cases-Software-Development/dp/0201721848/
· Fearless Change and More Fearless Change
o https://www.amazon.com/Fearless-Change-Patterns-Introducing-Ideas-ebook/dp/B0054RGYNQ/
o https://www.amazon.com/More-Fearless-Change-Strategies-Making/dp/0133966445/
· Team Topologies
o https://www.amazon.com/Team-Topologies-Organizing-Business-Technology/dp/1942788819/
· The Scrum Antipatterns book
o https://www.amazon.com/Scrum-Anti-patterns-Guide-Challenges-Professional/dp/0137977964/
· Agile Bullshit
o https://www.amazon.com/Agile-Bullshit-Discover-anti-patterns-organisation-ebook/dp/B0DY7LYH2X/
· Agile Kata
o https://www.amazon.com/Agile-Kata-Practices-Transformative-Organizational-ebook/dp/B0DHL1918Q/
· Anti-patterns in Project Management
o https://www.amazon.com/Anti-patterns-Project-Management-21-Aug-2000-Hardcover/dp/B012HUC6JI/
· Anti-patterns and Patterns in SCM
o https://www.amazon.com/Anti-Patterns-Patterns-Software-Configuration-Management/dp/0471329290/
Note: this is just a sample of Patterns references. A good search will find many, many more for your reading pleasure…
Decomposition into Patterns
I’ve also evolved my thinking from scaffolding, frameworks, or methods like SAFe, Scrum, or Kanban to decomposing them into patterns and parts instead of installing or using them holistically. I know I’ll take quite a bit of heat on this from the Scrum community, but I don’t care.
I’ve always considered frameworks to be a collection of patterns for a client-specific context. I recommend you recalibrate your thinking, too.
An example is using PI Planning as a pattern from SAFe, Backlog Refinement as a pattern from Scrum, and Workflow Transparency as a pattern from Kanban.
The Future
Aligned with my patterns thinking is the idea that the industry is moving from valuing roles (and their associated frameworks) to more of a skill-based valuation for what we do as Agile practitioners and change agents.
I strongly encourage every Scrum Master, Agile Coach, and Agile Practitioner to begin building their experience toolbox of patterns, which includes real-world usage around each pattern.
I think your future professional self will thank you for it.
Stay agile, my friends,
Bob.
By the way, this article explores more of my thoughts on this patterns-based direction.
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It didn't start with the Design Patterns book by the "gang of four."
It started with the seminal work of Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language, which precedes Design Patterns by almost twenty years.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/79766.A_Pattern_Language