Hybrid Agile Project Management

Learn How to Get the Best of Both Worlds

Agile History

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 Agile History

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Before we get into more detail on Agile and Hybrid Agile models, I think it’s useful to quickly
review some of the history that led to the development of Agile Manifesto

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Software Development Prior to the Waterfall Model
Software Development Process Prior to the Waterfall Model:

Unstructured,

Ad-hoc, and

Chaotic

Results:

Poor and Inconsistent Quality

Prone to Errors

Limited Standardization and Compatibility

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Software development prior to the Waterfall Model was somewhat unstructured and chaotic.
You also have to appreciate that the technology for doing software development in those days
was much more primitive than it is today. In those days, software development tools were not
very sophisticated, development languages were much more limited, and software development
patterns and architectures were also not as well-defined as they are today.

The process for developing software in those days might be compared to the process for knitting
a sweater by hand…it was an art and required a lot of craftsmanship and the process was very
primitive compared to today’s standards. And it wasn’t just the process that was the problem,
the technology and tools were primitive as well at that time.

• The nature of the technology and the process required a heavy emphasis on upfront design -
can you imagine trying to knit a sweater without knowing exactly what it’s going to look like
before you start?

• It was also difficult to scale that process - it’s like getting multiple people to try to knit the
same sweater – it’s a very difficult thing to do and it can be very prone to error and
problematic if the efforts of multiple people weren’t very carefully planned and coordinated.

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Evolution of the Waterfall Model

Software
Requirements
Analysis

Program
Design
Coding

Testing

Operations

Royce, Dr. William, Managing the Development of Large Software Systems,

http://leadinganswers.typepad.com/leading_answers/files/original_waterfall_paper_winston_royce.pdf

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One of the major reasons that processes like the Waterfall model evolved was to bring structure
and discipline to that development process. That was absolutely essential as projects grew larger as
well as more complex and more critical.

It’s important to recognize that because as we migrate to a more Agile approach, we don’t want to
lose sight of that and go back to a completely unstructured approach and all the problems that
existed prior to the Waterfall approach.

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Software Development After the Waterfall Model

Software Development Process After the Waterfall Model:

Very Structured,
Controlled, and
Planned and Organized

Results:
Much higher levels of quality,
Standardization, and
Compatibility

© 2014-2020 High Impact Project Management, Inc. 5

The process for developing software after the evolution of the Waterfall model might be
compared to a manufacturing process for knitting a sweater in a manufacturing plant. It required
a lot less individual craftsmanship and the process was much more structured, controlled,
planned, and organized.

That resulted in higher levels of quality and standardization as well as compatibility; but, of
course, the downside of that was because the products were more standardized and controlled,
the process was naturally much less flexible and required defining the requirements upfront.

You might compare it to the evolution that manufacturing processes went through to go from
the age of craftsmanship to highly controlled manufacturing processes that came about with the
industrial revolution and manufacturing assembly lines.

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Dr. Winston Royce – Waterfall Model 1970

Software Development Process Software Development Process

Prior to the Waterfall Model: After the Waterfall Model:

Unstructured, Very Structured,

Ad-hoc, and Controlled, and

Chaotic Planned and Organized

Results: Results:

Poor and Inconsistent Quality Much higher levels of quality,

standardization and compatibility
Prone to Errors
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Limited Standardization and
Compatibility
© 2014-2020 High Impact Project Management, Inc.

The Waterfall process was an improvement over what came before it but it certainly wasn’t
optimal. The pendulum really swung pretty far between two extremes from a highly unstructured
approach based on individual craftsmanship to a very highly structured approach that was heavily
controlled, planned and organized.

The problem is that designing and developing software isn’t really totally like a manufacturing
process at all because the requirements aren’t necessarily well-defined before you start. As a
result, it isn’t as simple as building the same product over-and-over again on a manufacturing
assembly line.

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Early Agile Development Methods (1980’s and 1990’s)

Agile Waterfall

“Agile methods were direct spinoffs of software methods from the 1980s, namely:

• Joint Application Design (1986),

• Rapid Systems Development (1987), and
• Rapid Application Development (1991).”
Rico, Dr. David F, The History, Evolution and Emergence of Agile Project Management Frameworks, http://davidfrico.com/rico-apm-frame.pdf

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In reaction to the problems caused by an excessive emphasis on control in the Waterfall model,
the pendulum started to swing back in the other direction in the 1980’s and 1990’s with a variety
of iterative and incremental approaches such as the Rational Unified Process (RUP).

Agile methods really had their roots in the 1980’s and 1990’s in some methodologies that
became popular at that time such as Joint Application Development in 1986 and Rapid
Application Development in 1991. However the roots of Agile really can be traced into a number
of manufacturing advances that came about at that time such as Total Quality Management
which we will discuss in a later lecture.

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Continued Agile Development (1990’s)
“Agile methods formally began in the 1990s with:
• Crystal (1991),
• Scrum (1993),
• Dynamic Systems Development (1994),
• Synch-n-Stabilize (1995),
• Feature Driven Development (1996),
• Judo Strategy (1997), and
• Internet Time (1998).
Other agile methods included:
• New Development Rhythm (1989),
• Adaptive Software Development (1999),
• Open Source Software Development (1999),
• Lean Development (2003), and
• Agile Unified Process (2005).

However, the popularity of Extreme Programming (1999) was the singular event leading to the
unprecedented success of agile methods by the early 2000s.”
Rico, Dr. David F, The History, Evolution and Emergence of Agile Project Management Frameworks, http://davidfrico.com/rico-apm-frame.pdf

© 2014-2020 High Impact Project Management, Inc. 8

There was a broad proliferation of Agile methodologies that evolved in the 1990’s; however the
popularity of Extreme Programming was the singular event in 1999 that led to the
unprecedented success of Agile methods by the early 2000’s.

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 NEXT LECTURE…
AGILE VERSUS WATERFALL
CHOOSING THE RIGHT APPROACH

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In the next lesson we’re going to talk about choosing the right approach between Agile and
Waterfall