My blog post Why do you want to become agile? has been translated to German by Christoph Kornstädt from Safari Consulting: Warum wollen Sie eigentlich agil werden? In this post I explain why the goal for a software organization should be to achieve results by delivering valuable products and services, and not to become agile. You have to know why you want to become agile to become successful.
I was contacted by Safari consulting who asked me if I would be ok with publishing a German version of my successful blog post. Of course, I am honored!
This is how they introduced the topic:
Viele Unternehmen wollen agil werden, „weil man das nun mal heutzutage so macht“. Weil sie erwarten, dadurch automatisch besser, produktiver, innovativer zu werden. Doch die wenigsten suchen wirklich nach dem eigentlichen Sinn der agilen Arbeitsweise. Dazu konnten wir einen Gastautor gewinnen, der wirklich weiß, wovon er spricht und der uns hinterfragen lässt, was denn wirklich hinter „agil werden“ steckt.
Earlier I also published a Dutch version of this post, titled Waarom Agile?
Het is belangrijk om goed te weten waarom je de agility van je organisatie wilt vergroten en wat je met een agile werkwijze verwacht te bereiken. Agile werken kan je helpen om organisatiedoelen te bereiken. Agile tot een doel verheffen werkt meestal niet, het doel is om resultaten te bereiken, niet om agile te worden. Vandaar de vraag “Waarom Agile?”.
My advice to companies is to think about why they want to become agile. Pick one reason, and one only. State very clearly in one sentence what your main objective to become agile. What would make your agile transformation successful. Going for one goal is hard enough. Also, the reason you choose impacts the way that agile will be applied, so choose your reason carefully.
