Tag: Agile Principles

Simplicity at work – I h’ve always wondered what does this mean to me, to my team and to my organization. In my quest to know more, I asked this to many Agile Coaches and enthusiasts on various groups.

In this post, I like to share what I understood and gathered from my interaction with these people: Steve Ash, Charles Bradley, Lynn Shrewsbury, Ruud Rietveld, Philip Ledgerwood, John Hebley, Jeff McKenna, George Dinwiddie, Adam Sroka, Michael James, Matt Anderson and Cass Dalton.

[pullquote]Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. ~ Leonardo da Vinci[/pullquote]

Decluttering is a consequence of Simplicity. Simplicity leads to:

Decluttering of products.
Decluttering of your mind. Not being manipulative – being honest, open and trustworthy.
Decluttering your workspace, working in open spaces.

[pullquote]Scrum philosophy of working in small teams, small sprints, small stories imbibe simplicity thinking – Thoughtful reduction.[/pullquote]

The desirability of simplicity is sometimes expressed as the KISS Principle.

Do today only what you absolutely need to do today. No ‘future-proofing’. No ‘gold-plating’.
Achieve Just Barely Good Enough (JBGE). JBGE is actually the most effective possible.

Thanks to Scott Ambler for sharing this term JBGE. You could read more about this in my earlier post Agility is About Identifying and Achieving “Good Enough”

There is a point in time when any additional effort put into work product will increase its cost without increasing its value. If not zero, the increase in value may be insignificant compared with the increase in cost. This is the point to stop! (Achieving JBGE).