At XP/AU 2004, I kept hearing the question of how to "sell Agile
to
the executives." I also heard a lot of discussion about
"crossing
the chasm," the book about the evolution of products from early
adoption to mainstream to late adoption. I got a chance to talk
about this with several other people (whose names I will only
disclose under duress), and I had the following insight: Agile is
not a product. Because it isn't a product, we shouldn't be
thinking
about selling it, we shouldn't be thinking about it crossing a
chasm.

Thinking of Agile as a product is particularly damaging because it
will cause Agile to have the same failure that CMM had when it was
viewed as a saleable commodity, as a product. People believed that
they could market it and make money from it. People who bought it
thought that they could then install it, train people on it, and
then they would be better. Bob Schatz from Primavera has often
pointed out that bringing Agile in is the start of an extensive
change process. Deciding on Agile is a commitment to an effort, not
the purchase of a solution.

I've been concerned for a while about organizations having some
success with Agile and deciding to go "Agile" whole hog.
Their
comments reflect a belief that Agile is something that can be
implemented, solving a problem, and then they can move on. More to
the truth, Agile is a commitment to collaboration, empowerment,
respecting each other, courage, flexibility, facing the truth, and
trust. It is about people, not products and solutions. I think
people who think they can buy an "Agile" product are going to
be in
for a rude shock.

I believe that Agile is part of a social revolution to help people
learn together to collaboratively figure out how to work and live in
an increasingly complex world. Agile is an attitude, not a product.
Agile is spirituality, not a religion. We don't have to sell it
as a
product. We don't have to evangelize it. We simply (and with
difficulty) have to live it. People will observe us and envy our joy
at work, and quake in fear and be defeated by our productivity. For
the old way of doing things doesn't cut it anymore. The Agile way
is
the appropriate response to our complex times.

So, be wary, Our culture thinks of everything as a saleable product.
It is the metaphor of out consumer society. We will fall back into
thinking of Agile as a product over and over, and it will confuse
our thinking. Whenever this happens to your neighbor, help them out.

Ken