InfoQ presents the story of a RUP shop's transition to Agile, presented by Tor Stenstad an exec with the Decisioning Support Engine team at Minneapolis-based GMAC-RFC , and coach David Hussman, filmed at the Agile2006 APLN Leadership Symposium. They presented lessons learned from their effort to create a process that not only produced value, but which integrated well with the business for ongoing success. In this half-hour video Hussman & Stenstad reveal the gradual process from readiness assessment and chartering through education and practice to the creation of an adaptive culture with a "living plan", sharing lessons learned along the way.
The multi-million dollar program involved a high-profile project replacing a significant revenue vehicle - consisting in fact of multiple projects and a large program community, including stakeholders across a large and varied business community. In addition to identifying some key benefits of the transition, the presenters also identify some important costs, including time and energy required to engage the business. Another cost identified is the shift to a culture of transparency, which requires effort to "radiate" the right information, and which tends to make unpalatable truths visible much earlier in the development lifecycle - which is a good thing, but also challenging.
View the InfoQ video presentation: Reflecting Forward – A Guided Agile Transition.