In the Webinar, I explored how not only are these two elements present in all views of agile, no matter how you slice it, but also always in an equal balance between people and process. This is no spooky coincidence, or hidden code, rather the sign of a balanced system. Let’s look further:

The Agile Manifesto has two values focused on people and two focused on process:

When we examine the 12 Agile Manifesto Principles again we see 6 focussed on people and a counter balancing 6 based on process.

Finally, we looked at frameworks including Alistair Cockburn’s Heart of Agile and Joshua Kerievsky’s Modern agile. First looking at the original model and then superimposing views of People and Process.

In Alistair’s Heart of Agile model the “Deliver” and “Improve” process concepts are complimented by the “Collaborate” and “Reflect” people focussed concepts. Likewise, Joshua’s very much people focused “Make People Awesome” and “Make Safety a Prerequisite” are balanced and complimented by the “Deliver Value Continually” and “Experiment and Learn Rapidly” ideas.

Both models are evenly balanced between people and process advice and this fact along with their clarity and simplicity is what makes them both powerful and compelling.

The webinar was an introductory presentation designed for people new to agile, but experienced practitioners can also benefit from being aware of these two elements and looking for a healthy balance of attention within teams. People sometimes have a personal bias or natural aptitude for the people side of things or the process side of things. So why not ask the team if they think the system is in balance and what they suggest to restore any imbalances?

As mentioned at the start of this post, the webinar recording is now available, you can access it by registering here: register to receive a link to the recording here.