Rhythms as Agile Diagnostics

of objects to setup the system ‘just-right' so it can be tested leads to this problem.

Conclusion
We have presented several well-known rhythms of agile development processes and hopefully conveyed to the reader that these rhythms are excellent indicators of the health of his/her particular agile development process. We have not gone into great lengths of how to address problems. A prescriptive solution to each problem really does depend on the context. Our hope is that the reader can take away a few useful diagnostic tools. Once a rhythm is found to be out of range then due diligence should be done with the team to find and correct the source(s) of the problem.

[1] This is based on the naming of Scrum Meeting participants from the joke: "A chicken and a pig are together when the chicken says, "Let's start a restaurant!" The pig thinks it over and says "What would we call this restaurant?" The chicken says "Ham ‘n Eggs!" The pig says "No, thanks. I'd be committed, but you'd only be involved!".

About the Authors

Amr Elssamadisy is currently a Principal Consultant at Valtech ( www.valtech.com). He considers himself a developer but has also worked for consulting companies since 1999, so maybe an outgoing, people-oriented, developer is a better description. He has been working professionally as a software developer, architect, manager, consultant, etc... for over 12 years helping build software systems in C++, J2EE, and .NET. His first agile development project was a large project XP effort in 1999 where he had a chance to work and learn from some of the best in the field. Since then he has lead, participated, and guided teams in several large and small agile development projects in both the .NET and J2EE worlds.

Ashley Johnson is VP of Business Planning and Strategy for Valtech Skill Development, an organization focused on guiding clients to successfully adopt modern development processes and technologies. In this role, his time is split between refining new service offerings and consulting with senior IT management to facilitate organizational optimization.

Ashley is passionate about applying lean and agile techniques, and using simple metrics to improve visibility and eliminate waste. He has taught, coached, and consulted with thousands of individuals and is an acclaimed presenter. Ashley began developing hardware and embedded software in the early 1980's when he couldn't understand why people would pay him to have so much fun. Under pressure to get a life, he learned to enjoy backpacking, skiing, scuba diving, and radio control soaring. These hobbies are now eclipsed by his wonderful children.