In the previous post, we talked about the agile manifesto and how companies should not be afraid to adapt its values (or the values of any methodology in general) to their own specific circumstances.

If the values or rules don’t make sense, they should be changed. This doesn’t mean that the agile manifesto itself needs to be changed, though. The point is that the goal of an organization should never be to blindly enforce a specific methodology, but to develop a flexible hybrid that evolves based on what works, and what doesn’t.

This is not a trivial task. You need to make sure you understand the methodology before you change it. And the change needs to happen for the right reason.

For example, a project manager who is used to the traditional waterfall process, but doesn’t know much about the scrum methodology, currently used at the company, shouldn’t try to incorporate the elements of the waterfall process in the scrum process just because he’s not familiar with scrum.

Only after the proper training will he be able to make an educated decision.

People prefer familiar over unfamiliar. We unconsciously stick with what we know because we see it as safe. It takes courage and faith to go out of the comfort zone and do things that are better for us in the long term.

The good news is: once you do it, and your comfort zone readjusts, it is much easier to do it again.