If you’re wondering why I’m speaking of Agile and Lean in the same breath, well the answer is twofold:
  • Both are value driven, though Agile is a framework and Lean (if used within the scope of Six Sigma), provides methodologies and tools to “clearly” define the value propositions.
  • In my professional career, I have used both in conjunction and separately and have found them to work perfectly in unison.

The Agile principals promote projects (not just software related) to be value driven and Lean provides tools that can assist in ascertaining value proposition – I’ll make the connection a bit later, so stay with me.



I was recently asked to improve an existing process of delivery with targets:
  • Quicker time-to-market (TTM),
  • Cost savings in form of CapEx and OpEx – easier said than done right!
After analyzing the software (SW) delivery process, I decided the following:

1.     Apply Lean Six Sigma (LSS) technique of DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control)
2.     Create a value proposition via Quality Function Deployment (QFD) or House of Quality (HoQ)
3.     Based on the QFD, change the delivery process to adopt Scrum as the means of delivery vs a waterfall approach.

Then came the fun part; convincing everyone to go with the recommendations.  Easier said than done, I know!  

Magic Formula:  A hint of “SWOT”, with a dash of “five force analysis" and whole lot of facts from the QFD, made the session with management very simple, as the “value” was clear i.e TTM had been reduced by 45 days and savings approaching seven figures.  Hard to argue with that!

Implementation:  Taking on the role of Product Owner (PO) and pseudo Scrum Master (SM) a team was formed.  We planned to use “Scrum”.  Since, this was a first for almost all, we went through the growing pains of:

Forming to Storming to Norming to Performing = Self Organized Team

By the time we were done with our final sprint, the questions were being asked, “Why have we not done it like this before” and other inquiring about the “how(s) of being able to replicate”. 

Finally: The best part about Agile and Lean are that they both focus on providing the best value to the end user, be at an enterprise level or consumer level.  They both target minimizing “waste” in the form of technical debt or un-optimized process.

When combined and implemented correctly, they are a lethal combination for a startup or an incumbent.