By Tim Nolan
Senior Applications Manager
Collin County, TX
The Agile Manifesto follows 12 Principles that focus on value, collaboration, motivated people, change, rapid delivery, and simplicity.
These same principles apply to government regardless of whether your agency is Federal, State or Local. The principles offer a pragmatic approach for working with customers, citizens, employees and each other.
An agile government provides excellent services and value because managers trust their teams to do the work and to collaborate directly with customers. Instead of micromanaging and frustration, there is daily communication and collaboration. This culture of transparency rubs off on the customers within an agile government — and soon, the culture of the agency begins to shift.
With agile processes paving the way for delighted customers, a government’s focus can be on providing genuine happiness instead of settling for “good enough” or shrugging off another failed IT project. Eventually, a government practicing agile will adopt a permanent agile mindset. The 12 Principles behind the Agile Manifesto will become self-evident instead of being something to strive for.
The easiest way to identify and explain what agile offers to your agency is to replace it with “flexible”. We want our government to be flexible to meet the changing needs of our customers and citizens. We want our government to be flexible to produce the greatest value within the allotted time frame and budget.
Being agile (flexible, transparent, efficient) should be the goal of every government agency.