how could you apply these 12 principles to your firm?
by jody padar
the radical cpa
let’s talk about what “agile” means and why you need to embrace this way of being. being a self-proclaimed techie, i’m kind of psyched that agile comes from a software definition.
more on radicalism: introducing the fifth radical tenet: the business model | the value of new ideas | our pain points are opportunities | dear midsized firms: yes, you can change | the radical road to (business) transformation | transitioning to a radical firm: bringing a legacy customer along | the four tenets of radical firms: a brief review | the radical cpa: always changing
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
agile software development describes a set of principles under which requirements and solutions evolve through the collaborative effort of self-organizing, cross-functional teams. it advocates
- adaptive planning,
- evolutionary development,
- early delivery and
- continuous improvement,
and it encourages rapid and flexible response to change. these principles support the definition and continuing evolution of many software development methods.
the term “agile” was first coined for this in 2001, in the “manifesto for agile software development,” and although originally written as agile (with a capital a), this is progressively becoming deprecated.
although i believe radical firms don’t follow an agile model in its truest form, agile teams within cpa firms do exist, and move faster than most other cpas even though they are faced with constricting external regulations.
also, to state the obvious, the inherent nature of our work is not creating software. however, we do create products. but what new firm teams have figured out is to use agile principles to consistently innovate and continuously improve their firms.
take a look at the website of the agile alliance (agilealliance.org). there you will find a ton of resources about agility as it relates to technology. their mission? to support people who explore and apply agile values, principles and practices to make building software solutions more effective, humane and sustainable.
here are the agile alliance’s 12 principles, which are based on the agile manifesto:
- our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
- welcome changing requirements, even late in development. agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.
- deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
- businesspeople and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
- build projects around motivated individuals. give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
- the most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
- working software is the primary measure of progress.
- agile processes promote sustainable development. the sponsors, developers and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
- continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
- simplicity – the art of maximizing the amount of work not done – is essential.
- the best architectures, requirements and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
- at regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
we think of an agile process in terms of releasing a good product while continually improving on it. of course it is a good product; it inherently follows all regulatory rules and standards. we still uphold our ethics and all the other values of a being a cpa. the only thing that really changes is how fast our ability is to reiterate new ideas.
it’s okay to adopt agile principles a little bit at a time.
if we take this mindset we can continuously improve. if we continuously improve, we will always be relevant and we’ll always have new opportunities for innovation.
stop talking, start doing.
recently, i went to an event on innovation, and i met one of the inventors of google glass, tom chi. at that same conference, i went to a session on rapid prototyping and realized that’s what we were doing in my firm – organically. rapid prototyping changes how people approach problems. fast and cheap prototypes are created and experienced by the user and, based on observation and user feedback, the prototype is reiterated again and again. rapid prototyping teaches colleagues a “learn by doing” mentality and expedites the process of turning thoughts into actions. as chi said, “you need to stop talking and start doing.”
as you can imagine, this puts a new spin on change management. change no longer becomes a goal to reach, or a well-defined process. then, change and ability to deal with change is embedded in the culture of the firm. the technology firms use fuels this continuous change, and because of this the practitioners have more time and space for innovation.
what many old-school firms do not understand is how embracing the four tenets will actually get you additional capacity to do the things you want to do. you can use that additional capacity in order to bring in more work, or you can use those added resources for research and development, creating even more opportunities for growth.
it’s this additional capacity that is by far the biggest benefit that firms that embrace an agile mindset reap. when you have capacity it’s easier to improve. it’s easier to do other things. capacity allows for more customer work. but it also allows for more innovation-driven product development.
before this year, 30 percent of my time was technical, 30 percent of my time was operational and 40 percent was media-driven. our firm has five people. there are not many firms my size that operate in that model.