AGILE IN ACTION

There is no business without customers. The customer is the most important part of the value stream but Ackoff reminds us that an enduring commercial future requires the social system of stakeholders in a company to be taken into account. Deming said the aim for any company is for everybody to gain - shareholders, employees, suppliers, customers, community, the environment - over the long term. Shareholders expect maximum return on their investment. Successful business requires customers, forward thinking and innovation, sound economics and ever improving operational effectiveness. Customers want their problems solved, they want help to achieve whatever it is they’re doing. Employees wish for meaningful work with opportunities to learn and be creative in an enjoyable environment that provides job security. Suppliers desire a trusting and equitable partnership. Society wants to see ethical behavior, responsibility, and accountability.

Frankly I'm tired of manifestos. It's not that any of them are bad. They are well intentioned and usually well formed but they're too open to interpretation. And I, like anyone else, have my own interpretations. That said I'm grateful to Alisatir Cockburn and those involved for writing down a manifesto for users.

I want to play more with the combination of behavior-driven development and Selenium IDE. Stuff isn't clear in my head yet and I'm not entirely sure what I'm aiming for. Maybe it's that, given my interest in usability and interaction design, I want greater emphasis on the user in our acceptance tests.

What's valuable to a business? At the end of the day, the goal of every company is to make money. So, ultimately, a business values things that make it money. We should always do our utmost to deliver value to our business by giving it the things that will help it make money from its customers. But focusing directly on business value is not good idea. Making money is most definitely the goal but focus must be on the source of revenue - the customers or end-users. If a business focuses on the money it eventually does wrong by its customers and they go away and it makes less money.