Agile 101….0

Is it ten-ten or one-zero-one-zero. I have no idea. What I do know is that this game is more addictive than heroin. If you haven’t already, download it today at your own peril. The idea is very similar to Tetris. However, the difference is you are given 3 shapes at a time and you can place them anywhere. Like all good games, the simplicity makes this one a winner. So what the hell has this got to do with Agile I hear you scream. Well, it occurred to me while playing my 100th hour how there are many parallels between the game and Agile methodologies.

When you first start playing the game you have your Tetris mindset on. You start trying to tightly fill the spaces so there are no isolated gaps. Then the next 3 shapes appear BOOM! Game over! The game is random I’m sure, but has a  knack for giving you the exact shapes that you cannot place on the board at the right time. This seemed to me to match the common waterfall approach of project delivery. Planning to the nth degree until an unforeseen blocker appears. Game over. The striving for perfection the first time is a fallacy I’ve experienced at countless companies. Let’s be honest though, it isn’t just management it’s devs too. Give a developer a Greenfield project and they will have the same visions of grandeur that will never be achievable within the given deadline.

So how do you play 1010 then? Well, the same way you deliver Agile projects. Piece by piece delivering value as often as possible. So for the game, it is essential to clear lines as soon as you can. The game wants you to plan for the future. Relying on certain shapes to appear. Don’t! Just try to stick to the edges and always take the lines when you can. I remind myself of Judi Dench in Skyfall saying ‘take the shot’. Replacing ‘shot’ with ‘line’. Sure, you’ll have ugly gaps on your board but you’ll also have a high score at the end. Maybe this has been a corny blog post but I think the similarities are undeniable. So for all Agile practitioners out there have a play with 1010 and maybe it’ll help you hone your understanding of delivering value at every opportunity.