The Agile Data (AD) Method

Agile Data Ways of Thinking (WoT)

The foundation of the Agile Data method is its ways of thinking (WoT), captured by these seven philosophies:

Look Beyond Data

Data is only one of several important aspects of software-based systems. For data to be effective, we must take into consideration other viewpoints.

Collaborate Closely

Everyone must work together closely, collaborating and learning together as they do so.

Be Quality Infected

Agilists prefer to develop high-quality assets and when they run into data quality problems, known as data technical debt, they prefer to fix them at the source.

Embrace Evolution

Agilists work in an evolutionary manner where they iteratively move between activities and incrementally deliver value.

Be Enterprise Aware

Teams must consider, and then act appropriately, regarding enterprise issues. They need to take the bigger picture into account if they’re to avoid building yet another silo system or data source.

Fit-For-Purpose

Your approach should reflect the unique context that you face. Each initiative is unique, as is each organization, requiring a flexible approach tailored to its needs. One software process does not fit all and therefore the relative importance of data varies based on the nature of the problem being addressed.

Everyone Agile

Everyone, including enterprise professionals, should strive to work in an agile manner, learning and improving over time.

An interesting observation is that most of these philosophies aren’t specific to data. In fact, look beyond data indicates that you need to look at the overall picture and not just data, therefore data-specific principles very likely won’t serve you very well. Heresy? No, just common sense.

History

The philosophies of the Agile Data method were originally captured in the Agile Database Techniques book. In 2022 I updated this page:

  1. Simplification. I combined the unique context and sweet spot philosophies into fit-for-purpose.
  2. Action oriented. I reworded beyond data to look beyond dataenterprise awareness to be enterprise aware, and teamwork to collaborate closely.
  3. Extension. I added be quality infected and embrace evolution to better communicate how agilists work in practice.
  4. Ways of thinking. Rather than talking about philosophies, which was a bit academic sounding, I decided to adopt the more agile term “ways of thinking”.

Related Resources


Recommended Reading

Choose Your WoW! 2nd Edition
This book, Choose Your WoW! A Disciplined Agile Approach to Optimizing Your Way of Working (WoW) – Second Edition, is an indispensable guide for agile coaches and practitioners. It overviews key aspects of the Disciplined Agile® (DA™) tool kit. Hundreds of organizations around the world have already benefited from DA, which is the only comprehensive tool kit available for guidance on building high-performance agile teams and optimizing your WoW. As a hybrid of the leading agile, lean, and traditional approaches, DA provides hundreds of strategies to help you make better decisions within your agile teams, balancing self-organization with the realities and constraints of your unique enterprise context.

 

I also maintain an agile database books page which overviews many books you will find interesting.