ABSTRACT
Agile approaches can be characterised as manifestations of Lean Management. This chapter therefore defines the term and examines the underlying principles and objectives. Two sources in particular are examined – the Agile Manifesto and the Scrum process model, both of which originate from the field of software development. As with Lean Management, a central paradigm and core principles can be identified for Agility: Flexibility and adaptability (paradigm) and collaboration, delegation, learning, iteration and simplicity (core principles). These also have to be operationalised through appropriate practices.
So-called hybrid approaches have become established in project practice, and try to derive their own approach from different approaches (especially plan-driven and agile). Different modus operandi can be observed here, which will be dealt with methodically, but also with practical examples. This also motivates the following detailed analysis of Scrum with regard to its completeness as a general PM approach. As a result, some gaps become apparent, due to Scrum’s origin in the organisation of software development.
A further focus of the chapter is the analysis and systematisation of the concept of complexity, since – similarly to agility – an almost inflationary use of this concept can be observed. Here, too, the first step is to define the term, focusing in particular on the difference between complex and complicated systems. This is followed by a description of selected standard strategies for dealing with complexity in order to resolve the identified dilemma in the application of agile versus plan-driven approaches.
