Hi Leonardo,

When you say, "what Agile does not address is the first principle of Lean: the definition of value in the eye of the customer" this is not altogether true. In Scrum (an Agile framework) the role of Product Owner is responsible for choosing the features that the team will work on, and prioritizing them based on business value, and therefore what the customer (be it an external or internal one) sees as valuable. Before each iteration or sprint, the Product Owner re-prioritizes the features to be developed, based on the current business environment. In addition, requirements are written as user stories, which follow this format:

As a [role]
I can [do something]
In order to [get some value]

Writing requirements in this fashion ensures that the team understands what is being developed, for whom, and what value they will get.

So I would say that Agile directly addresses customer value, and ensures that it is first and foremost in the mind of the team.

Hi Leonardo,

First, there is no such thing as "Agile". There are agile methodologies, such as Scrum, XP and Crystal. So it would be helpful if there was a specific methodology to which you were referring to.

But, assuming you are painting with a broad brush, let's look at the core of any agile methodology, the Agile Manifesto (at agilemanifesto.org). It clearly states:

Customer Collaboration over Contract Negotiation

Further, if we dig into the principles behind the values (http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html) the first principle is:

Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.

A customer who sees value is a satisfied customer. Now, where this value comes in to play depends on the methodology:

Scrum: The goal of the Scrum team is to deliver the next highest value items the Product Owner has chosen. The team generally does not have say into the prioritization (outside of estimation, task breakout and suggestions for technical stories).

XP: In the Extreme Programming methodology, one of the practices is "Onsite Customer". This customer is working with the team to help define the value add, and "Customer Tests" ensure that they are delivering what the customer expects.

That's not to say that the principles of Lean don't apply. They do. In fact, I see many teams that have a genuine local optima issue where they focus on their bottlenecks instead of the organizational-wide blocks. I blame that on a corporate culture of dysfunction - Ostrich Executives.

But to say that agile methods don't address customer value - that's flat out wrong and I hope this article and future ones can be updated to show a specific methodology which calls itself "agile" but ignores customer satisfaction as the number one principle.

Leonardo,

IT's "main" focus is on the tactical. While I admit they should at higher levels be involved in the strategic, most of IT's value add is in the tactical implementation of strategic business decisions.

I want someone whose job it is to study customers and business strategy to make the higher level project go/no go decisions and assign Business Priority to User Stories, granted with "some input from IT" (more in some industries than others). By the time a project reaches the IT Team is should have been vetted and prioritized by the business. I think it's more the definition of "some input from IT" which is the main thrust of your article.

You want the IT Team collaborating on and efficiently developing "valuable software" not defining what is "valuable software" to the business or the customer. Yes, they need to "see the whole", etc., but this doesn't mean it's a significant focus of their job.