Sure, in a way, Agile is very much common sense. But, unfortunately, most people work based on their old habits instead of what makes the most sense or is the most logical.
Think about it this way:
There are tons of things that we could be doing each and every day that “just make sense.” For example, it makes sense to plan out your meals each week and synch your menu up with your grocery list.
Some people might even call this common sense. And, of course, the idea is simple enough in concept, but how many of us actually do it?
There are tons of things that prevent us from doing what makes the most sense: bad habits, lack of time, lack of support, lack of direction.
Agile doesn’t promise to solve these problems individually, but it does provide a way to evaluate those bad habits, time impediments, and gaps in support and leadership.
Agile is very much common sense. But, unfortunately, most people work based on their habits instead of what makes the most sense or is the most logical.
That’s why Agile uses rules and processes (frameworks). These frameworks rely on empiricism rather than personal (or organizational) habits.
This can help identify what’s holding teams back in an -objective- way. (Something that could be pretty helpful when it comes to meal planning, too, eh?)
If you’ve been using Agile for a while, when you take a step back and see the underlying mechanisms, you’ll realize that many of the changes you made were “common sense.”
But, in practice, breaking out of our old habits/ mindsets is hard! Agile frameworks make it easier to make those changes that we know will do us good in the long run.
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