Water-Scrum-Fall: The Good, the Bad, and the [Scrum]Butt-Ugly

Water-Scrum-Fall
The Good, The Bad, and the [Scrum]Butt-Ugly
by Brad Appleton
September 26, 2019
SAFe
Framework
Complexity Spotify Model
Agile Event Horizon
Agile
Certification
Agile Industrial
Complex
Scrum/
Kanban
XP
Inception
Elaboration Hardening Transition

Chicago-area Agile Meetups
In association with these Greater Chicago-area Meetup Groups:
APLN Chicago, Suburban Agilists, CAOS, PSOS, LADTLN, BAM Chicago
Brad Appleton Water-Scrum-Fall: The Good, the Bad, and the [Scrum]Butt-Ugly (Sept 26, 2019) 2
Business Agility
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Software (PSOS)

About the Presenter
Agile/DevOps/Lean Leader & Coach
Leading Agile adoption & scaling for teams and organizations since 2000.
» Disciplined execution of agile/devops practices via Practical application of lean/agile principles
» Maximize simplicity, quality & learning-velocity by Minimizing duplication, dependencies & delays
» Build autonomy & trust for development teams to Develop automated build-test-deploy pipelines
» Continually value ALL stakeholders throughout delivery to Continuously deliver stakeholder-value
Publications
» Software Configuration Management Patterns (Addison-Wesley, 2002)
» Agile CM Environments article series & blog (AgileConnection & CMCrossRoads, 2003-2014)
Brad Appleton
Enterprise Agile & DevOps
Engineering Manager
<brad@bradapp.net>
linkedin.com/in/bradappleton

Contents
What is Agile/Agility, Waterfall & V-model? [10 min]
Take 1 – Wagile/AgileFall/ScrumFall: Lipstick on a Pig [5 min]
Take 2 – Wagile/AgileFall/ScrumFall: Iterative Mini-Waterfall [5 min]
Take 3 – What is Water-Scrum-Fall? [10 min]
Types of Iterations/Sprints to (Mis)Use & Abuse [10 min]
Examples from Water-Scrum-Fall to Water-Scrum-Fail [10 min]
Summary, Conclusions & Tips to Remember [5 min]
References
Appendix: Iterative & Incremental Development

Learning Objectives for Water-Scrum-Fall
Know the different development lifecycles on the journey from
Fragile/Wagile to Agile.
Recognize the key differences and how they harm, hinder or
help.
Learn the key challenges, stepping stones, and techniques for
addressing them.
Recognize the dangers of using them as long-term solutions
instead of short-term workarounds.

What is …
Agile,
Agility,
Waterfall
& V-model

Agile is a Mindset … Agility is a Capability
Defined by
Values
Guided by
Principles
Manifested thru
many different
Practices (and Numerous
Frameworks)
Agile is a
Mindset
For Business Outcomes
Time to Market
Predictability
Customer Satisfaction
Employee Satisfaction
Reliability
Resilience
Enabling Agility
… the Capability to
Create & Adapt to Change
for Competitive Advantage
in a VUCA Environment
Being Agile Doing Agile

What is Agility?
“The continual readiness of an entity to rapidly or inherently create
change, proactively or reactively embrace change, and learn from
change while maximizing value, through its collective components
and its relationships with its environment.”
-- Kieran Conboy, Toward a conceptual framework of agile methods
“The ability to both create and respond to change in order to profit
in a turbulent business environment.”
-- James Highsmith, Agile Software Development Ecosystems

What is Agile Development?
“An iterative and incremental (evolutionary) approach
to software development
- performed in a highly collaborative manner
- by self-organizing teams with "just enough" ceremony
- producing high quality software in a cost effective and
timely manner
- to meet the changing needs of its stakeholders.”
— Scott Ambler, IBM Practice Leader, Agile Development
“Ultimately, it is about:
- Embracing change rather than attempting to resist it
- Focus on talent and skills of individuals and teams.”
— James Highsmith, Cutter Consortium

Agile is a Mindset … Agility is a Capability
Defined by
Values
Guided by
Principles
Manifested thru
many different
Practices (and Numerous
Frameworks)
Agile is a
Mindset
For Business Outcomes
Time to Market
Predictability
Customer Satisfaction
Employee Satisfaction
Reliability
Resilience
Enabling Agility
… the Capability to
Create & Adapt to Change
for Competitive Advantage
in a VUCA Environment
Being Agile Doing Agile

Continuum of Wagile-to-Agile Event Horizons
Agile Event Horizon
Iterative & Incremental Event Horizon
Development Operations
Iterative/Incremental
(Intra-Sprint Waterfall)
Staggered/Parallel
(Inter-Sprint Waterfall)
Agile/Scrum
/Scrumban
/Kanban
Water-
Scrum
-Fall
DeployDevelopmentSpike
Agile/XP
Agile/DevOps
(Continuous)
Rigid
Adaptive
Digital Singularity Disruptive/Exponential
SAFe
Framework
Complexity
Scrum
XP
Agile
Certification
Spotify Model
Agile Event Horizon
Agile Industrial Complex
Inception Elaboration Hardening TransitionConstruction
Waterfall
Requirements Design Implementation Test Acceptance DeploymentArchitecture
Following a plan
Contract Negotiation
Formal Documentation
Process & Tools
Individuals & Interactions
Working Solutions
Customer Collaboration
Responding to Change
Sources: Agile vs Fragile, Susmit Bhattacharya,
The Agile Event Horizon, Peter Merel

What is Water-Scrum-Fall?
Let’s Start with the Easy Stuff First!

Waterfall (and “V” Model)
Analysis
Requirements
Architecture
Design
Deploy/Release
Test
Construction
Business
Requirements
E2E
Construction
& Unit-Test
Design QA/SIT
Architecture
System
Test
Technical
Requirements
UAT

Waterfall (and “V” Model)
Analysis
Requirements
Architecture
Design
Deploy/Release
Test
Construction
Business
Requirements
E2E
Construction
& Unit-Test
Design QA/SIT
Architecture
System
Test
Technical
Requirements
UAT
 Most Newcomers to Agile originated here.
 V-model is a variant of waterfall commonly used in large
software and systems engineering
 Uses corresponding integration/test phases on the right side for
each level of “breakdown” on the left

1st Take –
“Lipstick
on a Pig”

Wagile/AgileFall/ScrummerFall – Take 1
Construction
Phase Sprint
QA
Phase Sprint
Architecture
Phase Sprint
UAT
Phase Sprint
Requirements
Phase Sprint
Deployment
Phase Sprint
Source: https://familyguy.fandom.com/wiki/Harold

Construction
Phase Sprint
QA
Phase Sprint
Architecture
Phase Sprint
UAT
Phase Sprint
Requirements
Phase Sprint
Deployment
Phase Sprint
Also known as: Putting Lipstick on a Pig
Misguidedly Renames “Phases” to “Sprints”
 Also renames Project Managers to “Scrum Masters”, renames
Team Manager to “Product Owner,” etc.
 Otherwise business as usual. (“Old wine in new bottles”)
Result:
 No *real* change or improvement!
 No benefits realized!
 Harmful effects (“We tried it, it didn’t work.”)

2nd Take –
“Mini-Waterfall:
Incremental,
Iterative”

Iterative Waterfall -- Many (Mini) Waterfall Iterations (or Increments)

Iterative vs. Incremental
IterativeIncremental
Define
Analysis
Test
Accept
Waterfall
(phases)
DeployDefinition Analysis
Design,
Code &
Unit-Test
Integration
Build+Test
Test Accept

Iterative Waterfall -- Many (Mini) Waterfall Iterations (or Increments)Also known as: Mini-Waterfall, Iterative or Incremental
Incremental
 Still uses phases at the front-end & backend (Reqts/Arch, SIT/UAT)
 But with frequent+incremental integration (automated)
Iterative
 Still uses phases, but shorter (with intermediate releases at the end)
Iterative & Incremental (together)
 Gets the benefits of both, with less front-end/back-end “loading”
Result:
 Can be Significant Improvement over Waterfall
 Still has silos/handoffs (not cross-functional, nor very adaptive)
 Still hasn’t made the big mental shift in thinking & working

Dave West - Forrester Report - July 2011
Available at https://www.verheulconsultants.nl/water-scrum-fall_Forrester.pdf
“Manage the Water-Scrum and
Scrum-Fall Boundaries
to Increase Agility”

Forrester’s Synopsis
Most Agile adoption has diverged from the original
ideas in the Agile Manifesto,
Many resembling what Forrester labels water-Scrum-fall.
This model is not necessarily bad, but …
UNLESS organizations carefully consider and make good
choices about where the lines fall between water-Scrum and
Scrum-fall …
THEN they are unlikely to realize Agile's benefits.

Water-Scrum-Fall
Source: https://www.slideshare.net/smithcdau/agile-encore-looking-back-looking-forward/43-Water_Scrum_Fall_Upfront_project

3rd Take –
“Water-
Scrum-
Fall”

Water-Scrum-Fall Initial Conditions
Water-Scrum-Fall is Often Necessitated by …
Fixed Release Dates
Traditional Stage/Gates Governance (Funding & Oversight)
Legacy Systems with Little/No Test Automation
Trying to “Do” Team-level Agile/Scrum inside a Waterfall
Program Lifecycle

What is Water-Scrum-Fall?
A Hybrid Approach to Progress Toward Agility!
Mixes legacy elements of Waterfall together with Initial Agile
Practices/Principles, to Incrementally & Iteratively become more
agile.
Leverages Incremental & Iterative lifecycle and techniques to
“bridge the initial gap” between Waterfall vs. Agile Ways of
Working.

Why Water-Scrum-Fall?
Ease the Transition from WaterfallAgile
Can be an Effective Stepping Stone/Stop-Gap on the Journey to
Agility
Less Daunting, but also More Risky/Dangerous!
High Risk of Becoming a Steady-State/Stopping-point, that
ultimately sees only minor/incremental improvement (and
never realizes the breakthrough benefits of real agility)

Types of
Sprints
(Iterations)
to Use and
Abuse/Misuse
Sprint
0

Types of Iterations/Sprints to Use and Abuse/Misuse
NOTE: Only the Dev (Development) Sprint is “pure” agile!
 The rest are all due to some impediment/constraint to agility
Iteration
Buffer
Inception
Sprint
0
Elaboration DeployMVA
(a.k.a “Runway”)
Hardening
(a.k.a “Stabilizing”)
(the “usual”)

Hardening Sprint [1]
What is it?
Sprint dedicated to addressing quality issues & fitness-for-production (Fixes,
Technical Debt, etc.)
And/or for addressing (non-automatic) release/deployment activities required
before “going live”
The need for it indicates a larger process problem/impediment
When to use?
When you have higher levels of system/solution-wide testing that cannot
(yet) take place inside a sprint
And/or you have production or preproduction environments that cannot
(yet) be accessible/available to team members in the sprint

Hardening Sprint [2]
How to Use?
When used as planned sprints [testing/releasing], schedule them in advance,
but do NOT plan any specific backlog-items for them.
When used to address quality issues, you will need to plan specific backlog
items for the sprint (fixes, technical debt issues, impediment removals).
For defects or issues that are too complex/uncertain to estimate, you may
need to timebox (or “point box”) them
Use only as a stop-gap measure, and add the corresponding issue to the
impediment backlog (for proper long-term resolution/removal)
References:
 scalingsoftwareagility.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/scaled-agile-framework-hardening-iteration/
 zenergytechnologies.com/blog/agile/2016/9/12/hardening-sprints-good-bad-ugly/
 agilepearls.wordpress.com/tag/hardeningrelease-sprint/
 swreflections.blogspot.com/2013/01/hardening-sprints-what-are-they-do-you.html

Buffer Sprint [1]
How to Use?
A form of “Project Buffer” to manage schedule contingency & risk (from
Critical Chain Project Management)
A placeholder to accommodate limited “overflow” & variation
Protects the Project Commitment at budgetary estimation-gate (+/- 20-30%)
When to Use?
Fixed-date deadlines, with longer-lived release cadence (>1-2 months)
How to Use?
Schedule 1-2 “unfilled” sprints prior to back-end testing phases (ST/UAT)
These take up the last 20%-30% of the schedule (per the “budgetary” estimate)
Do *not* plan any stories (or fixes) into these sprints!
[Different from (but related to): “Sprint (Velocity) Buffer”]
Buffer

Buffer Sprint [2]
At the end of each sprint, look at deferred/unfinished BLIs & scope
Push/allocate “displaced” stories to buffer sprints
Monitor how “full” the project buffer is (buffer consumption %)
When Buffer Consumption % exceeds the % of schedule burned so far, you are
“in the red” and need to execute mitigation plan
References:
 infoq.com/articles/tracking-schedule-agile/
 mountaingoatsoftware.com/blog/managing-sprint-interruptions-by-tracking-buffer-use
 Agile Estimating and Planning: Ch 17 – Buffering Plans for Uncertainty, p 185, Mike Cohn
 Collaboration at Scale – Release Planning Tips & Techniques
 davebrowettagile.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/dave-browett-the-agile-critical-path.pdf
 slideshare.net/kshitij_agrawal/agile-planning-58788380
 http://itsadeliverything.com/agile-project-planning
 slideshare.net/kshitij_agrawal/agile-planning-58788380
 “Agile” CCPM: Critical Chain for Software Development
 Breakthrough Portfolio Performance: Managing a Mix of Agile and Non-Agile Projects
Buffer

Water-Scrum-Fall Example(s)
Deploy
/ReleaseInitiation
Inception
Sprint 0
Test &
Accept
Hardening
Elaboration
Deploy
/ReleaseInitiation
Inception
Sprint 0
Test &
Accept
Hardening
Elaboration
Inception
Sprint 0
Test &
Accept
Hardening
Deploy
/ReleaseInitiation
BufferMVA/
Runway

Example: Staggered Sprint Pipeline
Inception
Sprint 0
Initiation
Release 1 Release 2 Release 3
Deploy /
Release
Deploy /
Release
Deploy /
Release
Deploy /
Release
Release 4
3 week sprints, staggered across Biz,
Dev & Test to Release every 3 weeks
(3 weeks) (3 weeks) (3 weeks) (3 weeks) (3 weeks) (3 weeks)
SIT & UAT
1
SIT & UAT
2
SIT & UAT
3
SIT & UAT
4
Elaborate
Biz
1
Elaborate
Biz
2
Elaborate
Biz
3
Elaborate
Biz
4
Dev 1 Dev 4Dev 3Dev 2

Reqts
Arch
Design
All Takes: Fragile, Wagile & Agile
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
Sprint 1 Sprint 5Sprint 2 Sprint 3 Sprint 4
Define Build Test
Define Build Test
Define Build Test
Sprint 0
Reqts Code Test AcceptDesign
Sprint 1 Sprint 5Sprint 2 Sprint 3 Sprint 4Sprint 0
Initiation
Define
Build
Define
Build
Test
Define
Build
Test
Sprint 0
Test &
Accept
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
D B T
Sprint 0
Design
Accept
Test

Water-Scrum-Fall or Water-Scrum-Fail?
Source: https://www.slideshare.net/theproductguy/wagile-product-development-being-agile-with-waterfall-clients

Continuum of Wagile-to-Agile Event Horizons
Agile Event Horizon
Iterative & Incremental Event Horizon
Development Operations
Iterative/Incremental
(Intra-Sprint Waterfall)
Staggered/Parallel
(Inter-Sprint Waterfall)
Agile/Scrum
/Scrumban
/Kanban
Water-
Scrum
-Fall
DeployDevelopmentSpike
Agile/XP
Agile/DevOps
(Continuous)
Rigid
Adaptive
Digital Singularity Disruptive/Exponential
SAFe
Framework
Complexity
Scrum
XP
Agile
Certification
Spotify Model
Agile Event Horizon
Agile Industrial Complex
Inception Elaboration Hardening TransitionConstruction
Waterfall
Requirements Design Implementation Test Acceptance DeploymentArchitecture
Following a plan
Contract Negotiation
Formal Documentation
Process & Tools
Individuals & Interactions
Working Solutions
Customer Collaboration
Responding to Change
Sources: Agile vs Fragile, Susmit Bhattacharya,
The Agile Event Horizon, Peter Merel

Source: https://www.tasktop.com/blog/how-enterprises-can-successfully-scale-agile-development/tasktop-water-scrum-fall/

Tips to Remember
Always maintain Agile mindset/values/principles (“Being Agile”)
 Product-based focus over Project-based
 Use “stop-gap” techniques as short-term workarounds for impediments
 Be sure to Retrospect & Adapt to resolve problems/impediments long-term
Breakdown silos, move role/collaboration inside the sprint (e.g. “3
Amigos”)
Automate, Automate, Automate (especially for CI, TDD/BDD, & DevOps)
Move to a more Agile-friendly Governance/Funding model (to replace
traditional stage/gate)
MVPs & MVAs, Dual-Track Development
Impact Maps & Specification by Example

Agile Theater: “Doing Agile” vs. “Being Agile”
Source: https://sercuarc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/SERC-Talks_2019.04.10_Mobasser.pdf

Scrummerfall, CrAgile and ???
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/scrumming-dead-brett-maytom/

DOD Guide to Detecting Agile BS
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2019/09/22/how-fake-agile-at-dod-risks-national-security

Pragmatic Agile vs. Dogmatic Agile
Henrik
Kniberg

References: Agile is Dead/Not Dead/Undead/in Crisis
 The Agile Crisis – A Primer
 Agile Is The New Waterfall
 Agile is Dead (Long Live Agility) –Dave Thomas
 I Want Agile Back –Tim Ottinger
 The Death of Agile & Beyond? (InfoQ.com)
 Developers, Abandon Agile –Ron Jeffries
 Why Engineers Despise Agile –Stefan Wolpers
 Why “Agile” and especially Scrum are terrible
 Dear Agile, I’m tired of pretending!
 Maybe Agile is the Problem? (InfoQ.com)
 The Failure of Agile –Andy Hunt
 DarkAgileManifesto.org
 A criticism of agile software development
 Imposition and Dark Agile –Ron Jeffries
 Weaponized Agile –Simon Powers
 The AIC and “The Agile Industrial Complex”
--Martin Fowler
 Agile dead? Quite the opposite! –Alistair
Cockburn
 The End of Agile? No. The End of Undisciplined
Agile – Scott Ambler
 The Anti-Agile Manifesto: A robust response
 Bringing Back Agile – Tim Ottinger
 No Frameworks: Taking Agile Back! –Scott
Ambler
 Disrupting the AIC –Peter Merel
 Curing Agile Cancer: Stop Whining! Start
Improving!
 Taking the Agile Manifesto beyond software
 Communities of Need & Community of Solutions
 ModernAgile.org | HeartOfAgile.com
 GROWSmethod.com | XScaleAlliance.org
 AgnosticAgile.org | AgendaShift.com
 AgileBusinessManifesto |BusinessAgility.Institute

Water-Scrum-Fall References
• disciplinedagiledelivery.com/lifecycle/
• verheulconsultants.nl/water-scrum-fall_Forrester.pdf
• sdtimes.com/agile/analyst-watch-water-scrum-fall-is-the-reality-of-agile/
• computerweekly.com/opinion/Forrester-Its-Time-To-Take-Agile-To-The-Next-Level
• infoq.com/articles/delivering-software-water-scrum-fall
• whatis.techtarget.com/definition/WaterScrumFall-water-Scrum-fall
• sites.google.com/site/agilepatterns/home/waterscrumfall
• agileconference.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Water-Scrum-Fall-Manav-Mehan.pdf
• agiledocumentation.co.uk/2015/02/what-is-water-scrum-fall-and-is-it.html
• knowledgehut.com/blog/agile/water-scrum-fall-myth-reality
• channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2012/AAP313 (Scrum under a Waterfall)
• blendedperspectives.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Optimizing-Scrum-Fall-Whitepaper.pdf

Water-Scrum-Fall References [continued]
• clearmindsoftware.com/post/scrummerfall-waterscrum-waterscrumfall
• nkdagility.com/a-better-way-than-staggered-iterations-for-delivery/
• agileusa.wordpress.com/2017/12/02/cargo-cult-agile-or-a-true-agile-mindset/
• slideshare.net/AleksandarTotovic/directions-na-wateragilefall-methodology-and-nav-implementation
• slideshare.net/smithcdau/agile-encore-looking-back-looking-forward/43-Water_Scrum_Fall_Upfront_project
• slideshare.net/jezhumble/why-scaling-agile-doesnt-work-and-what-to-do-about-it
• solutionsiq.com/resource/blog-post/iterating-toward-legacy-scrums-achilles-heel/
• Widely Used but also Highly Valued Acceptance Factors and Their Perceptions in Water-Scrum-Fall Projects (PDF)
• medium.com/@stefanedbrittain/the-insidious-institutionalisation-of-water-scrum-fall-4af7de8865b9
• medium.com/@plutora/is-your-organization-stuck-with-water-scrum-fall-f278231a1213
• medium.com/serious-scrum/we-dont-deliver-a-working-increment-every-sprint-edc0c023be0a
• researchgate.net/publication/329357135_ScrumFall_A_Hybrid_Software_Process_Model
• researchgate.net/publication/316104791_Software_and_system_development_in_practice_Waterfall_Scrum_and_beyond
• researchgate.net/publication/281546858_Is_Water-Scrum-
Fall_Reality_On_the_Use_of_Agile_and_Traditional_Development_Practices

APPENDIX: Iterative & Incremental
Development

Incremental vs. Iterative vs. Both (IID)
Source: Jeff Patton – ThoughtWorks “The art of heavy lifting”
Incremental
Iterative
IID
(Iterative &
Incremental)

Incremental vs. Iterative vs. Both (IID)
Incremental builds things one “chunk” at a time
 But calls for a fully-formed idea from the very start (complete & detailed
requirements)
Iterative sketches out a “rough” initial version, validates it, then
progressively elaborates & refines
 Allows progressing from a vague idea to a concrete realization (It’s not iterative
if you fully elaborate in only one pass!)
Iterative and Incremental does both together!
 Uses iterations as cycles of learning & adapting to evolve working
increments (each iteration yields a functional increment)

Iterative/Incremental (IID) versus Waterfall
Waterfall/V Model goes thru each phase only once per project
 Linear/Sequential phases, with end-of-phase handoffs
 Breadth-first, by discipline (e.g., ALL the requirements, then ALL the design,
then the implementation)
 Produces intermediate (non-executable) deliverables at the end of all but
the last creation-phase
IID passes thru the lifecycle many times, producing an
executable result at (almost) every “pass”
 Delivers vertical (“depth-first”) “slices” of functionality (prioritized by risk &
business-value) in each iteration
 Uses more inter-disciplinary collaboration (across the lifecycle) and fewer
“strict” handoffs

Lifecycles: FrAgile, Wagile, Agile and …
Waterfall
(phases)
DeployDefinition Analysis
Design,
Code &
Unit-Test
Integration
Build+Test
Test Accept
Iterative
(iterations)
Continuous
Delivery
Incremental
(integrations)
Agile
(sprints)
Continuous
Deployment
Hybrid
(Water-
Scrum-
Fall)

Water-Scrum-Fall: The Good, the Bad, and the [Scrum]Butt-Ugly

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