Experience gathered during large-scale implementation of agile concepts in software development projects teaches us that the currently popular agile software development methods (like Scrum) do not scale to program, product and organization level without change. The fundamentals for changes to these methods are found in Lean principles, or: the future of agile methods is found in its origins. This paper describes a planning framework that has been used successfully in large-scale agile projects and investigates the impact of introducing this framework on three core Lean principles: Muri, Mura and Muda.
The three Lean principles that are used to define agile software development methods find their origins in the Muri, Mura and Muda concepts:
- Muri: Overburdening of people or equipment
- Mura: Unevenness in workload
- Muda: Waste or non-value adding activities
The existing agile methods have a focus on small (single team, duration measured in months) projects. The impact of large (multi-team, multi-year) projects on agile practices is not addressed in agile methods. This paper studies the requirements for the agile planning process in relation to the overburdening of individuals and teams (muri).
