The benefits of agile practices are proven and plentiful, yet many companies are still hesitant to adopt them, in part simply because they haven’t learned enough about it yet.  Today Craig Brown and Thom Singer are joined by someone who was willing to try something new, and it has paid off in a big way.  ‘Spanish major turned product geek’ Christian Cox is the Co-Founder of Piola Digital, a near shore product development agency helping companies build, support and enhance products.  Chris has joined the podcast to highlight these agile practice benefits from the refreshing perspective of someone who does not have an engineering or technology degree.  As a curious learner and perpetual student of his craft, Chris’s experience shows that examining something from a new or different perspective just might be the key to improved processes, decreased time to market, and even greater career opportunities. 

 

On today’s podcast, you will learn:

Key benefits of agile practices

• Agile development helps customers hone in on what they really need. 
• Progress can be measured by tracking agile development. 
• Agile practices and predictions can help better plan based on team capacity. 
• Business prioritization happens more readily with agile practices. 

 

Pitfalls of agile techniques

• Growing pains are standard as companies continue to implement agile practices. 
• Too many companies focus on one thing exclusively and then drop it altogether to focus on something else. 
• There is a fine line when balancing priorities that companies have to navigate. 

 

What companies don’t understand about agile

• Speed to market is an essential component of company success, and is only improved when utilizing agile practices. 
• The upfront costs of implementing agile practices have the potential to yield a major payoff. 
• The far-reaching aftermath of the pandemic presents challenges that can in part be solved with agile practices. 
• Company size and age can both have an impact on the effectiveness of agile practices. 

 

Career advice from a Spanish major

• If you are considering work that does not line up with your formal education, find opportunities to do the work and show the value you can create within it. 
• Stay curious and become a student of the craft- ask questions and do your research. 
• Get involved in the community that you want to be a part of. 
• Identify the unique skills that you possess- they provide job opportunities. 

Continue the conversation with us within the Digital Enterprise Society Community at www.DigitalEnterpriseSociety.org.

 

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