Like everyone, we have our own version of Agile. Here's what SCRUM, KANBAN, and LEAN mean to me (and thus, my company): 1. Self-organizing team. No one tells y

Like everyone, we have our own version of Agile. Here's what SCRUM, KANBAN, and LEAN mean to me (and thus, my company): 1. Self-organizing team. No one tells you what to do. 2. Fix bugs first. No one likes a backlog full of 132,423 bugs. Fix 'em as you find em. 3. Priority queue is decided by the whole team (with input from management) but is MACRO and has value goals associated with it (e.g. redesign signup - increase conversions 30%). Team figures out what that means, and measures it. 4. Features that don't "move the needle" (or moves it negatively) get yanked. Code has weight and tends to rust. If it doesn't meet the business goals but is showing positive reception (e.g. increased conversions at all) bias towards rework. 5. Only work on one thing at a time. This is super important. Don't have four or five stories "in process". Too much WIP = nothing gets done. If you are blocked on something, pull the andon cord and we can figure out what we need to do to fix it. Go read a book. Go for a walk. Do something other than starting another task. 6. Velocity helps us figure out what "reasonable pace" means. That's it. It's not used for long-range planning, just "are we working at a sustainable pace?" 7. Frequent retrospectives (every two weeks) help us nudge the ship in the right direction. We evaluate our process and see what needs fixin', and make sure that promises made are not abandoned due to externalities (management interference, or other non-technical reasons). 8. Iteration planning is short and is only used to keep the team informed. 9. Use passive information radiators to communicate status and progress instead of meetings etc.