More and more new foreign words break into our lives. The "Edge" was no exception. What it is? Briefly described, an edge is an approach that is opposed to the traditional cascading approach to designing products and services.
From the history
In February 2001, 17 people gathered in the mountains of Utah at The Lodge at Snowbird ski resort to socialize, ski sports and try to come to something unifying. A manifest manifest was developed there. There were representatives of various approaches who wanted to find an alternative to the heavy documentation-based software development processes. By the end of the meeting, it was determined that the manifest included 4 values, 12 principles and there was no practice.
The essence of the approach
This approach is primarily characteristic of the IT industry. The classical approach provides that the approved plan for creating a product cannot change or stop until its creation.
The basis of this approach is the classic example of product quality management used at the Toyota plant, given in all textbooks on this issue, when any employee could stop production in order to make a rationalization proposal or prevent marriage.
In many companies, project creation employees work in different departments and often come into conflict with each other, which does not lead to positive results for the product being developed.
Edge technology allows you to engage all developers of a software product, while all employees remain inherent in their functions. Using this approach, the team comes to understand that they work for one common goal, which is to create a high-quality IT product for their customers.
When using this approach, it is necessary to create a team of like-minded people who can effectively and competitively work in market conditions.
Coming to Traditional Business Agile
Traditional business companies are starting to move towards this approach. A typical example is the introduction of Edge in Sberbank. According to G. Gref, Sberbank makes up 0.1 part of the IT market in Russia. He says that they created the largest IT infrastructure in the world, but realized that they were uncompetitive. According to him, those who do not master Edge today will not be able to be competitive tomorrow. In order to implement an edge system in a company, you first of all need to change yourself.
Banks today do not have a developed innovation structure, which is more characteristic of microfinance organizations, the essence of which is that they give money at crazy interest rates and earn much higher profits than banks. These organizations are very flexible, they can restructure their business, occupy free niches in new markets, and can also crowd out classic banks.
This approach is also characteristic of other areas of business. So, mobile operators are starting to deal with payment systems, Airbnb has changed the approach to hotels in the tourism business, Uber has done the same in the field of passenger transportation.
Agile Flexible Management
A cascading approach involves planning for at least a year. This changes when using the Edge method. What does it give? With the traditional approach, any dynamics can lead to paralysis of the project. Using the agile methodology, an infrastructure is built that flexibly responds to changing requirements and customer requests. Flexible planning should be accompanied by an understanding and analysis of all business processes of the organization. Flexible management should be accompanied by the possibility of development, refinement and adaptability to the specifics of a particular company.
There is a manifest manifest, which is essentially a set of rules designed to facilitate orientation in flexible management methods.
This approach is to minimize risks and increase profits, while the conditions of existence differ from stable. Often you have to work in times of crisis, but nevertheless, you need to strive to reduce risks to zero, and profits should tend to infinity.
Manifest manifesto
There are three basic principles of Edge, which were originally called values:
- You need to be able to work with people, you need to search, educate and manage talent.
- There should be a clearly structured set of business communications with partner companies and customers.
- Dynamic management must be implemented. What is this in Edge? In relation to the approach under consideration, this means that it is necessary to be mobile in a changing environment.
In relation to the software, from the beginning there was one more value: more important than the extensive documentation, workable software.
Principles
In 2001, 12 principles of Edge were highlighted:
- The main priority is customer satisfaction through the supply of workable software.
- Dynamics should be observed at all stages of software development.
- Give preference to short delivery intervals of workable software.
- Developers and customers must be on the same team throughout the life of the project.
- Projects should be created around motivated people who need to be provided with environment, support and trust.
- The most effective way to transmit information is through direct communication.
- The main measure of progress is workable software.
- Flexible processes must be carried out at the same speed.
- Particular attention must be paid to good design and technical excellence.
- Maximize performance with simplicity.
- The best software features are created by self-organizing teams.
- Periodically, teams should increase their effectiveness and improve the workflow at regular intervals.
Approach features
Edge mode implies the ability to pay special attention to the formation of teams, to conduct work not for a long period, but in the short term. Using this methodology, a feedback system is provided, so that adjustments can be made very quickly.
As a result of applying this approach, intra-company communication improves, the number of conflicts within the organization decreases, the efficiency of project implementation increases.
Earlier, the analyst wrote a document and demanded that they follow the templates established by him. Documents were transferred from department to department, from each of them the analyst returned with some suggestions and comments, then they were transferred to the following departments, etc. Great communication was obtained, but mainly on paper. The result was that software developers were constantly late, testers made a bunch of mistakes.
The agile methodology believes that human interaction is more important than processes and documentation. It is already assumed here that the analyst will hold a meeting where they will talk about the new feature being introduced and where testers and developers will express their comments and suggestions. Professionals capable of giving practical advice on testing and implementation will be identified here. After that, the analyst will write detailed documentation and quickly contact the customer to clarify the requirements. At the same time, developers can hold a parallel meeting, where they can discuss how the new function will affect the functionality of the software, and testers can evaluate what will require corrections. In this way, the team will form a shared vision. Details will be implemented with documentation, the quality of which will be high, since feedback has been provided.
Edge Technology in Education
Initially, the Edge formed as a project management methodology in relation to software development. However, the statement by G. Gref about the edge in Sberbank, namely, the part where he says that everyone should become edge, made it possible to apply this initially highly specialized approach to education and to the economy as a whole.
At school, the student must receive knowledge relevant at the time of his education. In the process of education, not only teachers and parents should participate, but also the child himself. This teamwork can be achieved by introducing Edge into education.
The introduction of flexible management in the school will allow it to become some innovative center. The most widespread idea of using the principle of edge in education is found in the West. This technology should be introduced from below, only in this case global transformations of the educational system are possible.
In the case of the American school, teachers acknowledge that the learning system has come to a standstill due to the fact that there is no suitable methodology that would allow it to develop further. S. Peha claims that such a methodology exists, and it is called an Edge.
Its basis is people, dynamics and learning, so this approach can be implemented in school. The manifest of the agile talks about software development, but after analyzing it, we can say that it is universal in nature, which allows it to be applied to the education system. The state education system has a lot of priorities that conflict with each other.
School staff can be compared with middle managers who are pressured from below and from above. When following the principles of Edge, the decisions of educators become more balanced.
In modern conditions, the school is perceived by a certain corporation, whose vital activity is connected with the implementation of a number of rules. Therefore, the needs of the individual in the school are secondary. In the first place are tools and processes.
The administrations of educational institutions poorly take into account the human factor, applying a documented approach to the allocation of available resources, school management, decision-making about the fate of children, and management of interpersonal relationships.
The use of the edge mode in school allows you to implement a person-centered approach, aimed primarily at developing the organization, which allows you to raise the degree of organizational discipline.
In a modern school, techniques, didactic material are important, and what is learned by students is secondary. Education ends in our country by passing the exam, in America - final testing. All students fit into one comb, are trained for tests, the true purpose of teaching is not achieved.
No one rejects the fact that students need high marks, but the assimilation of the material improves with a creative approach to the learning process and taking into account the individual characteristics of the students. Higher organizations are considered customers of the education system in modern schools, although children and their parents must be genuine customers.
The schools are constantly compromising, negotiating, but there is no true cooperation, which is assumed when using the edge approach. What does it give? Various decisions are made by some committees, ideas of the majority are being introduced, the will of the minority is suppressed. Thus, a compromise is reached, but this is the worst option possible.
The construction of the educational system in essence remains unchanged for a long period of time. They are trying to strengthen control in the educational system by using more and more detailed planning.
Planning means trying to predict the future, but it does not provide an opportunity to influence it. Therefore, in most cases, this translates into unnecessarily wasted time, and projects conceived by top managers of education gradually fail.
The correct response to the dynamics is quick maneuvering, which is supposed in the Edge methodology.
The principles of education in education are the same that are characteristic for software developers, with those features that relate to learning:
- Meaningful learning to meet the needs of students and their families is the highest priority.
- Meaningful training should be carried out in short but frequent cycles.
- School staff, students and their parents should work together, meaningful learning should be accessible to all.
- The study project should be created by motivated professionals, for whose work it is necessary to create the appropriate conditions.
- The main indicator of progress is the assimilation of the material, and not just its memorization, the so-called meaningful learning.
- The rhythm of learning should be maintained constantly.
- The flexibility of the training project should be supported by close attention to design quality and technical excellence.
The remaining principles sound the same as those of software developers.
Coaching
Coaching is a process based on partnership principles with the aim of stimulating the creativity and thinking of clients for the maximum possible disclosure of their professional and personal potentials.
What is agile coaching? The content of this concept includes mentoring and mentoring. The processes include professional coaching and facilitation (a management style that does not go beyond the self-organization of the system under management). In addition, age-based coaching includes various types of excellence: business, technical, and transformational excellence. This also includes Edge and Lean Practice (Lean Manufacturing).
Finally
What is this agile? This is an approach that was originally aimed at effectively completing software development processes by forming conflict-free teams. Later this approach began to be transferred as a whole to companies and to individual processes, in particular, to education. When introducing the methods of Edge, direct emphasis is placed on communication between developers and customers. Using these methods reduces the use of documentation.