Kevin E. Schlabach wrote a great post the other day about how the decline of Agile is our own fault. Kevin points out that there is a gap between the beginners (Shu) and experts (Ri) in the Agile community. We both agree that hands-on coaching and practice sharing is a necessity to pass on Agile knowledge and experience, though there are many consultants that charge huge amounts of money to do this. I believe that this is why many companies, especially smaller shops, go for a do-it-yourself approach to Agile.
There are a growing number of blogs, videos, books, conferences, presentations, and other materials that show how to use Agile at many experience levels. While these are great for knowledge, they are not a replacement for sustained agile coaching. The problem, which we are solving with ADS Skirmish, is that currently hiring an agile consultant to be on-site and work with the team for a number of weeks or months is prohibitively expensive. But this is exactly what is needed. Work hand-in-hand with a team, get them going down the road. Once that is accomplished, transition someone in, giving them all the tools and resources needed to be successful. That is what ADS Skirmish is all about.
