Rapid Learning Cycles Institute
We help innovators get their best ideas to market — faster!
When Does a Group Need an
"Agile Rescue Mission"?
Do any of these situations sound familiar?
- Your physical product development teams are trying to implement Agile software practices — but you're spending more time adapting them than gaining agility using them.
- The directive to “just use Agile” doesn’t resonate with your teams – and they are telling you that Agile just isn’t working for physical product development.
- Project deadlines are coming up, but Agile processes are consuming more and more of your teams' capacity.
- Your teams are drowning in methodology that doesn't fit, but your Agile coaches are telling you that they're just whining.
- Your teams are feeling dejected, unmotivated, and frustrated by processes that are holding them back.
- You're worried projects will come to a screeching halt; or worse, they already have.
- The software and hardware teams should be integrated more closely, but you'd like guidance on getting them more aligned.
You may have tried solutions to make things better...
Attempted to adapt the Agile tools and practices to fit what your physical product teams are doing.
Brought in an Agile coach or advocate, expecting them to guide your hardware teams as much as your software teams with implementing the methodology.
Experimented with Agile for hardware but experienced difficulties and found that it did not actually improve your ability to hit cost, time, and budget targets.
...but if these aren't working and you're still stuck, we're here to help.
Help Your Teams
Get Unstuck & Back on Solid Ground Again
Integrate
Best Practices
Physical product teams can benefit from some Agile tools and practices — we'll show you why some work, but others add unnecessary focus on tasks that take away from knowledge capture.
Instill New Confidence
Move forward with newfound confidence from using only what actually helps your physical product development teams succeed.
Emerge With Experience
Your teams won't just get moving again — you'll know how to avoid the common issues that slow down New Product Development teams for your future projects.
The Agile Rescue Mission
Listen to Your Team's Concerns
We talk to your teams, starting with those that are most frustrated, to validate their experience and lead them towards the path forward to meeting the expected results.
Keep What Works for You
We look for creative solutions the teams have found, to address these concerns, and reinforce the practices they've developed that they genuinely want to continue using.
Eliminate Known "Worst Practices" from Agile
Your teams will learn how to stop spending time on things we know cause problems for physical product teams who try to adopt all tools and practices from Agile Software Development.
Reset the Team to Get Them Moving Again
We'll rebuild your teams project plans by removing the unnecessary task work that clutters your ability to manage the big picture view of their program.
We do all of this in ways that reinforce your position as an effective product development leader who is responsive to the needs of your teams.
Your Agile Rescue Mission Expert: Katherine Radeka
Katherine Radeka has deep experience getting physical-product teams unstuck. In 2015, she began to see an increase in the misuse of Agile Software Development practices by hardware teams. She began a series of projects she came to call “Agile Rescue Missions” because of the urgency to take action to get teams unstuck.
Since then she’s led over a dozen of these projects for leading companies around the world, most of whom have transitioned rapidly to full adoption of Rapid Learning Cycles in early development. In late development, teams use a blend of traditional project management with a few tailored Agile practices to improve coordination, especially with firmware and software teams that use Agile Software methods.
In 2022, she documented her experiences in the book When Agile Gets Physical, co-written with her long-time collaboration partner, Kathy Iberle.
Talk to Katherine
Find Out if This is Right for You Now
Book a call with Katherine to discuss your next steps!