Did you wonder what would happen if you cross two statements from the agile manifesto?

We are used to reading it verbatim and for a long time we learned the justification for each statement. We understood how to prioritize one set of elements over others, establishing the foundations for the methodologies that dominate the industry today.

Today I suggest to go a little further, inviting you to play with the elements and get new ideas. What if we take «Individuals and Interactions on Processes and Tools» and «Software Running on Extensive Documentation».

We could create «Individuals and Interactions on Extensive Documentation. If this wasn’t an interesting proposal that relates  to the SECI model of knowledge dimensions, then it would only be an entertaining exercise.

This model developed by Nonaka and Takeuchi, explains the creation of organizational knowledge as a spiral between the passages of the tacit dimension (Interactions between individuals) and explicit (Documentation).

From this model, we learn that none of the dimensions of knowledge should be omitted. As the manifesto itself explains: «That is, even though we value the elements from the right, we value more those on the left.»

So, why value the tacit dimension over the explicit one? The answer that comes to mind is: to change the mindset.

In a traditional organization, people are resources (hence «human resources»). And also, the main asset is knowledge and products. Therefore, what is valuable to the organization is the Combining phase. This allows to materialize the organization’s knowledge and transfer it to the next generations.

When we talk about Agile, our conception changes and the product is an organism that evolves. While the human ecosystem (Team, Clients, Users) are the asset that generates exponential change. Knowledge is created mainly in a tacit way, therefore, the Socialization phase is the one that adds the greatest value to the process.

In order to maintain the balance, Agile documentation must include everything that cannot be transferred through experience. A user’s manual, an architectural justification, a specification for a remote team are some of the examples.

This is how we can conclude that the ability to socialize is as important as technical specialization for teams in agile frameworks. And this is the main challenge that organizations face when incorporating new talent to their teams.

Now I ask you, what can you tell me about «Software running on processes and tools»?