Introduction
This hypothesis started when I was part of a potluck-hosting team in the office. Our lead had set targets on taste, quantity, quality, timelines. At last he said: “We are presenting this food to our clients, let us make it a unique memorable experience for them. Let us ensure that it does not upset their tummies at any cost, add a little bit of that “secret ingredient”, plenty of “love” to make it taste “wow””.
As the potluck team was working on multiple dishes, I explored on “wowing” my dish and extended the same to Agile projects.
Exploring “Wow” or in other words “Synergy”
The Cambridge dictionary describes Synergy as: the combined power of a group of things when they are working together that is greater than the total power achieved by each working separately.
Stephen Covey simplifies it as : Synergize is the habit of creative cooperation.
This Synergy component output cannot be measured accurately. Sometimes it is not even exquisite immediately. It’s what we call the “feel good” factor, the “wow” component. As you consistently accumulate the synergy component output, you might end up with a measurable value.
My Root Cause Analysis on Synergy:
When I was pondering over synergizing opportunities, I stumbled on this thought:
Why does the food some of you cooked for a special friend or guest tasted better than your routine food?
You valued the special guest and wanted to make the food taste better than usual, better than your routine target.
You looked for Values over Targets!
Values over Targets in Agile Projects:
When we understand the values over targets in all project activities, we identify the secret synergizers that could lead to those values:
| Synergizer | Resulting Values |
| Effective user stories | Clear Requirements |
| Appropriate prioritizing and story picking | Delivering highest business value in shortest time |
| Effective Test-driven development and continuous testing, Paired Programming | Healthy development and testing partnership, Proactive issue management |
| Prompt Scrum ceremonies | Team Focus, Team commitment, Team collaboration |
| Putting yourself in Customer’s shoes | Customer Excellence |
Even the least values tend to cumulatively result in Big value adds to deliverables.
Value 1 + Value 2+…Value n = Value N + Target N
Target 1+Target 2+…Target n ≠ Value N + Target N
To conclude:
Our potluck was sure a unique memorable experience. Every host had added that “secret ingredient” and had synergized their dish, realizing the values over targets and in turn achieving the “wow”.
