11.1 Agile vs Traditional
Agile methodologies prioritise iterative delivery, working software, and customer collaboration over plan-driven Waterfall. Scrum and Kanban dominate today; SAFe scales to large programmes.
11.1 Agile vs Traditional Methodologies
Waterfall vs Agile at a glance
| Property | Waterfall | Agile |
|---|---|---|
| Cadence | Phases, sequential | Iterations / sprints |
| Change | Expensive | Expected |
| Documentation | Comprehensive upfront | Just enough |
| Customer | At start + end | Continuous |
| Best for | Stable, regulated, hardware | Software, evolving requirements |
The Scrum cycle
Scrum roles + events + artefacts
| Type | Items |
|---|---|
| Roles | Product Owner, Scrum Master, Developers |
| Events | Sprint, Planning, Daily, Review, Retrospective |
| Artefacts | Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment |
Kanban
Visualise the work, limit work in progress, manage flow, make policies explicit, improve collaboratively. Pull when capacity opens.
Choosing between approaches
| Need | Approach |
|---|---|
| Stable, regulated, hardware | Waterfall |
| Software product team; clear PO | Scrum |
| Support, ops, content; flow over batches | Kanban |
| 5+ teams aligned to a value stream | SAFe |
| Most enterprises | Hybrid in practice |
Mentor’s tip: Agile is a value system, not just sprints. Scrum for product teams; Kanban for flow work; Waterfall when change is genuinely expensive. SAFe scales but adds weight. Match method to the work, not to fashion.
Discussion
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