LEAN OR AGILE? POTATOES OR RESTAURANT?

"Is Lean more suitable than Agile for my company?" This is like asking: "Is mashed potatoes better than restaurant?" Agile is first and foremost 4 values, namely:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Working software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Responding to change over following a plan

As you can clearly see, these are not very rigidly defined. They leave a lot to the ones implementing these values. It's up to them to come up with the right tools and techniques to give shape to these 4 values. This is where Lean might come in (but please realize that it does not have to). Lean has an impressive library of tools and techniques that can help to give shape to some of these values. So Lean might complement Agile, but choosing between either Lean or Agile is not relevant.

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