Author: Florian Puschmann, PMP 
Ever since I got a good overview of agile methodologies while upskilling with the PMP® a few years back, I have been curious to learn more about the different agile frameworks.
The Disciplined Agile Framework, a framework more targeted towards corporate environments and the enablement of Agile projects at scale, certainly made it onto my shortlist. So far though, I haven't had a reason to dive deeper, and every time a workshop or presentation occurred, I was unavailable and unable to attend. At this event, it was my chance to learn a little more, and understand whether the framework was worth exploring further.
The event was hosted by Swissquote, in a nice and cozy auditorium, located in Zurich city centre. This perfectly accommodated the nearly 40 participants that arrived to discover more about Agile strategies. The 2 presenters from Swissquote, for this evening's session, were Edwige Fiaclou and Laetitia Aegerter-Cuello. Edwige is currently the Head of Software Engineering Methodology & Technology Talent Academy, whilst Laetitia is the Senior Agile Coach within Software Engineering.
Following a brief introduction from PMI, Edwige and Laetitia dove straight into the topic, setting the scene with a small case study... Sophie, an IT Team Lead, had worked hard with her team to deliver a new feature for a trading system. However, instead of a seamless launch in production, this project experienced an initial failure...
After drawing us in with this compelling story, one which is familiar to many of us through first-hand experience (in one shape or form), Edwige and Laetitia walked us through the theory of Disciplined Agile, before diving deeper into three specific strategies that could have made Sofie’s project a success.
Namely: Making the invisible visible; Identifying your battles for success; and Cultivating continuous improvement
What followed was a very engaging discussion of the underlying concepts of Discipline Agile, specifically in relation to these three practices. It escaped me how quickly time was passing while Edwige and Laetitia were leading the discussion, through the posing of questions and having us explore PMI’s Discipline Agile browser as a means of developing suitable strategies for Sofie's project. Further, I also very much enjoyed how both presenters offered personal anecdotes of their hands-on experience in using this framework at Swissquote. Additionally, I noticed my own curiosity about Disciplined Agile increasing, and I even caught myself looking at the PMI DA certification offering.
It would certainly take a lot more time than just one evening to cover this topic comprehensively, however, I shall certainly spend some more time exploring the methodology within my own projects. As I could tell by the vibe during the apéro, held in the neighbouring Swissquote bar, many others were also having engaging discussions around this and other topics, whilst enjoying the tasty crunchy pizza and delicious beverages that were served.
