To consider that an entire profession might need to look at itself quite differently (even if it is by a few degrees and no more) means there will be those who are excited by the change (early adopters), but there are those who will also be extremely resistant and conservatively hold on to the basic definition of their current role.

That’s just human nature, and we refer to our customers doing it as the ‘adoption curve’.

We just need to accept that change happens and move with it based on the value of what the change will bring. If Agile is to be believed, it is going to cure a lot of ills with the traditional method of delivering IT… which let’s face it has a less than glowing history over the years.

Surely as a profession we have to look at this seriously?

Interestingly, Agile appears to acknowledge (in the guise of something called the “Product Owner”) that the PM function is critical to its success. This is a major change from traditional project-based methodologies where the PM role may or may not be explicitly identified (indeed, PM as a strategic role is only a relatively recent thing).

While I have worked for oganizations that apply totalitarian style proccess control to everything, who beat to death innovation and the first signs of life. I have also worked with organizations that worshipped utter chaos (and eventually went out of business) all in the name of innovation.

A savy project manager is going to take the best agile has to offer (responsiveness, collaboration, customer interaction) and marry that to the best of traditional software development (thorough requirements geneartion, planning, process).

I’ve spent time on both sides of the fence. Agile methods are challenging for product managers because it forces them to stay constantly involved in development. On the other hand, it keeps the product focused on the true product needs.

I’ve been writing about this subject on my blog as well (http://cmssphere.blogspot.com/2007/07/agile-why-it-scares-management-part-1.html).

tj

Good article – It seems that the role of the Product Manager is slowly changing as agile product development gains momentum. Firms also want to be more agile as they ever strife to bring competitive products & services to market – this is backed up by a recent survey carried out by McKinsey, who claim that 89% of organizations ranked agility as important to their companies success.
Read more on the topic at How Agile is Your Product Management Derek