Last week at my Judo class we had a new student join us. He seemed quite eager, and everything was going well until he asked:

What’s the best way to concealed-carry my Judo gun?

As you might imagine, this was met with some confused looks, then the other students started responding, saying things like:

That’s not really a Judo question.

Why do you think Judo has anything to do with concealing a fire arm?

WTF is a Judo gun?

Okay. A small confession.

I don’t do Judo. But I see this exact same phenomenon all the time with regard to agile questions. A lot of questions about “agile” are so far out of left field that they can really make you scratch your head. They’re usually from well-meaning people of course. They’ve just been mislead about what “agile” means.

The trouble is: This is exactly how “Agile” is often sold. “Don’t bother practicing your technique. Just buy this Judo gun!”

Building an effective, responsive, dare I say agile software business is hard. There are no short cuts.

Fun fact. There actually is something called a Judo gun!

This analogy is not my own. All due credit to its originator.