The tuning of practices and objects: a practice theory perspective of Agile software development

Purpose Many Agile organisations rely on physical artefacts - Agile walls to facilitate cross-organisational collaboration. These walls are entwined with Agile practices, including pair programming and recurring meetings, in which the information conveyed by the objects is discussed. To expand our understanding of how tools and artefacts are used and changed, we have taken a practice theory lens and applied practice theory concepts, such as the mangling and tuning of practices. Applying practice theory concepts provides a novel perspective for analysing the Agile team's daily interactions. This study focused on how practices and objects are interconnected and tuned when influenced by internal or external forces. Furthermore, we explore how the Agile methodology intentionally injects mangle and tuning into practice. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative case study examines the practices of an organisation that rigorously implements the eXtreme Programming method. The study is based on semi-structured interviews and observational data. Findings This research provides examples of technology resistance, practice accommodation, and tuning in an Agile development environment. The study examines how temporally emerging resistance from artefacts triggers teams to tune and mangle their practices. The tuning and mangle is an inbuilt feature of Agile methods, paradoxically also mitigated by the strong adherence to Agile methods within the case organisation. Originality/value Our paper extends the understanding of how artefacts and Agile development practices are intentionally, by design, tuned and mangled. It also provides an example of how practice theory can be applied in a novel context.