Agilists believe that good practices and processes can improve consistency but that repeatability – in the statistically controlled feedback loop sense of the term – is a fantasy. Unfortunately, it is a fantazy that many corporate executives believe in, and that belief exacerbates the dysfunctionality between product development and management. Executive management has been told that they can have it all, and they want to believe it. They are then disappointed when plans don’t work out. Their solution: more processes and more standards. Are traditionalists willing to commit to this view of repeatability as a problem rather than a solution? Agilists believe that change must be adapted to, that it can’t be planned away. You can have flexibility, or consistency, or some blend of both. But expecting a process or methodology to provide ultimate flexibility and complete predictability at the same stretches the limits of credulity.

Jim Highsmith, Agile Software Development Ecosystems

Happy new year!

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