What Management Should Know

I recently read Agile Software Development with Scrum by Ken Schwaber and Mike Beedle. This book does a great job in delivering an important message i.e. software development is a research/creative process. It cannot be planned for using the same processes more applicable to tasks with predictable outcomes. A single piece of functionality can be implemented in different ways depending on programmer experience and other factors. This is why “sprinting” feels more natural when applied to software development. After each development cycle, that shouldn’t span more than a month, the entire team needs to reevaluate their progress and proceed based on the empirical data available.

While this means trying to get a working quality product out the door it also implies being flexible. This is a difficult proposition for management since it flies in the face of all the nifty looking project plans and customer expectations. This is why the entire company has to be on board with agile software development. It is not just a process limited to the nerds in the corner section cranking out code.