The Road to Agility
I just finished reading a short article named Are Iterations Hazardous to Your Project? by Alistair Cockburn. In the article he points out a few issues about how Agile methodology vocabulary can be used to disguise Waterfall practices as well as some pretty good points arguing for longer iterations within Agile (a subject near and dear to my heart). I definitely "smell what he's cooking" and I like his suggestions. I particularly like his example of test driven development.
Part of the problem I've been experiencing first hand is being part of an organization that is trying to move from a classic Waterfall methodology to Agile. I don't think this is the kind of change that happens overnight. In fact, I think it is necessary to first transition to an iterative, mini-waterfall approach. This is an immediate improvement in my eyes. The danger seems to be that, because there are instant benefits, people get overly comfortable and begin to believe that they're truly doing Agile or XP just because they're using the "right" vocabulary to describe their practices. They lose site of the fact that they need to iteratively improve their process just as they do their software. Sure, they go through the motions, but ultimately they come to rest at a point well short of a goal the would bring much greater benefits. It'll be interesting to see if my place of work can break the inertia of complacency.
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