Agile: The Once and Future Methodology

Really I just liked these quotes. They seem so obvious when written down that they’re hardly worth noticing, but I’m not sure how many of us that work in software have truly internalized this truth such that we could articulate it clearly. I want to, which is why I’m writing this down.

there is an intrinsic tension among opposing forces that every engineering project must solve.

There is the desire to reduce costs; opposing that desire is the need to develop a reliable product with all the features and functionality needed to make it a success.

And this:

Build a little, test early and often so that mistakes are caught early and so stakeholders have a chance to see and respond, and so that the inevitable requirement changes are identified and absorbed during the process, not in a terrified rush at an acceptance test.