Agile in a Flash 15

Embrace Change – The Idea
Agile in a Flash by Jeff Langr and Tim Ottinger (card #15)


> Abandon
> Switch direction
> Defer before investing
> Grow


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An agile project is not an all-or-nothing proposition and is not heavily vested in a planned future. It is planned incrementally as the product is being built and released. In Extreme Programming Explained, Kent Beck described four options this style provides:


Abandon. Skip further development or even abandon the product itself. Working software is provided in every iteration, and users gain early experience using it. It is easier to stop when it is “done enough” or if it doesn’t seem profitable to continue.


Switch direction. Change direction if the original plan doesn’t match current needs. An agile project may accommodate change even late in the development process.


Defer before investing. Do this so that the features with more immediate payback may be built first. Incremental design allows the organization to choose where, when, and whether to spend their software development money.


Grow. Do this to take advantage of a market that is taking off. This includes building scalability, extending popular features, or driving the product into new problem domains. The business can continue development as long as new features will provide value to them.


Civilization World Wonder quote: "For it soars to a height to match the sky, and as if surging up from amongst the other buildings it stands on high and looks down upon the remainder of the city, adorning it, because it is a part of it, but glorying in its own beauty."

–Procopius, De Aedificis