Chapter Wrap Up

Summary

Really large teams require really short cycles. The problem is that if this tanker we call software development cruises in the wrong direction, after a while it is almost impossible to change course. The course of the tanker needs to be constantly monitored, which is only possible through obtaining quick feedback. The feedback will always have an impact on the plan. Therefore, an agile approach is planning-driven instead of plan-driven. Or, as Eisenhower once stated, “A plan is nothing; planning is everything.”

Integration is one of the most challenging topics, organizationally and technically, when developing with a large team. We should always work on smoothing out the integration process by balancing the effort it takes to set up a perfect integration environment and the benefit we will get out of it. Only this will allow us to get quick feedback on a running system.

An agile process will always change over time to give the best possible support for project development. This means that whenever an agile process is explained in detail, it is only a snapshot of the process. The agility of the process allows us to constantly adapt the process to new circumstances. Therefore, essence of agile processes is that we look at how the system behaves under real-life circumstances and adjust it accordingly. These adjustments are mainly based on the results of retrospectives, so the project members are the ones shaping the process.