Economist E.F. Schmacher wrote in his 1973 book Small is Beautiful, “The crucial task of this decade, therefore, is to make the development effort appropriate and thereby more effective, so that it will reach down to the heartland of world poverty, to two million villages.”

Forty-five years later, and in the world of software development, I believe we can (and must) embrace Schumacher’s crucial task: engaging in truly appropriate and effective development.

For my inaugural entry in our Rally blog, I’d like to remind us that in the 21st century, appropriate and effective development means aggressively attacking waste in all its forms. These include:

  • Burdensome big process
  • Unwanted or low-value features
  • Products pushed to release with high defect rates
  • Convoluted communication channels
  • Inattention to our communities
  • And a myopia that prevents us from seeing the whole, that is, the two million villages

Twenty-first century Agile will undoubtedly evolve.

It is my hope that as Agile development moves through its evolutionary spins, we strive for ever better ways to create sustainable processes, sustainable products, and ultimately sustainable value. For me, that means that, whatever the change, we will continue to come back to our crucial task of appropriate and effective development as the guide for that change.

Further Reading:

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