Scaling Agile: Knowledge Sharing and Documentation

by Jim Highsmith

I recently had an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) procedure performed on my knee. The report was full of such words as joint effusion, medial patellar plica, acute medullary bone contusions, and medial femoral condyle. While my doctor could easily read and interpret the report for me, my attempts to understand the report were doomed. This, in part, underlies the problem with documentation: the difference between context and content. Documentation can provide content, but understanding the context requires domain expertise. Knowledge sharing and documentation are definitely issues when scaling agile.