"SHEEP-DIP APPROACHES DO NOT WORK" -- MANAGERS MUST BE COMMITTED TO PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

13 August 2002

According to Ron Jeffries, "It is not enough to send around a memo that says 'Everyone do XP.' Sheep-dip approaches to process improvement do not work. Managers need to understand what they're asking for in order to provide the resources to educate everyone on their role and allow the time for people to adapt to the new way of doing things."

Extreme Programming (XP) is a discipline of software development based on values of simplicity, communication, feedback, and courage. Its practices are applicable to a wide range of projects, but it is primarily focused on colocated teams of around a dozen developers.

Ron Jeffries is a Cutter Consortium Senior Consultant and author of the Agile Project Management Executive Report, "The Business of Extreme Programming." "What appeals most to me about XP is what it gives me as a manager," he says. "When managed properly, it can deliver higher quality, greater flexibility, faster return on investment, and greater predictability than I was ever able to get with all my PERTs and Gantts.

Best of all, it provides these benefits without laying a lot of heavy process on the programmers or requiring a lot of work on my part."

Jeffries characterizes the XP practices that lead to process improvement as "simple." They include:

• A simple development process that delivers software regularly, usually every two weeks. This results in an improved, viable version of the software every two weeks. Says Jeffries, "We are always ready to ship."
  
  
• A simple estimation process that gives good cost estimates on a per-feature basis.
  
  
• A simple planning process that chooses features in the order of highest value versus lowest cost. "This gives us the most valuable possible version every two weeks."
  
  
• Simple, highly disciplined testing practices.
  
  
• Simple, evolutionary design practices. "We build the infrastructure as we go, so that the focus stays on delivery of business value," remarks Jeffries.
  
  
• Simple scheduling and programming practices that keep programmers interested.
  
  
• A simple tracking process that lets everyone know just how fast the team is moving.
  
  

"You may be thinking, 'That sounds too good to be true.' Well, it is, and it isn't. XP really is a simple discipline that can provide these things. However, it requires an organization-wide commitment, usually supported by study, training, and practice. There is no free lunch."

Jeffries recommends that upper management undertake a course of action that provides the organization the time to learn how to work in the new XP environment if they truly want to realize the benefits of this process improvement effort:

• Learn what XP is.
  
  
• Educate one of a few teams in XP.
  
  
• Pick a few important, but not critical, pilot projects.
  
  
• Get behind these projects.
  
  
• Track, manage, and steer the pilot projects.
  
  
• Assess the project.
  
  

--Cutter Consortium