Managing Software for Growth: Without Fear, Control, and the Manufacturing Mindset

Unpredictability

The team doesn't know in advance what software they're growing. They're figuring it out as they go along. This is the only sensible way to do it. If a manager does what the manufacturing mindset tells him to do, and tries to dictate what this software will be at the beginning of the project, he misses the opportunity to learn what he really wants because he locks himself into what he thought he wanted. When he does this, he tries to dictate emergence. This is an oxymoron. As some people in the South say, that dog don't hunt.

Managers can't predict accurately where the team will end up because they don't know what the “final” software the team is growing will look like while the team is growing it. But the team will know it when ...