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

Introduction

A large majority of software development projects still cost too much, take too long, and don't deliver what they promised at the beginning. That's if they actually deliver something at all. A significant number get cancelled before there's any useful software to hand over.

Not all software development projects fail, but it certainly can seem that way. In 2000, one industry survey claimed that roughly half of software projects were over budget, late, or didn't deliver what they promised. Another roughly twenty-five percent were cancelled before delivering much of anything at all.^[1] These numbers were an improvement over the figures for the first survey in 1994, where the results were abysmal, but this is hardly cause for celebration. ...