Churchill on Agile
I discovered this list of quotes by Winston Churchill. Churchill had a way with words, so I picked out a few quotes that seem to say something interesting about Agile development.
On feedback:
However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.
The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see.
I always avoid prophesying beforehand, because it is a much better policy to prophesy after the event has already taken place.
On planning:
It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link of the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.
On retrospectives:
Personally I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.
Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
On documentation:
The length of this document defends it well against the risk of its being read.
On refactoring:
Do not let spacious plans for a new world divert your energies from saving what is left of the old.
On courage:
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.
Comments
Keynes on Agile
J. M. Keynes also had some things to say about the Agile approach:
There is no harm in being sometimes wrong–especially if one is promptly found out
It is better to be roughly right then precicely wrong
When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?