Being agile means being willing to adapt. But what, exactly, are we willing to change?
Consider a team approaching a deadline with more work than it can finish. Should it extend the deadline, squeeze in extra hours, reduce testing or deliver fewer features?
That choice deserves a conversation before the pressure arrives.
Decide what to protect
DSDM, the Dynamic Systems Development Method, makes the trade-off explicit: fix time, fix cost and fix the agreed level of quality, then vary the scope.
Lower-priority requirements provide room to adapt. They can be deferred by agreement when the work proves harder than expected.
The aim is to deliver a useful solution within the agreed constraints. That requires clear priorities and enough flexibility in the feature list.
If everything is a must, there is nowhere for that flexibility to go.
Continue reading Agility needs boundaries