Chapter 1. Why Becoming Agile Is Hard (But Worth It)

Many software development organizations are striving to become more agile. And who can blame them? Successful agile teams are producing higher-quality software that better meets user needs more quickly and at a lower cost than are traditional teams. Besides, who wouldn’t want to be more agile? It just plain sounds good, doesn’t it? It is almost as though one cannot be too thin, too rich, or too agile. But beyond the buzzword and hype, organizations that take becoming agile seriously by adopting a process such as Scrum are seeing dramatic benefits.

They are seeing significant gains in productivity with corresponding decreases in cost. They are able to bring products to market much faster and with a greater degree of customer satisfaction. They are experiencing greater visibility into the development process, leading to greater predictability. And for them, out-of-control, will-it-ever-be-done projects have become a thing of the past.