Blog Updates
Time for a Metaphor Change: From Houses to Space Stations
Posted on Jul 19, 2009
Every so often I will field a question from one of my students with regards to building a house. Perhaps you’ve heard the house analogy, too? “When you build a house, you have to lay down the foundation first. You have to do a lot of planning because that foundation has to be right. And it’s the same with same with building software!” Usually the idea of emergent architecture and rolling wave planning, both common agile practices, are received with a great deal of skepticism.
But if we must use a building analogy, then let’s not use the “building a house” analogy. Instead, let’s look to the future of software development – because I truly believe that’s what agile is – and use the “building the space station” analogy instead. For the past several years a global team of astronauts has been iteratively building a laboratory in space – the International Space Station – one module at a time. If they can do that, then certainly we should be able to build software iteratively and incrementally.
So on this 40th anniversary of the first time man walked on the moon, we can marvel at all we’ve accomplished in the field of engineering, and hope that we continue to embrace innovation and change.
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