Re: Do C-Level managers, and business drivers really need to know about XP?

Since my emails are now getting through, and since I'd resent 3 times before
the last one got through making it pretty unreadable (for me anyway), I
thought I'd resend from the original.  I apologize if the duplication
offends.

> Ron Jeffries wrote:

> > Scott Worley wrote:

[snip]

> > In my opinion (I am a C-Level Manager) NO, what they/we want is
> > results if its due to a new process that the dev team or indeed any
> > other team is using, thier team lead/PM should know about it, but
> > above that it is not necessary.  A PM can request resource from
> > higher management and in most cases the justification is of the
> > standard Time/Cost/Resource type. A PM should act as a consultant to
> > the teams they ENABLE and the management they provide a service for.
>
> I'm inclined to agree with you. I think that if XP and Agile deliver what
> we think they do, the C-level (I am coming to hate that term) people will
> need to understand the impact, because their planning cycles may be able
to
> change. They may be able to demand more concrete information from their
> projects.
>
> The only reason I can see for knowing much more about it is if they wished
> to promulgate the ideas further in the organization. Since most of the
> top-down installations of XP I've seen have been near-disasters, I'd like
> to see it coming from the bottom up instead.
>
> I have the impression that Bill Walton, who lurks here but rarely speaks,
> thinks that the C-level folks need to know more, or different things.
Bill?
> What's your view on this?

I'll preface my brief remarks with a qualifier.  I'm talking about the
adoption of XP / Agile practices by very large US corporations.  Size does
matter.  A number of organizational dynamics are introduced by size alone.
Also, I'm talking about organization-level adoption, not the "trial
projects" that inevitably preceed it but to not necessarily lead to it.

Several months ago, as I began my serious investigation into XP, I met with
a former co-manager at Sabre.  Her VP is adopting XP across his
organization; 300+ developers.  Virtually the first words out of her mouth
were these:  "XP is not just another development methodology.  XP is a
culture change."

Culture change in large organizations is typically a slow, painful process
that requires support from the highest levels.  The changes required for /
enabled by the adoption of XP involve much more than planning cycles.  It's
a mistake, IMO, to underestimate the level of support, and therefore the
level of understanding, the successful adoption of XP at an organization
level in large US corporations will require from the C-level folks.

[snip]

Best regards,
Bill


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