This week, in my current client engagement, my colleagues came up with a little game around what really drives some of those “X Driven Development” techniques, and completing the alphabet with the names of them. Some that are a real thing and some just for laughs. I have personally contributed to some of them, so I invite you to have a read.
* Driven Development →
So far, in my career, I’ve held a couple of jobs around web & software development and there were many occasions when I’d find myself scratching my head why certain decisions were made around prioritisation of my work, my teams work or never prioritising some work. That is probably something most of us can relate to.
I have personally experienced a couple of the ones mentioned in James Birnie’s article, but two still resonate closely to me.
Sales Driven Development is probably one of the more frustrating ones where my team would find that suddenly we have to deliver things we never committed to because the sales department has signed a contract for features that didn’t exist. The other one was around ever changing priorities, which we called Kangaroo Driven Development. From week to another and sometimes from one day to another, the most important thing that we needed to get done would be changed or replaced, based on the decision or opinion of our PO.
That’s my anecdote, although I’ve lived through many others.
Enjoy the read!