Agile Otter Blog

Wherever I go, I find people who want to "implement agile" but they want to start with processes and tools. They could develop techniques first, but they want to begin with working at a very large scale and comparing capabilities across teams and maintaining individual accountability and individual review. They want a big program they can plug into their existing system. A lot of organizations want to "go agile" starting with long-range planning, so that they can control the direction and results of the agile teams and track their progress toward n-year goals. They want an agile way to drive their teams in a straight line. Some corporations have layers of hierarchy devoted to contacting customers, usually in the interest of controlling perceptions and getting marketing intelligence. They wouldn't let developers within a mile of anyone who actually uses the software, for fear that they would let the internal culture and personality of the company leak out. O...

Note: There is good news on this front. Apparently the copyright has been settled, and we have new copies printed last year by Solis press. You may still be able to buy a cop y from Amazon! Now on with the original post.... In 1926, Graham Wallas published a book which has been cited in organizational theory texts all over the world (as well as papers on the  Philosophy of Art ). It presaged cognitive psychology and built a model of creative thought that has helped millions of people recognize and appreciate their own ability to think creatively -- and teach it to others. I don't have a copy of The Art of Thought.  I know it by reputation and reference only. It seems like every once in a while I stumble across yet another reference to the Wallas Model of Creativity , and still I don't have a copy, and have never read a copy of the original work. Why? Because I can't have one. Amazon doesn't have it. Google books doesn't have it. Barnes and Noble doe...