Business And Development

I have to say that I think that ExtremeProgramming, and in general, WardAndKent and Alexander's idea of placing users in control of development is a great antidote to many problems. However, I have trouble reconciling it with my idea that people who know how to make software have an incredible responsibility to make clients aware of what their options and risks are. Sometimes it is necessary to walk away if what they are asking for is dangerous or even if it is just what they think they want, but you know based on your experience that they will not be satisfied with, in spite of what they say. Anything less is just shirking responsibility.

It is said that people know what they want, but a good developer has to know people. -- MichaelFeathers

XP prescribes rituals and artifacts to encourage the right decisions to be made be the right people. Business gets to write the stories. Development gets to say how much each one costs. Development gets to say how much can get done in a given calendar period (in terms of a sum of story costs). Business gets to say when the release date is. Business gets to say which stories will be done in the next release. Business gets to say which stories are most valuable. Development gets to decide the precise order in which the stories will be implemented. Business gets to define the AcceptanceTests for a story. Development gets to make them run.

I would only walk away from this process if one player or the other refuses to follow the rules- "You have to do these 14 stories and it has to ship on December 15." "We don't know how to do that." "Then I'll find someone who does." <silence as door closes>

So, I agree, Development has a deep responsibility to say what it knows. It also has a deep responsibility to stay away from things it don't know about. If you have a stupid business person, your project won't come out so good. Fancy that. Development acting like Business doesn't fix that problem, it makes it worse.

-- KentBeck

I'll add- Development can suggest stories, but they go in the same pile with all the other stories.