Sure, XP can solve your organization's problems, but people don't recognize that there are problems.
Therefore,
Make them aware that things could be better. Open their minds to the possibility that improvement is just around the corner. Before you can start delivering the mail, you have to FirstCreateTheMailbox.
Evidence/Examples
From SellingXp:
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- Part of the problem is exactly the problem we had at MasPar - we have a solution and most folks don't even know there is a problem. Our marketing guy used to say, "First we have to create the mailbox in folks' heads, then we can start delivering messages to it." Managers and customers have no idea that they can and should demand the kind of accountability and flexibility that XP can produce. Decades of interaction with IT have them conditioned to expect long dark periods followed by disappointment.
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- Some people know about EvolutionaryDelivery. One way of looking at XP is that it is a technical strategy that can execute EvolutionaryDelivery indefinitely with programmers of ordinary skill. Folks who want ED but are afraid may be able to see how XP addresses those fears. But again, the audience for ED is currently small.
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- I don't have an answer. When I explain the technical strategy to technical folks, they either love it or hate it. When I explain the management strategy to upper management, they love it. But our big problem is getting customers and managers to demand transparency, accountability, and flexibility. Once they know to ask, we can deliver. -- KentBeck
AdoptingXpPatternLanguage
CategoryPattern | CategoryExtremeProgramming
First Create The Mailbox