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"I particularly like his emphasis on focusing
all decisions around the project's mission and using
that mission as a way of continually asking - are
we on the right track? He draws from the fields
of cybernetics, engineering, chaos theory and economics
for insights into how to take precise and relevant
measurements.
". . . I recommend this book to anyone who
would like some sound advice on facing and becoming
more effective in the chaotic reality of systems
development."
—Atlantic
Systems Guild
"Adaptive Software Development is probably
one of the most important books about the software
development process that you will ever read. . .
.
"Should you read this book? If you want to
succeed at developing software, the answer is a
resounding yes. If you can accept having your belief
structure challenged, yes. If you enjoy working
on failed projects, political fighting, or users
who are frustrated with the quality of the work
that you produce, then don't bother reading Adaptive
Software Development. I'm sure there's a 'Teach
Yourself A New Technology in 21 Days' book that's
more suited to your mindset."
—Software Development
Jolt Award Review
"This book's major contribution is a thoughtful
examination of the environment required for flexible
adaptive development teams and organizations . .
.
"Senior software people must be able to evaluate
the relative strengths and weaknesses of various
approaches, and select what is appropriate for their
respective environments and project/product constraints.
They will benefit most from this book. . . .
"One would hope Highsmith continues with the
development of his vision, publishing more specific
(if condensed) case studies . . . It would be fascinating
to be able to study organizations instituting various
changes and applying these principles in difficult
situations in order to become more flexible, adaptable,
and ultimately, more successful."
—Pieter Botman
ASQ
"If you are working in an environment where
there is tremendous pressure to ship quickly, and
where change happens constantly, then you may have
seen some successful projects emerge from fuzzy
beginnings. Highsmith has suggestions for creating
a project environment that not only helps people
live with those fuzzy starts, but also helps
people create a project and a product of which they
can be proud. . . .
"Highsmith shows the reader how to recognize
when development practices need to change and how
to acquire the skills to adapt. For a fresh approach
to software development, be sure to check it out."
—Johanna Rothman
STQE
"This is very likely the best book about software
process that you will ever read. Highsmith has captured
the fundamentals of how to succeed at software development
in the modern age, presenting a framework of concepts
and philosophies that can help your organization
to adapt to the current realities of software development.
Instead of following a strict set of tasks and processes,
and then optimizing them over time, Highsmith instead
suggests that your organization should strive for
an adaptive culture that recognizes that uncertainty
and change are the natural state. The material in
this book is an excellent addition to that of
eXtreme Programming (XP) and will help
you to temper your tailoring of the Unified Process,
OPEN Process, and/or the process patterns of the
OOSP by also addressing the cultural aspects of
your software organization."
—Scott W. Ambler
President, Ronin International
www.ambysoft.com
"Highsmith's book has been highly
praised in many circles and deservedly so. He applies
many of the theories of complex adaptive systems
to teams trying to build software in today's marketplace.
This is a well written book that expounds a fundamentally
different approach to developing software. . . .
If you find yourself trying to force your classic
approach to a new slippery problem(s), look at this
book."
—Dwayne Phillips
Systems and Computer Engineer/ Author of
The Software Project Manager's Handbook
". . . the first few chapters
clearly indicated Adaptive Software Development
(ASD) well suited my current projects. Your narrative
style makes ASD easy to understand and caused me
to read it again to gain even more subtleties. .
. . ASD is what real product development is like.
I have improved our results over previous projects
by letting loose the employee reins while setting
positive goals and necessary landscape contraints.
The ASD approach allowed team members to invent
solutions to the always present unexpected problems
and yet deliver the product on time."
—John Wolter
Wolter Works, Inc.
Ann Arbor, MI
"Jim . . . decided to tell us
the truth, uncomfortable as it will surely make
some of us: Managers do not simply plant a light
at the end of a narrow tunnel, and then drive work
effort down that tunnel to reach the light. . .
. Rather, development teams need to seek a light
that emerges along a discovered path, incrementally
illuminating sign posts. . . . Adaptive Software
Development gives us . . . the vocabulary we
need to discuss the truth, and still create results.
Bravo!"
—Adele Goldberg
Founder and CEO of Neometron
". . . successfully rebuts software
development traditionalists with results over process.
. . . a must read for the thinking developer."
—Rob Arnold
Former CEO of ST Labs, Inc.
". . . contains many examples
and analogies that I can use in helping clients
be more effective in using teamwork and group learning
on software development projects . . ."
—Cheryl Allen
KSI, Inc.
"This book, more than any I've read, best
captures my philosophy of software management. .
. .
". . . what the author advocates. . . is a
sensible balance—not too much process nor too
little. This book, along with Rapid Development,
are my two favorite 'handbooks' for software management.
. . ."
— Elaine May
posted on Amazon.com
"Jim Highsmith . . . writes for those of us
who have to develop real software in a competitive,
constrained, high-change environment. . . . There
can be no canned answers to the problems of modern,
rapid software development. Adaptive Software
Development heralds an emerging discipline of
inventing and adapting strategies to fit each situation.
This discipline requires that we study the dynamics
of software projects and software people, not merely
their practices or documents."
—James Bach
Principal Consultant, Satisfice, Inc.
". . . Highsmith shatters longstanding
beliefs on the optimization of complex systems .
. . which in turn lead to frameworks or models that
employ adaptive principles. Collaboration, joint
creativity and innovation are the keys on Highsmith's
path to successfully managing large projects."
—Editorial Review
posted on Fatbrain.com
"If ever there is to be a case for light and
flexible software development processes, methods
and techniques, Jim Highsmith's book is it. He presents
a thoroughly researched and cited argument for using
what we know about complexity and chaos in software
development. . . .
"The book is sprinkled with short and incisive
words of wisdom that will spark debate among the
'just do it' and 'software must be disciplined'
crowds. For example, 'Adaptation depends on leadership
and collaboration rather than on command and control,'
'Adaptation is significantly more important than
optimization' and in a complex environment, following
a plan produces the product you intended, but not
the product you need.' . . .
"In an ideal world, business sponsors of extreme
project should read this book. It is must reading
for the growing legions of developers intrigued
by the idea of 'extreme programming' XP and need
to have a deeper understanding of why it makes sense.
. . ."
—Customer Review
posted on Fatbrain.com
"This is an excellent book for any software
developer, manager, QA analyst, or tester that wants
to understand an intelligent way to build software
in a rapidly changing environment. Unlike other
works on Rapid Application Development (RAD) . .
. this book lays a very strong foundation in the
concepts of complex adaptive systems theory. . .
.
"[Adaptive Software Development] goes
beyond concepts and shows plenty of ways to apply
the ideas."
—Randy Rice
The Software Quality Advisor Online
"If fast-paced, high requirements volatility,
and uncertainty characterize your development environment,
and you can't figure out how to succeed, then Adaptive
Software Development by James Highsmith can
help. It offers an innovative approach grounded
in the theory of complex adaptive systems, and it's
both well researched and timely.
"It's real attraction, however, is that it
provides a holistic approach to software development
and management — adaptively, of course
— and covers the crucial aspects of learning
in software process environments. . . . a useful
contribution to the changing profession of software
engineering. . . . I am sure the software soldiers
and their commanders operating in turbulent times
stand to gain from this book."
—Deependra Moitra
IEEE Software
"In my experience, management
is the most critical component of a project, and
the hardest to change. I particularly enjoyed Jim's
discussion of how some managers who are stuck in
command-and-control have a static view of the world,
which prevents them from making sense of their current
environment. Adaptation is a necessary and critical
skill of competent managers. He contrasts the command-and-control
managers to leader-collaborator managers, who learn
how to make sense of the world, even if it doesn't
conform to their well-understood beliefs. . . .
Adaptive Software Development is a thought-provoking
book. I enjoyed the mountain-climbing examples,
and was able to adapt those examples to projects
that I have worked on."
—Johanna Rothman
Reflections
"A great introduction to applying
complexity theory to the software development process.
. . . for every project manager that wants to know
how the next generation of systems will be built."
—James Odell
Consultant and Coauthor of
Object-Oriented Methods
"Well done! . . . a plethora
of provocative ideas."
—Robert N. Charette
ITABHI Corporation
"Offers a theory for software
development management that suggests an adaptive
culture in which change and uncertainty are assumed
to be the natural state, as opposed to the conventional
belief that optimization is the only solution to
increasingly complex problems. The approach combines
customer focus groups, versioning, time-boxed management,
and active prototyping. The book does not provide
a set of prescriptive rules or tasks, but a framework
of concepts, practices, and guidelines."
—SciTech Book News
"For many years there has been a natural tension
between the textbook approach to software development
and the market forces that encourage software to
be produced quickly and cheaply. . . .
"James Highsmith now aligns the goals of the
two camps — the academics and the practitioners
— in a process that allows for both rigor and
creative learning. . . . The book uses mountain
climbing as a metaphor throughout, so that we clearly
see how accomplishing something difficult requires
us to deal with the realities of risk and uncertainty
on the way to our goal. . . . the book is full of
important questions that should be addressed by
managers and developers alike. . . "
—Shari Lawrence Pfleeger
IEEE Spectrum
"There are many points of sound advice in
this book.
". . . reading this book made me think a little
harder about some aspects of the software development
process. The author's metaphors of biological adaptation
and mountain climbing have many equivalencies in
software development that should be seriously considered."
—Charles Ashbacher
Charles
Ashbacher Technologies
posted on Amazon.com
"Today's businesses operate in a quick-changing
environment, where competitive edge can be measured
in days and weeks rather than years. At the same
time, the systems that service these markets must
be reliable. The Adaptive Software Development cycle
outlined in this book addresses these challenges
and provides giudelines for functioning successfully
in a fast-paced environment. It outlines the need
for a collaborative environment in the organization
as a whole and a new leadership style that doesn't
attempt to control all aspects of a project. . .
.
"The book takes the reader through each stage
of a high change project, from initial conception,
planning, development, and delivery. It provides
insight on the models, techniques, and life cycle
management as well as outlining the team interactions
and roles. It provides a thought-provoking guide
to project management in the new economy.
"The book introduces a new way of thinking
about IT development and a different approach to
project management that uses new terminology and
requires a change in mindset. . . .
"The concepts being presented are well worth
learning, and I'd encourage the reader to take the
time to absorb them.
"Projects require participation from all team
members, and Jim's approach stresses collaboration.
It should be read by all members of the team, from
programmer to business unit representative. . .
.
"This is an easy-to-read-book that outlines
specific strategies to empower a team."
—Diane Brockman
SQL Server Professional
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