or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Never Be “Done”
David Dylan Thomas
Content Strategist,EPAM
#AgileLiving
@movie_pundit
Nailed It!
What Is Agile?
Waterfall Agile
What Is Agile?
Waterfall• Assumes the outcome• Little check-in in between• Final delivery is the only
delivery
What Is Agile?
Agile• Assumes the goal• Frequent check-ins• Multiple deliveries before
final delivery
Why Is This Important?
“By putting the most serious planning at the beginning, with subsequent work derived from the plan, the waterfall method amounts to a pledge by all parties not to learn anything while doing the actual work.”
- Clay Shirky
Let’s back up for a sec…
This is a washing machine.
This is a washing machine.
Guess what it does?
This is Twitter.
This is Twitter.
Guess what it does?
Perpetual Beta
We are increasingly able to produce tech that behaves like the natural world
Neither is Wikipedia
The natural world is never finished
Neither is Twitter
Neither are you
“And it seems to me that that webby structure actually is a more accurate reflection of the
shape of knowledge: it’s an endless series of connected ideas and facts, limited by interest,
not an article that starts here and ends there. In fact, I’d say that Shakespeare himself was a
web, and so am I, and so are you.”
- David Weinberger
This is why perpetual beta doesn’t bother us
Because we’re used to seeing it in the natural world
Nature releases early and often
Your life is not a to-do list
There is no point at which you will be “done”
Your life is not waterfall Your life is agile
You Do Not Need to Master Anything
Agile Filmmaking
The perfect weight
The perfect job
The perfect mate
Great for narratives
Terrible for life
The phrase “Everything will be all right if…” should inspire profound skepticism.
Hedonic Adaptation
Lots of small wins > One big win
Agile gives you lots of small wins (even when you lose)