We planned a single iteration that covered our Inception phase. Our goal was to produce the following artifacts:
We met briefly , evaluated our progress, and declared the Inception phase complete. We achieved our goals. Some artifacts were perhaps in better shape than others. But we were confident that we understood the type of product Russell wanted and that we could build it. Now we were ready to dig in deeper and build the software. The total amount of work we did for the Inception phase would have taken less than a week had we worked full time on the project. Because we were working on it part time, we took longer. Often project teams spend too much time in the Inception phase. They want to get everything right. They have been trained that the more time you put in up front, the better off you are in the long run. So they agonize over every little detail much too early in the project. We believe you need to be loose at this point and when you find yourself quibbling over details, realize that it's time to move on. |