Foreword

Kent Beck

Software development is a chain with many links, and improving overall effectiveness requires looking at the whole chain. This book is for people involved in software developmentnot just programmers, but also managers, sponsors, customers, testers, and designers. The principles presented here eventually affect everyone connected to the development of software. This book speaks to those of you who are ready to look at the big picture of development.

For ideas to have impact, they must be grounded in both theory and experience. By translating well-proven ideas from lean manufacturing, this book presents theory and practice and applies them to software development. Many of the fundamental problems with manufacturing are also problems with software development: dealing with uncertainty and change, continuously improving processes, and delivering value to customers.

What does this book offer you? First, a wide variety of theories that provide alternative ways of thinking about how software development can be improved. Second, a set of stories about the application of these theories to real projects. Third, provocative questions to help you apply the theories and the lessons in the stories to your unique situation.

Mary is uniquely qualified to present this material. She experienced lean manufacturing firsthand, helping rescue a plant from being shut down by transforming its operations. She's also experienced software development as a programmer and a manager. I once shared a seminar with Mary, and it was a treat to see the force and confidence with which she presents her material. I can hear that same direct voice in her writing here.

If you've read the Poppendiecks' precursor book, Lean Software Development, this book offers new guidance towards its implementation. It reiterates the theory in the previous volume, but always with an eye towards applying the ideas in real situations. The result is a readable and practical guide to ideas that have the potential to help you transform your development.

This is a book for doers, doers who want their actions aligned with where they can do the most good. If you are such a person, I recommend this book to you as a source of ideas and energy for positive change.

Kent Beck
Three Rivers Institute
July 2006