Feedback: Intro

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Notes:

This is the story how I came to learn the need for agile development. More importantly, I've learned the need to be an agile business person. To be agile means to be responsive to feedback. I call this the agile reflex. It's what makes agile different from other methodologies in software, business, or otherwise.

Feedback is how evolution works, and it's a natural part of child rearing. For example, my 10-year-old son knows that when it snows or the wind blows, the power will go out at our house. Xcel Energy hasn't figured this out, because we still have consistent power outages. Xcel doesn't need to listen to feedback, because they are a monopoly. However, most companies are not in the same position. If they don't react to feedback from their market, they go out of business.

Feedback is tricky, however. You have to want to hear negative as well as positive feedback. For example, if my wife asks me if she looks ok, I know what to answer. There's no business case for negative feedback in this situation.