Playing the Software Development Game

Each year VersionOne publishes a State of Agile Survey.  In it they include data and assessments about Adile adoption in the enterprise, types of Agile methods and practices in use, reasons for adopting Agile, benefits obtained from implementing Agile, reasons for Agile project/transformation failure, and other topics. I've noted for years that the key contributors to successful Agile transformation include sponsorship and active participation in the effort by business and technology leaders, ample training, coaching and ongoing support for all stakeholders, and mapping current/traditional practices to the new ways of getting things done. The survey data indicates that when agile initiatives fail, it is often because of issues related to culture and resistance to change within the organization.  Specifically, people are concerned about a perceived lack of planning and loss of management control that they associate with Agile practices. Those responsible for the Agile transfo