Agile software development: Best practices for large software development projects

Abstract

Once upon a time, Gustav II Adolf, the king of Sweden gave orders to build the biggest war ship that would ever set sail on the oceans of his time: The Vasa. Among the planned key features of the vessel were two decks stuffed with cannons. Such a power of arms has been unprecedented. The king hired the best ship makers from all over Europe. An impressive gathering of skills, talent, and ambition took place in a shipyard near Stockholm, Sweden. The admiral of the fleet personally took over the project management. The construction was led by an architect from the Netherlands and the designated captain of the new ship. In those days, there were no construction blueprints or static calculations. The architect applied proportions of other existing ships and supervised the work of the craftsmen in the shipyard personally. During a period of 2 full years, the team created the huge ship from 1,000 oak trees. The afterdeck raised high above the waterline and had been enriched with precious ornaments to honor the king: There were beautiful wooden statues resembling roman warriors. There were lions, mermaids, and images of Greek gods. The craftsmen attached the huge masts and loaded the 64 heavy cannons. The caliber of the cannons on the upper deck had been increased late in the project, because there had been rumors that the enemy was attempting to build a similar ship. Despite this significant change of the weight distribution, no replanning of the project occurred. The architect continued to apply the proven proportions to the Vasa's hulk, which have worked so well for all of his other ship constructions in the past. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010.