Command and Control vs self Management

Abstract

It's estimated that in 2017 there were 111 billion lines of new software code generated by developers and most lines were written within a team. Producing software is a creative activity and therefore very different from mass-production lines, because each algorithm tries to solve a different problem. For many years, traditional system development life cycle has been used as the main algorithm for how programmer teams should work to deliver software products. Waterfall methodology is successfully used in simple, unchanging projects but its main drawback is how it handles change. Scrum encourages the creativity of each member of the team, allowing all of them to take on the role they want during the project. Each person can be a developer, a tester, a designer, depending on the responsibilities he takes between two sprints. Considering the diversity of IT projects, it makes sense to understand in what kind of projects we should use the Scrum methodology and where there is a need for more explicit management and control.