You suddenly remember the wonderful advertisement you watched in television about a perfectly finished and polished formal shoes in black. Now that you are out shopping and that it fits your budget, you are tempted to buy it. Will you really buy it to help your running? Is that shoe made for helping you run to your target comfortably, safely and quickly? If you defer buying that formal shoes and decide to stick to running shoes instead, you made the right choice, at least until this point.
A recommendation made by your friend about a pair of running shoes that has helped him for long time comes to your mind. Since you have an impression that this is a tried and tested type, you have a thought to buy that model. Based on the dimensions of your legs such as length, breadth, toe size, etc, what if that shoe doesn’t fit you well? Will you compromise on the fit? Will you insist on sticking to the model just by the fanciness and looks of the shoes? Or for a mere reason that your friend recommended it? For a compromise, if you choose a bigger size, you may choose to wear a thicker socks than what is needed to offset for the bigger size of the shoes and may even choose to pad the shoes with some cotton at the toe end. The shoe may finally appear fit. However, this will not aid smooth running to reach your destination. The chances of tripping will be high or may slow you down considerably if you become too conscious about tripping; needless to mention that it may leave you injured if you trip and fall. If you choose a smaller size shoe, your toe may get crushed while you keep your legs squeezed in discomfort or your shoe may even tear open notwithstanding the pressure and hurting you eventually.
Now, let us try connecting this analogy to choosing a development methodology for a project. Shoes come in different sizes, shapes and colors, so do the development methodologies. There is no “one size that fits all” when it comes to choosing the right methodology for a project. Choosing a wrong methodology may end up being a burden on the project and may even end up even negating the project benefits.
Instead of trying to fit the business problems in to any of the preferred development methodologies, analysis should be made on which methodology will help in solving the problem effectively. It is essential to understand the actual business problem holistically. Various factors such as requirements availability and the level of details, amount of changes expected in the project duration, time to market, business priorities, organization structure, ability to commit resources for the project and many more should be considered before arriving at a conclusion of which methodology may work. It is wise to identify which methodology or mix is ideal for the project lifecycle than trying to fit the project in to a standard methodology template.
Sometimes custom models (hybrid) could work as well. For example, it could be as simple as buying a different color shoe lace than what comes by default with your running shoes. However, caution needs to be exercised in such models, since the basic principles of the underlying models may end up conflicting with each other leading to a disastrous outcome. That will be like trying to add shoe laces in a pair of loafers.
We, at Saksoft, believe in working with you, our clients, closely to identify the right methodology that aids in meeting your business objectives. We can help you to identify the running shoes that fit you perfectly and collaborate to run a satisfying marathon.
