Dickens and Modern Agile Methodology

Writers were the source of many ideas and inventions, and industry revolution was the source of many practices.

Like physics learning are only describing the rules how life and dynamics acually works and doesn't actually changing or inventing anything. Many researchers used their observations and study for industry best practices, that actually works, to create business theories and practices theories.

Agile Kanaban for example was created after studying Toyota working practices, and Lean Methodologies was the outcome to studying Japan car manufacturing practices.

But is was rarely to find a novelist who affected the software practices, so what about, the Victorian, Charles Dickens! I believe he was a pioneer in Agile Scrum practices.

Charles Dickens in his novel "Great Expectations", that he started on December 1860, was published in iterations, each iteration was a week length. The reason that I selected this specific novel and comparing it to Agile Scrum practices, that he used to publish it weekly in local newspaper, then collect the feedback from this clients (reader), and do the requested changes in following week iterations issue.

This novel ending is a proof of clients effect on his writing, as in the original end "Estella has remarried and Pip remains single", but the readers didn't like that, so he changed it to deliver the final project that was then compiled and published "suggests that Pip and Estella will marry".

So Dickens was writing in iterations, collecting clients feedback after each iteration, plan and write new chapter for the next iteration, release and recollect clients feedback. What can describe Agile more than that.

The more you will read or study in fields outside or your work profession and main study, you can find and discover new territories that was never imagined or touched before, even by their own writers.

If scientists didn't read for Jules Verne's "From the Earth to the Moon" we might didn't hear about space travel or moon landing till today. I would also remind that Jules Verne also gave the idea or submarine and depth scale.

Before I leave you, I will ask you a question that might raise your eyebrows, did you notice that the 2 famous movies trilogies "The Matrix" and "The Lord of the Rings" were describing the Armageddon battle and the Final War of Messiah!!

Read more, open your mind, and prepare how you might astonish yourself.

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