Over the years, I have read many books on software development methodologies. Some are good, some are totally useless, but even the best one still makes me feel something is lacking. In the early days, they tried to make make the "unpredictable" thing "predictable" (which may be idealistic but is never realistic). Worse, by making things predictable, the software development process became too rigid. The agile movement recognized this error and started to anticipate change as an important element in software development process. However, whether it's scrum or extreme programming, the agile practice still focuses on the technical side. A metaphor for how changes and collaborations can successfully work in the software development process is missing. Now, I finally found the missing piece in "the Jazz Process".
Reading this books is like having many "aha" moments. So much "implicit knowledge" I have learned over the years fits perfectly with this metaphor. For example, how does team dynamics impact a software project? In what way? (The issue becomes obvious to me since our team is going through fast growth now.) How can a bunch of smart people collaborate (without keep fighting each other with their big egos)? "The Jazz Process" provides a very convincing model (how Jazz improvised) and simple guidelines based on it. The writing is never dull, the examples covers a lot of interesting topics (such as how a special operation force team is organized), and if you are a Jazz fan, it's also full of interesting stories about Jazz performers. After reading this book, I think I will never listen to a Jazz performance the same way again.
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