PathDependence is when taking one choice precludes another.
For instance - no one buys Beta for the home. Had Beta been just a bit more popular or a bit earlier it would be the VHS owners looking lonely.
- The younger generation will have no idea what this is talking about.
It occurs to me that XP vs
HeavyWeightMethodologies may be a bit the same. If you do XP you have
CleanCode which allows you to do XP. If you do
BigDesign you lock yourself into a model where the
ChangeCostCurve is indeed exponential and it does make sense to do more and more design up front. In each case, what you do generates good reasons for doing more of the same.
If so, it might mean that
XpLite is not going to work. Without
FullXp perhaps the reduced returns of
XpLite are _not_ worth the investment.
On the other paw, I know Kent reports that XP originally evolved, it didn't appear fully grown. So perhaps there is hope that
XpLite offers a way to evolve towards
FullXp? --ba
On "for instance" above:
- Beta video format vs VHS video format
See also
DifferenceThatMakesaDifference