Why do we need a software process? FEAR!

Customers are afraid that

• They won't get what they asked for.
• They'll ask for the wrong thing.
• They'll pay too much for too little.
• They must surrender control of their career to techies who don't care.
• They won't ever see a meaningful plan.
• The plans they do see will be fairy tales.
• They won't know what's going on.
• They'll be held to their first decisions and won't be able to react to changes in the business.
• No one will tell them the truth.


Developers are afraid, too. They fear that

• They will be told to do more than they know how to do.
• They will be told to do things that don't make sense.
• They are too stupid.
• They are falling behind technically.
• They will be given responsibility without authority.
• They won't be given clear definitions of what needs to be done.
• They'll have to sacrifice quality for deadlines.
• They'll have to solve hard problems without help.
• They won't have enough time to succeed.

Source- Planning Extreme Programming Kent Beck & Martin Fowler