What's the ultimate Agile benefit. I'll tell you the secret in a moment, but first I want to share this picture.
It reminds me of the perils of a waterfall project. Risks spiral out of control. Costs spiral out of control. And unless you're a stunt pilot, the software is difficult to land at the customer site.
Now for the ultimate benefit that I talked about earlier. When done well, Agile lets you get inside your competitor's product cycle. Let's use the following picture as a metaphor.
The WW II fighter is your competition. You are the F 15 fighter. By using fast-cycle development, you're able to loop back on your competition and shoot them — and their products — down.
Let's say your company is able to release a new product every six months while the competition releases a new product every 12 months. This means you're receiving feedback at a much faster pace. This feedback helps you adjust to market conditions, customer needs… and helps you take aim at key targets.
Guess what? Now you're using the OODA Loop of a fighter pilot.