Iterative & Incremental
The basic idea behind this method is to develop a system through repeated cycles (iterative) and in smaller portions at a time (incremental). It's one of the foundational principles of agile software development.
Iterative: An iterative model means activities are systematically repeated in cycles known as iterations. In the case of software development, a new version of the software is produced after each iteration until the optimal product is achieved.
Incremental: An incremental approach breaks the ideal deliverable down into small, manageable portions known as increments. Each increment builds on the previous version so that improvements are made step by step.
Iterative and incremental development models are complementary in nature, which is why they are often used together to improve project success.
One of the main benefits of the incremental delivery approach is that business value is achieved sooner and as such we have something "in the bag". Whilst an incremental approach has many obvious and well-documented benefits, it is particularly beneficial when budgets are constrained because it reduces the risk of ending up with something of high grade but incomplete and thus worthless. The term Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is often discussed and it's exact meaning argued over. However "MVP Thinking", whilst largely taken for granted as a defacto strategy in software development, is finding new homes. An example is in Business Continuity Management (BCM) where VFS has been engaged. A more modern approach to BCM is emerging* where it takes a more iterative and incremental approach, with MVP Thinking, to build successful business continuity capabilities.
*This BCM paragraph was written in December 2022
Cost of Change
One of the primary enablers of an agile approach, whether in software development or not, is that the cost of change of a company's assets (be it documents, software systems, processes or tools) is small in both time and resources required.
In our line of work, we often observe people referring to "using an agile approach" without considering how easily, and how cheaply their team can observe, learn, adapt and iterate.
The cost of change needs to be managed. This may include investments in automation, getting the basics right and not cutting corners so that the enablers are in place, streamlining processes etc.
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